TSGN03: WHEN TEENS LEAVE THE FAMILY!
DO/TS
9/92
--Don't Give Up On'm!--While There's Life, There's Hope!
--By Maria
[Mama originally gave this talk to the DO Family to help them have a more positive attitude about the fact that some of the teens who had been born and raised in the Family were now choosing to leave. Since this talk was given, she has received letters from TRF Supporters who were faced with similar situations with their children, who were choosing lifestyles which were in conflict with their parents' wishes. She thought that many of the lessons and principles expressed in this talk would be a comfort to them too.
On occasion some TRF Supporters have provided a place to stay for some DO teens who have left, and we are very thankful for this help. However, we wanted to make it clear that the purpose of sending this GN to you is not to try and find places for DO teens who leave. We love you!]
1. I believe that some of our parents in the System, our children's grandparents, could possibly have a difficult time grasping the spiritual principles involved if and when we have to ask them to take in their grandchildren who aren't making it in the Family and wish to do something besides serve the Lord. Some of these kids who leave us are probably going to wind up being quite a handful. If they rebelled against authority when they were with us, then it's likely they will do the same with anyone who attempts to set down reasonable rules and guidelines for their behavior. Another problem is that for years we've been telling these grandparents all about our wonderful way of life--that it's the best and it produces the best children--so it's too bad that we now have to admit that some of our children don't want to stick with it.
2. When any of our teens seriously want to leave the Family, even though we can't change the situation, I think we should look at it differently than we have previously. Instead of looking at it as the end of the world and a terrible tragedy, and the most awful thing that could ever happen to them, perhaps we should try to look at it as something that the Lord has allowed, and certainly something that He will use in their lives, to get through to them and teach them the lessons they need to learn.
3. Because of our emotional involvement, we may have a hard time relating to the fact that in most churches and denominations, very few missionaries' children remain forever with their parents on the mission field. At some time or another, most of them go back to their home country, and they often choose to pursue different careers entirely. In fact, in the System there are very few children of missionaries who become missionaries themselves. We can be thankful that so many of ours have chosen to go all the way with the Lord, God bless them! But when we need to ask grandparents to take in a grandchild who doesn't want to stay in the Family, most of them will understand and realize that, of course, not all children of missionaries desire to become missionaries themselves.
4. We may feel sorry for these grandparents who are being asked to take in our wayward, rebellious progeny, but don't forget that there are literally millions of grandparents in the U.S. and other countries who have been compelled to care for the children of their children, frequently because their children are either unfit or incapable of parenting, because they are addicted to drugs, are involved with crime, are afflicted with AIDS, are abusive or involved in custody battles, are in prison, etc.--And such children are much worse off than ours! Our children's problems would be considered small by comparison. So I feel we need to get away from our apologetic, negative attitude about how bad our departing teens are! Compared to a very high percentage of the System's kids, most of ours are angels!
5. But regardless of how good or bad they are, if they don't want to stay in the Family, and they want to pursue some other course, most grandparents will probably understand this. We can simply explain to them, "Junior has now reached the age where he is old enough to make his own decision about what kind of career he wants to pursue. And rather than serve the Lord and dedicate his life to being a missionary like us, his parents, he has decided to go his own way and try something else. So he now wants to get a college education"--or whatever it is he wants to do. "Growing up in the Family has been a tremendous plus for him, but it's a sacrificial life and what we believe is a 'high calling of God,' something that each individual has to choose for themselves. So now dear Junior here wants to do something else, to explore some different options, and we don't want to hold him back from making his own choices.
6. "Of course, we're disappointed and sorry that he doesn't want to serve the Lord with us as a missionary, but he wants to see for himself what the world has to offer, to get a taste of what's out there and more or less 'journey to a far country' to investigate other possibilities." I think if we present it sort of as a natural course of events, something that many young people go through, particularly in the System, most of our parents and relatives would probably understand this.
System Teens Always Leave Home!
7. The fact of the matter is that a lot of teens in Western countries make the decision at age 17 or 18 to leave home. Most teens stay home with their parents at least until they're through high school at the age of 17 or 18, but after that, the majority of them want to leave home and try their wings. At that age System kids also have to decide what career they want to pursue, by either getting a job or going to college to study in a particular field.
8. Most kids in the System don't stay permanently with their parents and follow the same life's work their parents did. Of course, with the worldwide recession taking place right now, I imagine a lot more young people are staying at home until a later age, but from age 16 to 18 I'm sure a good many of them still leave home either just to live in their own place, go to college, or somehow strike out on their own.
9. Of course, the great difference between us and the System is that we offer our kids something that's really worth sticking with.--Which is why so many of our teens and young people choose to remain in the Family, not just to keep from "rocking the boat" or to please their parents, but to please the Lord! In fact, most of our young people are not content to just maintain the status quo in the Family, but are earnestly giving their all to make it a better place, as well as to promote our message and wonderful way of life to others.
10. So the point I'm making is that our relatives in the System should be able to relate to teens who choose to go their own way, rebel against their parents and leave home, since that's what most System teens are expected to do. But I'm not saying that this is what we expect our teens to do, since most of them genuinely love the Lord and are dedicated to serving Him with us, God bless them!
Admitting Our Teens Face a Choice!
11. In the past, I believe we have in some ways resisted even admitting to ourselves that a choice exists that each of our teens has to make for themselves. We haven't even wanted to face the fact that some of them might want to do something other than serve the Lord in the Family and be missionaries. I think that some Family members have probably done everything possible to avoid talking about really giving them a choice.
12. We've done our best to try to hang on to them, even to the point of trying to persuade some of them to stay with us long after it was obvious that their heart was not in the Family and that everyone would be better off if they were elsewhere. It's just such a heartbreak to see them leave the Lord's service, knowing what they are giving up and what they are going to have to go through, I think we've felt that if we didn't even mention that there was any alternative to the Family, maybe they wouldn't even think of it. At least we hoped they wouldn't.
13. But now we've been more or less forced by circumstances and by the decisions of teens who have left to bring the choices more out in the open. For years we've tried to show our Family teens that they've personally got to choose to commit themselves to the Lord, and we've challenged them to, "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve! If God be God, serve Him; if Baal be god, serve him!" (Josh.24:15; 1Kg.18:21). But I think that now we've got to make it clearer than ever to them that if they're not really intent on serving Jesus and living for Him, then there are alternatives to being in the Family, and we'll do what we can to place them somewhere in the System if that's what's really in their hearts.
14. Of course, there are a lot of pluses for our kids staying in the Family and serving God with us. Also, most of them are better grounded in the Word now than they used to be, they're better trained, and many of them are already working in ministries that they really love and enjoy. They're also more able to get out in the world and mingle with people, helping and healing those in need. In doing this, when faced with the desperate needs of their peers in the world, as well as the spiritual darkness, evil and utter selfishness of the System, they are also able to see by contrast what a wonderful life they have and how blessed they really are in the Family.
