Tag Archives: Children

This may relate to my own children or a group of people who I have devoted to see their lives reveal Him and His goodness.

Let The Children Come To Me…

MarcelThinking about the children.

Today my grandson will undergo minor surgery. My daughter in love will soon give birth to a new baby girl. I love the children. This past weekend I saw all my grandchildren. I was truly grandfathered in! I can not imagine life without them!

Matthew 19:14 but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.” Continue reading Let The Children Come To Me…

It Is The Goodness Of God

Many years ago, much as I do, I wrote about the moments with God. I recently uncovered a couple of years worth. I was reading the following one.

Miracles
They happen all the time, when we least expect it. How many of you have children, particularly teenagers? My stepdaughter and I have had ongoing battles over her dad. Actually, she takes the defensive and I try to walk carefully. What happens usually is she comes home from there with an ATTITUDE. So does my stepson, but that is a different story.

The scriptures say, “the seed of the righteous shall not perish”. I stand on that. I have five children, two whom are stepchildren, 3 teens.

Last night at home group, things were getting very intense over certain subjects, and walking in the world, and maintaining your Christianity. She began to tell us some things and asked for prayer. She cried as I prayed over her, and began to pray for her friend. She received prayer and returned to her seat and we continued on. (Oh, to have known then what I know now!)

People left around 9:30-10 and she was doing the dishes. I asked her how she was doing. She said good, and then looked at me and said, “what you did today changed my life.” I asked her if she meant prayer. She said the release came there, but it had happened earlier in the day.

She had heard me on the phone witnessing to a young man about the Lord. She heard me at one point say, if you have a car and drive down the road 100 miles an hour, there is probably a consequence, whether it be the law, or accident. Just because someone does not believe in the law, it will show them their problem. I compared it to the Word of God, and consequence. This conversation went on for 45 minutes. I am who I am through and through. And when I speak to someone about the Lord, I feel the power. Well, my daughter felt it, too.

She said, “you always tell us to be a witness, but it was never quite as powerful in that moment. I realized you do what you tell us”. She said she was going to tell all her friends about Jesus. Glory.

“The seed of the righteous shall not perish.” I am not a great dad, trust me, ask my kids. But I know the power of prayer and consistency in it. My daughter may still slip and slide, but yesterday, she saw the reason behind what I do. His name is Jesus. She has friends and a father who dabble in the occult. Its real hard for the young people to stand some times.

If you have a child (I am not dismissing friends or adults!) who you are concerned about, engage in warfare. Begin to pray as never before. See your prayer as a hedge around the person. My miracle has taken a lot of prayer, being a stepdad is difficult and uphill. I have compassion for those out there in that position. One of my friends preached on “doing all things as unto Jesus”. It is important to get perspective. We need to claim our miracle and receive it. My stepdaughter wants to go to the hospital now with a woman whose husband