15. But on the other hand, there is a pretty strong pull toward the System as more teen backsliders are out there taunting and tempting our teens to follow them and, as they say, "Get out of the restricted confines of this horrible mind-controlled group where you can't do your own thing!" Some of the more vocal teen backsliders have fallen in with our most bitter enemies from the anti-cult crowd, and they'll try all sorts of ploys to try to get others to leave. Of course, one of their favourite lines is, "Why stay in the Family where you have to endure all kinds of rules and restrictions, and possibly even persecution from the System, when you could be out here with us, living really free!" Their idea seems to be that it's better to "enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, than suffer affliction with the people of God."--Just the opposite of what the Bible says! (Heb.11:25).
16. So the choice is very clear-cut and it's becoming more and more a definite decision that each of our kids is faced with like never before. Previously, some of our kids haven't so much chosen to stay, but they were just here and they stayed because this was home, this was all they knew. Some hadn't yet really made a definite decision and commitment that the Family was "it" for them, the greatest vocation they could possibly choose. Some have probably sort of felt, "Well, this is home, and besides, where else could I go? So I guess I might as well stick it out."
17. For some of those uncommitted teens, the only definite decision they made about their life was when they decided to leave the Family. But now it looks like the Lord is laying before all of our teens the definite choice between whether they really want to make a total, 100% commitment to serve Him and a definite decision to stay in the Family, or whether they want to make a definite decision to leave because they no longer want to follow the Lord or His call in their life.
God's Challenge to Commitment!
18. More of our teens are now reaching the age where they can leave if they so choose, or they can decide to really stick with serving the Lord with us. They have had a lot of Word and training, so they should be able to make the decision very responsibly. They know what the Family is all about and what is involved in serving the Lord, and a lot of them also have a pretty good idea of what the System is all about and what is involved in being in the System, and they are being required to make a decision.
19. You can see why the Lord is now bringing them to this crossroads. After all, all of us had to make a very similar definite decision to leave the System and join the Family! So this is nothing new, God has always challenged His people to "choose ye this day whom ye will serve!" Like Dad has always said, the Lord has no grandchildren; each generation has to decide for themselves to either serve God or to serve Mammon, self and the System. (Mat.6:24).
20. At some point in his or her life for the Lord, everyone has to make this choice. In a sense, most of our children never even had to really make a decision to receive the Lord, it was just part of their life; that's the way things were and that's what happened, and they did it as a matter of course. It was something that they were asked and expected to do as small children in the Family. There wasn't a lot of decision-making going on there; they didn't have a huge battle in saying "yes" to the Lord for salvation, like many of our adults had when they were presented with salvation before they joined the Family.
21. So it seems that the Lord is requiring our older teens to make their big decision for Him now, at least those who have not already committed themselves to Him. Even though most of them have never fully experienced life in the System, they're realizing that if that's what they want, they can have it. But if they want to serve God with us, then they're having to forsake any desires or ideas of trying it out, of living for themselves, of having the independence that the world offers, etc.
22. But even more than a forsaking-all like most of us went through, they are being required to embrace all--embrace the Family and the Lord's ways wholeheartedly with no reservations, to deny themselves and take up the cross and come and follow Jesus wholeheartedly, putting their hands to the plow of His service with no turning back. Of course, this is nothing new, there are oodles of Scriptures that show that these have always been the Lord's requirements for genuine discipleship, and it's something we've been emphasizing to our teens for years and years. (See Luk.9:23-24,58-62; 14:26-33, etc.) They're all faced with a decision to join the Family wholeheartedly, unreservedly and with total commitment. Because until they make that wholehearted, unreserved decision to commit themselves for the rest of their lives, as a personal decision that is totally their own, between themselves and the Lord, they'll never have the strength or inspiration that the Lord wants to give them.
23. Our power to live our lives for the Lord comes from presenting our bodies "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God," and from our minds being transformed, so that we can "prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom.12:1,2). It comes from setting our face like a flint and not looking either to the left or the right, and from keeping our minds stayed on Him (Isa.50:7, 26:3). It's when we give our all to Jesus, taking up our cross and dying daily for Him, that His life and power are manifested in and through us. "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me! Not by [your] might, nor by [your] power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord!" (Gal.2:20; Zech.4:6).
24. For our kids it's a decision similar to the one young people in the world make when they decide what career they're going to go into for the rest of their lives, except for our kids it's a much more thrilling career and a much more important decision.
25. Of course, we hope and pray that they will commit their lives to serving Jesus with us in the Family. We know that the Lord will greatly reward those who have given their all to Him in this great Endtime work, and that they will one day receive a glorious "prize" and eternal glory for sticking to the high calling of God in Christ Jesus and keeping their hand on the plow He called them to. God is proud of His children who are willing to forsake all for Him, who set their hearts and affections on things above, declaring plainly that they are strangers and pilgrims in this world, seeking a better country, that is, an heavenly. He is not ashamed to be called their God, and will honor and reward them before all Heaven, praise the Lord!
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How to Take Our Teens Leaving!
26. (A few days later:) If some of our teens choose to leave the Family and go to live with their System grandparents, how will we react? I still think we should continue to do all we can to show our teens what the System's really like, I'm not saying we should change our stand on that. But after we've taught them about the System and shown them what it's like, if they still want to go, then I don't think we should act like it's the absolute end of the world or try to force them to stay.
27. We heard that Katrina (Watchman's ex-mate) had to talk to her son Romeo on the phone when he wanted to leave, and he said, "Mom, I don't want you to feel bad." And she said, "Well, Honey, of course I'm sad, but I just want you to be happy." God bless her, I felt that probably took superhuman effort. I thought it was pretty miraculous that she was able to say that. But that's what we're going to have to be able to say--to not act like we're forcing them to stay. If we've made our position clear, so clear that they couldn't mistake it, and they definitely decide to leave, then why keep trying to force the issue? Just let'm go!
28. Our enemies accuse us of keeping our teens by force, but of course they always fail to think how they would act or what they themselves would do if one of their own kids wanted to leave home. They are so hypocritical, they'll never take into consideration the fact that parents never want their kids to leave home! Of course they're going to try to convince them to stay, parents always do. Talk about force, look at the lengths some parents and enemies have gone to with their adult children who have joined us, forcibly kidnapping, imprisoning and deprogramming them!
29. No matter when their kids go or under what circumstances they go, parents almost always try to keep their kids, with very rare exceptions. Most of our parents tried to hang on to us, even if they sent us off to college for a few years more education. Of course, if you become such a stinker that you are causing havoc in their home, they may act otherwise. But you usually have to be pretty bad for your parents to want to get rid of you. Most of the time they want to hang on. That's just the way parents are; it's natural and normal. And for our Family parents, it's more than just a natural possessiveness of their flesh and blood; it's wanting to hold on to you young people for the sake of the Lord's work.--And because they know that is the only thing which will make you truly happy.
Trusting the Lord More for Our Backslidden Teens
30. I think the Lord is showing us that we're going to have to trust Him more to do the work in our kids' hearts. We're going to have to stop trying quite so hard to get them to do His will. We're going to have to just let Him work in their lives, and we're going to have to try to do our part more through prayer.
31. Of course, when anyone appears to be backsliding or stepping out of God's will, it's true that we do have to fight for them in the Spirit. We just need to learn the balance. Yes, we need to fight for them in the Spirit, but once we've done that and they're still determined to leave, then we've just got to let them go. Let the person make their own decision and try to send them off without a big fuss.
32. I must say, I think Dad has always handled things like that very well--probably much differently than a lot of the rest of the Family has. It would be good to refer to the Letters to see examples of how Dad has treated backsliders. He didn't threaten them when they wanted to leave. While he's come down very hard and severely against backsliders in some of his talks, when individuals have gotten to the point where they have made the decision to leave and they were voicing it, Dad did not hit them over the head and threaten them with Hell and damnation if they left! He said, "Okay, if you want to go, go! If you don't want to stay, we're not going to force you to." Here are some fitting excerpts from Dad's Letter, "Backsliders":
"It's always been our personal policy, when we found someone wanted to leave, to simply ask them why, maybe answer any questions they might have or correct any misunderstandings which may be responsible, apologize for any of our mistakes which might have caused them to want to leave, but not to discourage them from leaving if they still want to.
"We personally have never threatened, badgered, scolded, or beaten them over the head with Scriptures to try to scare them into staying.... I've always kept sweet, loving, gentle, kind, sympathetic, and tried to be understanding with these weak ones who want to go home. I have only tried to make sure that the fault was not ours through some misunderstanding, and apologize if it were, so that we would not be to blame.
"I usually just asked them a few questions, listened to their answers, tried to correct any misunderstandings, apologized for any mistakes, explained any difficulties, rebuked any officer who might have offended them, and told them we were sincerely sorry if it had been anything that was our fault, and tried to be as understanding as possible of their reasons for wanting to go back.
"If this gentle clarification of the issues at stake did not clear up the matter or change their minds, we would usually have sweet prayer together, kiss, embrace --sometimes cheerfully--and offer to help them call home for the funds to return, and take them to the airport or station with a genuinely loving farewell ... assuring them they would be welcome to return if they ever felt led to do so!
"This gentle, loving, and understanding treatment of those who want to leave has often paid off, not only in keeping them as a friend instead of antagonizing them so that you send them away as an enemy, but it has frequently encouraged them later to return, after having again found out that the Pit was not where it's at!" (ML #140:11-15).
33. I think we ought to handle people who want to leave a little more like Dad has always taught, and try to help them on their way, and not make them feel so condemned. The Lord will work in their lives, and He will give them chastisement or judgement if that's what they need. We just need to trust Him more, that He knows what they need most, and He will take care of them.
34. We usually feel like we're failing if we don't do everything we can up to the very last minute to warn them and cajole them and beg them and plead with them that they've got to stay. We feel compelled to plead with them, "Look how you're throwing your life away!" The Lord does say to warn the wicked of his wicked way, but I think we need to decide when we're going to warn and when we are going to stop warning, and we've got to come to that decision earlier on, and recognize that point, after which we shouldn't say anything else.
35. After knowing everything we have taught and having had our warnings, if they still decide they want to go, then we should say, "Okay, praise the Lord! You go out there and do the best you can, and we'll pray for you and we'll help you as much as we can. We'll do what we can to help you get off, and we'll try to make some arrangements for you. And we want you to know that we still love you, no matter what. We hope you'll be successful." One thing I'm sure of, they will be a much better testimony to the good fruits of the Family if they do well than if they do not.
36. And if our backslidden teens wind up becoming "successful" in the System, we shouldn't worry that their worldly attainments will prevent them from ever returning to the Lord's service. Remember, not all of us were criminals or druggies or prostitutes or completely down and out when we became fed up with the world, and the Lord reached out and got ahold of us. Neither have all of our backslidden teens who have returned to the Family been on the scrapheap of society, but some of them had respectable jobs, excelled in their schooling, etc. So no matter what they wind up doing out there, the Lord is able to get through to them and show them that whether they are a success or failure by the System's standards, it's all "husks" in His eyes, and none of it will ever truly satisfy them.
37. I think we just need to pull back a little bit and find the fine line in how to treat people who wish to leave or are leaving. Yes, we've got to warn them, and it's true, you hate to see them go. You know what they're getting into and it really breaks your heart, especially when it's your own kids. But we're going to have to ask the Lord to help us try to keep our emotions under control.
38. When we know that they've been sufficiently warned and they know what they're doing, if they still want to go, then we should just send them off with our love and prayers and wishes for their well-being and safekeeping. The Lord can get through to them regardless, whatever their position in life may be after they leave us.--Whether they get into outright evil and corruption as some of our backslidden teens have, or whether they go to school and are "good" boys and girls and start going to church or whatever, as others have. Whatever they wind up doing, we know that "nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His" (2Tim.2:19). Wherever they may go, He's right there with them, and will keep His hand upon them one way or another.
Keeping the "Big Picture" Regarding Our Backslidden Teens
39. They're His, and they've been His many years, so you can be assured that He is going to continue to keep His hand upon them. Really, when you look at it from the Lord's point of view, this present time is just a small moment in the eternal scheme of things, and it doesn't warrant us getting so frantic over it. The Lord looks at the whole picture, and the present is only a small part of His picture and what He is doing in their life out there in the System--whether they're into stripping and the underworld, or whether they're making a name for themselves in the business or academic world. Whatever they're doing will somehow work together for good in His plan for that person.
40. Just look what's ahead of us! Look at the thousand years of the Millennium and the forever of Eternity that are ahead of us! So what happens for a few short years now is not such a major thing that we should collapse and be traumatized over it. When you look at things with a more long-term perspective, you realize this time is going to be over pretty soon!
41. In a few years when things really start to get tough and the Tribulation comes around, these kids are probably going to be so frightened after a while, they'll see that if they're going to confess their faith at all, they'd just as soon do it with us! Well, who knows how they're going to react, but I think we will just have to try to encourage ourselves by looking at things more positively when someone chooses to leave. Then we're not going to be so frantic and worried about them--especially about kids who are leaving their parents. I realize that it's a very heartbreaking situation, but maybe we can look at it like, "Well, it's not so bad as it seems, because the Lord still has His hand on them."
42. I don't think the Lord had them be born and brought up in this special Family for 17 or 18 years just to dump them and forget all about them! He is still going to continue to work in their lives no matter how bad they get or how far away from Him they drift. We can take comfort from the marvelous promises found in Psalm 139, which can easily be applied to our backslidden children: "Whither shall they go from Thy Spirit? Or whither shall they flee from Thy presence? If they ascend up into Heaven, Thou art there: if they make their bed in Hell, behold, Thou art there. If they take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy hand lead them, and Thy right hand shall hold them. If they say, 'Surely the darkness shall cover me,' even the night shall be light about them. Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee. For Thou hast possessed their reins: Thou hast covered them in their mother's womb" (Psa.139:7-13). Praise the Lord!
43. They are His, and even if they believe not, He remaineth faithful, for He cannot deny Himself or His own! (2Tim.2:13). And I believe that the Lord is eventually going to bring a lot of them back, and they're going to be part of His plan in the future.
Parents of Backsliders, Take It Easier!
44. I just don't think we as parents should take it so hard. I know I take it hard myself when I hear about any of our teens having problems or leaving the Family. After putting so much into them, and wanting them to be the Lord's Endtime witnesses, it's very difficult to have to give that up. But who knows? Maybe they will be Endtime witnesses! Maybe they'll be out there where they can influence people who we can't reach! And maybe in the End they will stand up for their faith!
45. We don't even have to wait until the very End to have some of our young people come back, because some of them are already returning after finding that the System has not satisfied and is not what they want. As Dad has frequently said, experience is a very effective teacher, and like the Prodigal Son, many of them have now learned through bitter experience that "riotous living" in the "far country" of the System ultimately results in them landing in a swinepit of some kind, which has made them finally appreciate how good they had it back in the Father's house. Here are a few quotes where Dad describes how difficult this kind of experience can be:
46. "That's the way some have had to learn. They have to learn the hard way by bitter experience, which is the best way but worst teacher and the hardest, that causes the most pain and the most suffering and the most grief. 'For the way of the transgressor is hard' (Pro.13:15)." (ML #1879:26).
47. "If we don't learn from warnings by the Lord, if we don't learn to obey His Word when He's giving it to us, etc., He'll sometimes let us learn by bitter experience! That's the toughest school, the school of hard knocks and bitter experience!" (ML #2500:65).
48. "God gives us His Word and tells us what He wants us to do, and warns us about what not to do. But if we flatly refuse to learn by listening, He has to let us learn by bitter experience. If we refuse to learn by the shortcut of obedience, then we have to learn by the hard knocks of disobedience, and by His consequent chastisements, spankings and judgements! When we go astray, He is then forced to chasten us with the rod to rescue us from the ruin of our own folly!" (ML #2543:8).
49. The Lord is having His way, even with our backslidden children, so why don't we just decide to take it a little easier? The worst thing, of course, is if they go out there and they turn on us and become enemies. That is so sad, and of course we'd certainly rather not have that; but we can't help it if it does happen in some cases. We just have to pray and trust that whatever happens, the Lord is allowing it to happen.
50. We need to get up and keep going for the Lord and just realize that the Lord is going to work out His plan. Just because some of our kids made the wrong decision when they turned 17 or 18, all is not lost, it's not going to be the end of them. The Lord still has some part in His plan for them, and eventually they're going to be used, one way or another.
51. We say, "Oh, all those years thrown away, how horrible! How can we stand it?" But I think the Lord is actually much more efficient than that, and He is not going to allow those years to be thrown away and wasted. Right now it may seem like they are, but we're only looking at a few years in time. How inefficient and uneconomical it would be of the Lord to put so many thousands of man hours into a person and then just let them go and never use it again, just throw it down the drain. I don't think the Lord is going to do that. Even the experience they are going to gain during their time in the System, although painful, will no doubt prove to be very valuable as well, and something that the Lord is not going to let go to waste.
52. Somehow, in some way, He is going to use them in the future. Those kids are going to come back to the Lord and somehow be used by Him. Just as Dad has said, if they're saved--which they are--we're all going to get together in the end, and we're all going to be used in some way. So I don't think we should be quite so panic-stricken or bereaved about their departure.
53. I'm preaching to myself because I personally have to learn to relax about this topic. It is a very difficult thing for me and very heartbreaking; especially when I think about the mothers and fathers of our teens who have left. But if we would learn to look at it in not quite such a carnal and earthbound way, it should help. We need to remember that it is really a temporal thing and not such a permanent thing. We're looking at it like, "This is permanent. This is done. It's all over and they're gone." But if we can look at it more with the Lord's vision and His overall very great plan that reaches way beyond the boundaries of our tiny present existence, I think we'll be much more at peace about it and much more relaxed and at ease. Looking on our teen backsliders more through the eyes of faith will help us, and it will also help them.
54. We need to show our kids the Lord's unfailing love.--No matter what they do or what they decide or how far they go astray, we'll never stop loving them. Just like the Lord, who says, "I am married to the backslider" and, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee" (Jer.3:14; Heb.13:5). What makes us think that we can show a different attitude than that to our children? How can we withhold our love and prayers--even from the defiant and the rebellious--when now is the time when they most need to know that we love them?
55. This more full-of-faith attitude might even help to frustrate our enemies, as they wouldn't have so much that they can throw at us and accuse us of! Of course, they'll just find something else, ha! But that's okay!--Because they just have to, that's the Lord's plan for them! They're going to find something even if we've scrubbed and polished ourselves so much that we're completely perfect! They would still think up lots and lots of things to throw at us. And when they don't have something concrete to accuse us of, they just make things up! Look at Jesus, who, though He was perfect, was accused of all manner of evil, including being Satan-possessed! So just "consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds!" (Heb.12:3). Look at Jesus, who was in all points tempted like as we are, and in all ways criticized as we are, even though He was perfect, and you won't feel so bad!
While There's Life, There's Hope!
56. I think changing our viewpoint will help us all not to mourn and grieve as though there were no hope, because there is hope! As Dad has always said, "While there's life, there's hope!" So don't give up hope! These kids are saved and they're marked by the Lord as His special children!--Very privileged, special, a very few who, out of all the children who were ever born in the whole world, have lived in this Family. So I'm sure the Lord is going to take care of them and prepare a place where they can serve Him, and maybe even eventually bring them back to work with us.
57. After all, some of these teens didn't have very good training; a lot of mistakes were made with some of them. You can't put all the blame on the teens. Occasionally you can, but who knows who gets the blame for this and who gets the blame for that? It's pretty hard to mete out the blame, because we always could have done better with people. But even if we assume the blame when they're younger, when they reach the age of accountability, or become adults, they have to take the blame themselves for their actions or reactions.
58. On the other hand, we can give them a little bit of the benefit of the doubt and say that in some ways some of them didn't have a very good foundation, and maybe they weren't able to really see and grasp the thrill and the challenge of the Family. We can make a lot of excuses for them, some which I'm sure the Lord will take into consideration, too. They made the wrong choice, they shouldn't have done it, but the Lord sees all the extenuating circumstances and takes all that into consideration, and He knows their hearts.
59. So let's learn to trust the Lord more for our prodigal progeny. After all, He spoke to Dad a long time ago about our children, promising that He would care for His own. So can't we trust that He will work everything together for our good and theirs in the end? I know He will, for He that has begun a good work in us, and in our children, will perform it for His glory! He promises that He is able to make the crooked places straight, and we know by faith that the Lord is going to right all wrongs and work all things together for good in the end.
60. We need to look to the Lord more and view things through the eyes of faith, looking on things more as the Lord sees them. Like that beautiful hymn that Dad has often sung, "If We Could See Beyond Today":
"If we could see beyond today
As God doth see,
If all the clouds would roll away,
The shadows flee,
O'er present griefs we would not fret,
Each sorrow we would soon forget,
For many joys are waiting yet,
For you and me!
"If we could know beyond today
As God doth know,
Why dearest treasures pass away
And tears must flow.
And why some darkness leads to light,
Why dreary days will soon grow bright,
Some day life's wrongs will be made right,
Faith tells us so!"
61. So let's keep our eyes ever towards the Lord in regards to our young people who have gone astray, and of course, let's continue to pray for them, and encourage and do everything we can to help our kids in the Family to make it for the Lord, shticking with us to reach this needy world for Jesus. But if and when one of them is determined to leave and voices this desire over and over, let's "commit the keeping of their soul to the Lord in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator" (1Pet.4:19), knowing that He has them in His hand, and that He will continue to work in their lives, for He is with them, even unto the end of the world (Mat.28:20). Amen? Praise the Lord!
Making It Easier for Teens to Rejoin the Family
62. P.S. For some time I've felt that we need to make it easier for our backslidden teens to return to the Family if they're repentant and have learned their lessons. When we have teens who have been having problems, and they choose to go to the System to sort of try it out, to see what it's like, I don't think we should necessarily immediately label them as out-and-out backsliders. Even if they "went out from us," maybe they're still "of us" (1Jn.2:19), but they just happened to succumb to temptation, or they became very discouraged with themselves, or had a falling-out with their shepherd, or something like that. Then once they get out in the System, if after a few weeks they begin to wake up to what it's really like, they could very well yearn to return to the Family. But if they feel that they are going to be forever stigmatized as a "backslider" or a "traitor," this fear of being condemned and held in contempt by others could be the very thing that the Enemy uses to prevent them from returning to the Father's house.
63. As Dad has often said, the hardest words for anyone to say are "I was wrong," and for anybody who has backslid to come back to the Family, this is exactly what they are saying by their actions, "I was wrong, the Family was right." This can be hard enough on their pride, without our "rubbing it in" by treating them with disdain or contempt. In such cases, we need to be more like the father of the prodigal son, and not like the resentful older brother. If they're truly repentant, we should welcome them back with open arms, rejoicing that they've returned.
64. I just don't feel that such people have to be permanently branded as backsliders, especially if their time out of the Family was only a few weeks and they return sick of the world and more determined than ever to serve the Lord. In such cases, I think we need to make it a little easier for them to rejoin the Family.
65. I feel that any of our teens who leave the Family should not be considered backsliders until they've been gone for six weeks. If, at any time during that six-week period, they decide that they have made a mistake and have had enough of the System and don't want to be there after all, they can return to the Family Home from which they left, knowing that they will be welcomed back. Hopefully, that time visiting their System relatives or whatever they were doing will have given them enough of a taste of the System to want to come back, fully persuaded in their own minds that the System is not the place for them.
66. However, even after just six weeks on their own in the System, we can be pretty sure that they'll need some spiritual cleansing and washing up, so we will need to require that they return on Babes status for three months. This would not be to punish or humiliate them, but would be to provide them with an opportunity to get strengthened and back in the Word and to renew their relationship with the Lord.
67. We don't want to judge them too harshly for their decision to leave. However, because they left their plow unattended in the field, they are obviously quite weak spiritually in the first place, and could therefore benefit from three months of being spiritually restrengthened. They would be freed of all of their previous responsibilities and wouldn't need to keep up with the current mailings, but could devote their time to getting back to the basics and being strengthened in the fundamentals of the Word, getting their questions answered and their doubts dispelled through the washing of the Word.
68. We shouldn't just completely cut them off if they leave. If they are truly God's sheep and they're truly Family material, and they come to their senses within six weeks and recognize that they've made a mistake, that the System is not where they want to be, and they want to turn around and come back, I don't think we should penalize them any further than putting them on Babes status. Of course, once they've been out of the Family for longer than that, then perhaps they should undergo a "trial period" which could be a time of evaluation in a strong Home where the shepherds can assess them for a week or two, and where both we and they can make sure that they are up to the rigors of full-time discipleship before allowing them to move in again, lock, stock and barrel.
PROPHECIES RECEIVED FOR BACKSLIDDEN TEENS
DO/TS 8/94
--By a WS Unit
(The following prophecies were given quite some time after Mama wrote the "When Teens Leave the Family" Letter, and those who received the prophecies had not yet read her Letter.)
1. "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof is death. Those who lean not to Me, but to their own understanding have seen this, for the way of the transgressor is hard. Yet My heart is broken for them and I love them, and as I have said, I am married to the backslider. They have but to turn back and come, to make the first step, and I will take them back. Be not faithless, but believing; for all those that seek Me shall find Me."
* * *
2. "I am married to the backslider, and though they are faithless, yet I remain faithful. I will never leave them nor forsake them. As a father pitieth his wayward children, so I pity these. In the time of affliction and distress they shall call unto Me and My ears shall be opened unto them, for they are My heritage. If I care not for My own, I am as a heathen man. For I care for these, Mine own, My lost and wayward little sheep, the little black sheep, many who have left offended, many who suffered the offence of others.
3. "I have seen the hearts of My children, both their parents and their children. I know their hearts are towards Me and to do good, and I will not hold this sin against them. For, behold, only one sin is unforgivable, and that is rejection of My Spirit, for that way leads to destruction. But if they will turn unto Me even a little bit, then I will turn to them and will light their way and light their path and bring them back again into safe habitations.
4. "For I cannot deny Myself nor My Word, and I have promised that I will never leave you nor forsake you. For, behold, in all the deepest and darkest places of the Earth I shall be with you. If you should try to make your bed in Hell, I will be with you there. If you should try to fly away to the opposite end of the world, yet I will be with you. I will cause those Words that I have put in your hearts during your youth to spring forth, for ye are My children and I will gather you.
5. "Even if I have to wait until I gather you at the Rapture, yet I will gather you. I will not be denied My children. Even at that great Marriage Feast which I shall prepare for My Bride, ye shall be present. There shall all tears be wiped away as I gather you to My bosom, those who held out for so long. For then shall they cry unto Me with bitter weeping and tears for all that they had and that they had lost, and I will fall upon their necks and hug them and kiss them and bring them again into My family, and there they shall abide forever, chastened and yet children.
6. "For even now as these ones wander and roam within the world, seeking to be goats, seeking to deny Me, in their hearts they cannot. For they know that I am their Lord and that I will not be denied. I will work in each one's heart and each one's life to bring them again to Me. Fear not, neither be afraid, for I cannot deny Mine own and I will gather them again, that My Father's house may be full, because no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand.
7. "But sin not. Always pray for these ones. Let not your anger cause you to reject them as the world has rejected you, but pray for them. Cry out to Me for them. Be importunate for them, and I will hear your voice and I will count it unto you for righteousness and I will answer your prayers. For I cannot deny My own, I cannot deny My Word and I cannot deny My Name. If ye ask anything in My Name, I will do it. This I have promised."
* * *
8. "For I do see the condition of these lambs and I see that they are caught in briars and brambles. Some are bound with the cares and the trappings of this world. Some are trapped and entangled by cruel and dangerous bonds. Others are yet more entrapped and more bound and entangled in the briars of pride and rebelliousness. They know the way and they know that they are far from the Shepherd's love. They know the danger, but they cannot loose themselves. They know that they are weak and bound and they have no faith for deliverance. They weep and cry, but know that they are not strong enough.
9. "So I say, feed them, teach them to expect miracles! Give them My miracles! They must look to Me and know that I am a miracle-working God. Many have forgotten this. They have forgotten that the life of faith, the life you lead, is a life of miracles, and without My miracle-working power none of you can stand. So they must be reminded of My miracles. Feed them miracles and search them out with a light that they can see brightly. My searchlight shall be a narrow light, but they shall see it. Make this path straight so that they may see where My light is coming from."
* * *
10. "Have I not said that I am married to the backslider? Yea, I am married even to these wayward children.--And not for a week, nor for a month, nor for a year, but for eternity. I have bound Myself to these, My children, and they shall never be able to escape the helmet of salvation which I have placed upon each one's head. Though they run and try to hide themselves, My still small voice will ever speak in their hearts and minds, ever calling them to return unto My Father's house. For I am the faithful Shepherd and I have these in My hands and they shall not be lost, though they run and hide themselves from Me.
11. "I know the intimate details of each one's lives and their thoughts, their desires and their battles. In My perfect plan I am working on each one with the sole purpose of drawing them back to Me. There are those to whom I give the desires of their hearts, that they may feel the leanness in their souls; there are others upon whom I place My hand of chastisement heavily that they may be forced to cry out to Me. But in every case, every situation and circumstance is straight from My hand, and their lives are still within My control. Even when I have to allow the Enemy to afflict them and torment them, it is part of My plan to bring them back to Me.
12. "And those of you fathers and mothers whose hearts have been broken as ye have watched these precious ones walk away and turn their backs on what you know is the truth and on what you know is paradise, Heaven on Earth, and your hearts do break and ye did weep for them when you had to let them go, harden not your hearts. Let your hearts be broken so that these wayward children can continue to feel your love. No matter how much it hurts you, let them feel your love. No matter how bad they have been, let them know that you are there for them, and in the moment that they choose to return, that you will be waiting as the father of the prodigal son, with your arms held open, waiting to receive them at a moment's notice.
13. "I will reward you for your willingness to stick and to bear this heartbreak and to boldly continue to carry on your duties in spite of the pain and in spite of the loss; that you have been willing to forsake even children for My sake, to maintain your place in the Kingdom and to receive the crown of reward which I have prepared for you. I shall not forget this sacrifice. I shall not forget your tears and the heartbreaks that you have felt, and I will reward you and honor you accordingly. For it is a great thing to Me when I see that you love Me more than even these, your flesh and blood.--That you are willing, even in your pain, to lift up your eyes and to look unto Me and continue to fight the fight of faith.
14. "Ye shall be rewarded, and these wayward ones shall be brought again unto your bosom. There shall be a reunion. For some it shall be sooner, and for others it will be after much time. But there shall be a reunion and there shall be great rejoicing and joy that those which were lost are now found! For none of My children shall be lost. I have a line on each one and I have the helmet of salvation which is protecting each one. For these are My children and I am married even unto these backsliders for Eternity. They are Mine and no man shall be able to steal them from Me.
15. "So lift up your hearts unto Me in prayer and desperation, for there is a great spiritual warfare being waged for these young souls. Many are too weak to fight the battles themselves, so ye must fight for them. That is why you cannot let your hearts be hardened. For if your hearts are hardened, then you cannot fight the battles because you cannot feel what I want you to feel. Therefore, let your hearts be broken that you might be touched with the feelings of their wanderings and their desperation and their loneliness and their embarrassment and the burden which they bear in their pride and rebelliousness.
16. "Call out to Me and call upon My Heavenly forces, that I might deliver these who are caught in the brambles. Cease not to pray for them and fight for them, and especially cease not to love them. For many are looking--not only those on the outside, but even those on the inside. Those faithful ones who have remained are watching you to see what your reaction will be, to see the depth of your love. Do not fail these by failing to have My unending eternal love for even these backslidden ones."
* * *
17. "For all day long and all night long, month after month and year after year have I stretched out My hand to the rebellious and disobedient ones. I have stretched it out with love, with yearning and with longing, that they would come back to Me, that those who are weary would come Home. For there were many of My servants who turned their backs on Me, who also backslid, but I was with each one of them: With Jonah in the belly of the whale, and with Peter when he denied Me. And as I turned and looked on him, he knew, just as they also know that I love them.
18. "It is up to you to show that love to them as well, to also be the hands reaching out, the understanding hearts, the receiving arms, that when they want to come home, they have a home to come home to, and they will know that they will find the Father waiting with outstretched arms. For I am married to the backslider and I seek not to be loosed. I will be with them always.
19. "Ye, as My representatives, must show this love and must exemplify the forgiveness and the understanding that they need. This is your part. For they will tire of the husks and of wallowing in the mire. They will see that it is not what they expected, and many will be pierced through with many sorrows. Ye must help them to see and understand My plan, for they can be stronger than they ever were if they return to Me and to obedience and to the path of life I have before them.
20. "For this is not a grievous occasion for them, but it is a very happy occasion! As the father killed the fatted calf and put the ring on the finger of his son, so can you treat the ones that return in repentance and in submission with forgiveness. It is good that you rejoice, for these were lost and they will be found; they were blind and they will see. For this is My plan and it will be fulfilled, and ye shall see it and be glad."
* * *
21. "He that turneth from the Light that his deeds may be done in darkness, him will I reprove, him will I chasten. For as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten, that they may repent and turn unto Me. Open your doors! Let them know your doors are open, that they which repent and they which seek to walk in the Light may have fellowship again and come to the Light, that their deeds may be wrought in Me."
* * *
22. "I have seen the vanity and vexation of heart of the parents who accuse themselves too harshly concerning their children, whether they be good or turn out evil. What is it to thee how a man shall be? For I am the Author and Finisher of faith. Every soul under Heaven belongeth unto God. He is the guide and He is the ultimate determiner of all. It is before Him that each must answer. Let every man give account of himself before God, and let every man work out his own salvation in fear and trembling. He that walketh uprightly, his steps will I order. I will right his path before Me. But he that is froward, I will let him be froward in many cases, to teach and lead and guide and break.
23. "But though they be as wicked as Hophni and Phinehas (errant sons of Eli the prophet, 1Sam.2) to depart from Me, where shall they go? They cannot escape Me. No child can escape Me. No soul can escape Me. The Lord is ever present and none have escaped. The Lord is before all. Though ye be as holy as Samuel the Prophet, still his children did not turn out as he would have wished. Though ye be as mighty as Gideon to deliver the nation of Israel, still his children disappointed him. Though ye have failed as Eli failed with his children and accuse yourself, still, what is that? For it is the Lord whose hand is upon every soul.
24. "So concern not yourself heavily, or weigh not your soul heavily, but let every man pray. Lift up the arms that are heavy. Seek the Lord for these lost sheep of the house of Israel and I shall deliver them. Some I shall deliver through death. Some I shall deliver through fear. Some I shall deliver with rejoicing, and they shall come bounding across the fields and harvest fields, carrying their sheaves with them. But do not condemn yourselves. This condemnation cometh not from Me.
25. "Commit each child to Me and I will watch over them. Trust in Me. Trust in My wisdom. If they be departed from this Family, so be it. I am still there watching over them. I will determine, I will lead, I will guide. None shall deliver from My hand. It is impossible. None shall change what is written. For I am the author and finisher of every man's faith. Trust in Me. Call upon Me and I will answer you. I will hear you for your children's sake.
26. "Lift the heavy loads of those parents who feel saddened and weakened, as though they had failed Me or they had done some terrible thing that their child departed. Take away that burden from within you. It is not you, it is the free will that I have given every man. Choice is a gift of God. It is the working of God. If they choose to leave, let them leave. That is their choice and I shall be with them to teach them every step of the way, though the road be hard. It shall be a hard road and I shall give them many lashes, but those that be Mine shall return.
27. "Remember, every man's salvation is between him and Me, and these children have made their choice and make their choice. So commit them unto Me."
* * *
28. "Be ye longsuffering and be ye patient, for not every one shall return speedily. For some it shall be soon, for others it shall be later, but ye must be patient. Ye must be longsuffering. Your love must be longsuffering. Ye must continue to hold on, continue to keep holding on to the end of that line, even if the line seems to have gone so far and to be tangled up. Trust in Me and keep holding on to the end of that line. For they shall be redeemed either in this life, or for some, in the life to come.
29. "For many are called, but few are chosen. I do call many unto My service, but not all are chosen to be soldiers in My Army. And these ye must still love. Ye must still hold on to the end of that line to guide them in that which is right. For I have many spheres of service, and I have those who are not fit to be soldiers in My Army but who can be helpers from the outside. But ye must keep holding on to the end of that line on each of My children. Do not let go. Do not give up."
VERSES AND VISIONS:
30. At the beginning of prayer I got, "Many are called but few are chosen" and "these have not chosen Me, but I have chosen them, that they shall bring forth much fruit" (Mat.22:14; Jn.15:16).
* * *
31. The Lord gave me the same verse, "Many are called, but few are chosen." Also, "He that cometh to Me, I will in no wise cast out" (Jn.6:37). I also got the vision that Dad had of the Crystal Pyramid, where the crystals were in darkness and Dad said that if they would just turn their faces toward the light they could be drawn back. (See ML #214.)
* * *
32. I received the verse, "Every branch that beareth not fruit, He taketh it and purgeth it, that it may bring forth fruit" (Jn.15:2).
* * *
33. I saw a vision of an old-fashioned lady sitting at a table writing a letter with a quill pen. The ink that she was using was her teardrops that were falling down on the paper, symbolizing the communication with our backslidden teens. Then I got the phrase, "Love begets love." It reminds me of a time one of our teens was about to leave the Family, and afterwards, when she had decided to stay, she said that she felt that there was no hope and no mercy, that we could never forgive her because her situation was too far gone; but what brought her back was our love and our patience, and that we didn't condemn her.
* * *
34. The Lord gave me a picture of that beautiful painting of the Shepherd, Jesus, on the mountain where He is leaning down and rescuing the sheep that is caught in the brambles on the side of the mountain.
35. Then I saw a vision which was very child-like, but very moving. In Heaven there were these teens lined up and bowing before the Lord. They were presenting their books to Him. I'm not sure if these books were a review of their life or not. But on each page, embossed in gold was a list of all the people that they had reached with the Gospel.
36. There was a teen at the end of the line and all he had was a little chalkboard. He didn't have a book like the other teens, and there were scribbles all over the chalkboard. The Lord just passed by the other teens and went right over and took the chalkboard from this one teen. The Lord had a special eraser and He wiped the chalkboard clean. As the slate was wiped clean, it turned into a book.
37. It seemed like the Lord was giving this teen a whole new book, which could signify a new life ahead and a new start. So maybe in the Next Life he was being given a second chance of some kind. This teen was crying at that point, really weeping, and the Lord was wiping away his tears and hugging him.
* * *
38. I got the phrase, "Where there is Life there is hope."--Life with a capital "L." As long as Jesus exists, there is hope.
* * *
39. As soon as we started praying, I had a vision of these sheep who were trapped in the brambles. They were scattered all over, away from the fold. As I gave the prophecy I wondered, are some of our people going to be Searchers? Are they going to go out and rescue the sheep out of the brambles?
40. Then in my prophecy I got the words, "teach them to expect miracles" and "feed them My miracles." (See para.9.) In my vision there were lines going out to these teens that were feeding them faith, giving them power in their own lives to break free. I didn't see any picture of Searchers pulling them out of the brambles, but I saw a beam shooting out from a lighthouse. It was making a lighted path; everything was dark except for where this lighthouse beam was. It was illuminating the pathway, which was very narrow but very bright, so that all the backslidden teens could see.
41. I got the words, "Make sure each one knows where to look for the light. Make it plain where to look. Make sure they know the way home." The Lord also gave me something about making it public, like a phone number, so that all the teens know about it. I saw the teens being able to call up somebody who would feed them and who they knew was praying for them. I heard all of these different backslidden teens in different parts of the world with their underground communication system, and they were all talking about this number and there was a buzz of activity. The backslidden teens were talking to our YAs and other people that they knew would respond to them and feed them the faith that they needed and let them know that we are specifically praying for them.
* * *
42. I got the parable of casting the net into the sea and drawing it in, and then sorting out the good fish from the bad ones (Mat.13:47,48). The interpretation could be to give all the backslidden teens a chance on a case-by-case basis and find out which ones to keep and which ones not to keep.
* * *
43. I got the story about Moses when he killed the Egyptian. I couldn't understand Moses in this incident as being someone who backslid, but I guess he did at that time, sort of like these backsliders we heard about who want to learn karate and are just looking at things in the physical. And then, like Moses, they have to be exiled and learn that it is a spiritual warfare, and our weapons are not carnal.
* * *
44. At the beginning of our prophecies I saw a vision of the helmet from the Letter, "The Helmet" (ML #1058), that it would always be with these teens.
45. I also saw a picture of Jesus in Heaven really loving each one of them. It was like His love for each of us and each of them was the same. Although the rewards would be different, it didn't change the love at all, it was always stable.
46. Just before the prophecy about the sheep being caught in the brambles, I saw a picture of a sheep that had white wool, but the outer layer was dirty and mucky. Then I got a song about how the Lord really searches out His lost sheep.
47. Then I had a vision where I turned my head up and I saw this straight, brightly lit path. I got the verse, "The path of the just is as a shining light." I didn't quite understand what that meant. I got that the path was like these flat moving walkways you sometimes see. Different people were on it. You are always moving on these walkways, like they have in airports, and likewise we are always moving towards the Light. Some of the people were turning their back to the Light, some of them were walking backwards, but we were all heading on this path toward the Light.
48. While someone was giving their prophecy, I saw this vision again and some of the people on the walkway were holding on to the hands of others who weren't on the walkway. Of course, the walkway is moving and pulling the person who was standing on it, so it was pulling these other people also. Everything in the prophecy about keeping the line strong and holding on to the line of these backslidden teens and not letting go was like a confirmation as I saw this vision.
49. (Closing prayer:) Thank You for speaking, Jesus, and giving us these beautiful and interesting Words of not only encouragement, but guidance and instruction and comfort. We thank You so much for Mama's faith to ask us to pray for these things, and for giving us so much. We pray that we'll be able to do what we can. Even here some of us have backslidden children, and we pray for them, that these Words will somehow be an encouragement for them and that You will help those amongst our own fold here whose children have gone out.--That these Words will be true and faithful for them as well, and that we can put our trust in You that Your Word will be fulfilled, in Jesus' name. Amen.
THANKSGIVING PRAYER FOR CHANGES!
DO/TS 10/92
1. Thank You, Lord, for bringing us to the end of another wonderful day, and for all that was accomplished. Bless and keep us and help us to sleep well again. Thank You for how quiet it's been here and how well we've slept, with no more real bad coughing spells. We're sure it's been as a result of the Family's prayers, because we don't know what it is about this place that's any quieter or better than where we were before. You know best, Lord, that changes and a challenge are good for me and they help to keep me going.
2. Thank You for all the good exercise we've been getting here. Thank You for keeping us safe and secure here in spite of all the possible dangers. Help us to get this task done of building Mama's little closet room where she can have quiet and do whatever she needs to do. Give her continued strength and faith and joy in her work, Lord. She's so courageous, has so much faith and is so cheerful in spite of her afflictions. She works so hard and is so brave. Help us all to be a greater encouragement to her and a help so she can do this wonderful work she's doing for Thee. Thank You Jesus!
3. Although she's been squeezed by this affliction, drops of honey flow out of her mouth, wonderful Letters and advice and instruction for Thy children. You've really inspired her, Lord! Her ministry has been greater since this affliction than it was before. We realize that suffering makes us sweeter and squeezes us a little bit, Lord, to be what You want us to be when we cry to Thee for help. But Lord, when it is Thy will, please deliver her so she won't have to suffer so much. Thank You Lord!
4. Bless and keep us all strong and well and able to serve in all of our very needed capacities. Thank You Jesus! Bless this little cat that comes by to visit us. He must feel a good spirit of love here or he surely wouldn't keep coming back. Bless and keep him safely and help him to have a good home. Help his owners to be good to him.
5. Thank You, Lord, that You've been able to keep us safely here so we can enjoy this change and relaxation and better sleep. Please help the folks we left behind not to feel we've deserted them, but to know that we still love them, we still need them, and they are still a great blessing to us. We're just on the move, always changing, Lord, and liking change. We're profiting from it, benefiting, because it keeps us adaptable and able to take changes, whereby we can learn many things.
6. Without changes we would be too self-confident and too sure of ourselves and our environment. If everything was the same and never changed, we would feel perfectly secure, as many people do, and even feel they can do without You! They are products of their environment. They seem to think their environment made them and that they are perfectly secure because they are in the same home, same school, with the same teachers, same jobs or whatever, Lord, so they don't look to You as we do. The only thing we've had to look to for years has been You, the only thing that doesn't change. "All things change but Jesus never, glory to Your name!" Thank You Jesus!
7. We believe this has strengthened us spiritually, that You have been the only unchangeable thing in our lives! Our homes, our cities, our jobs, everything has always been constantly changing, but we're thankful, Lord, that You never change! You've always been the same stabilizing influence in our lives, the one who has never changed and is always the same and always there to be counted on to remain the same and be our stabilizer. You are the only thing we really need to cling to, and You remain stable, unchanging, always reliable, and we can always count on You. Thank You Lord!
8. Thank You, Lord, that these changes have taught us to rely on You as our only security. We know something about change must do us good or You wouldn't let us keep changing!--Especially me, Lord, I seem to have a need for it, a yen for it, more than some people. But thank You for the dear people who humor me and go along with me and are willing to adapt to these changes themselves in order to help me and please me, like You've helped Mama to do so much. It's been hard on her, but she's always borne it and come through shining, courageous, brave, cheerful, strong and faithful, such an inspiration! Thank You that even for her, for whom changes are difficult, You have turned these burdens into blessings and she's always come through and come around to liking our new situations.
9. It seems like all the changes You've given us have always been changes for the better! You've never taken away one Home unless You've given us another that was better in some way. You've never taken away one job unless You've given us something better, always improving and always making things better for us, giving us the desires of our hearts because we delight ourselves in Thee (Psa. 37:4). You've cast our lines in pleasant places and kept us safe and secure, no matter what the conditions are.
10. Help us to be safe and secure here, and to be careful and prayerful and cautious under these new circumstances. We know that You'll protect us and keep us. Make us a blessing to the people we have contact with.
11. Thank You Jesus for the marvelous success You've given our Family! Thank You for the tremendous witness they've been and for the millions of souls won to Thee! Thank You Jesus! We know that's why the Devil's so mad and is attacking us, because You're causing even the wrath of man to praise Thee, and causing these attacks to make us even stronger soldiers and greater witnesses as we let our light so shine before men that they may glorify Thee, our Father in Heaven! Thank You Jesus! Praise the Lord!
12. In Jesus' name, bless us here, keep us and make us a blessing as we continue to produce the food that feeds Thy sheep! Thank You Lord! Out of that little cubicle that Mama is going to work in shall pour forth rivers of living water, as her Letters have become more and more, to feed thousands around the world. Nobody could dream that so much could come from so little! These boys have set up a little "grainery" for Mama that's going to grind the grain that will feed thousands, yea, millions, around the world! And thank You for the nice little corner You've given me too, Lord, to do Thy work. Bless all the things that go through our hands and make them a blessing to Thy work.
13. Help us, Lord, to just live each day, one day at a time, and not fret ourselves for tomorrow. Each day is enough, and we know not what the morrow will bring forth. You said, "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof" (Mat.6:34). We know that every day has a little evil, a few problems, but we thank Thee there are so few and that our victories are so numerous, our joys are so numerous, our pleasures are so numerous, our health is so good and You're blessing us all. Thank You Jesus!
14. Help Mama's eyes, Lord. We know how through this squeezing of the fruit You've gotten sweeter juice and she's written better Letters than ever, and through this trial she's been a greater blessing to others in holding up the standard of courage and faith and love for all the rest of the Family! Thank You Jesus!--In spite of her affliction. When many others have afflictions too, she's demonstrating how to get the victory over them and how to be an even greater blessing.
15. Thank You for helping us get this area ready for her to work in where she can be assured of privacy and quiet and be alone with You. You said to "enter into thy closet and shut the door and pray to thy Father which heareth in secret, that He may reward thee openly" (Mat. 6:6). May that be true of this Home, Lord, as we go in each time and shut the door, to realize there are great things going on in here that are going to affect the whole world, that people don't realize. Thank You Lord! Thank You Jesus!
16. Thank You for this wonderful little family we have right here to care for us and encourage us and inspire us and make it possible for us to live here. Work out whatever You're working out through this change and through our living here, Lord, and do work and do with us accordingly so that we will do even better than we have before and accomplish more, in Jesus' name, amen!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family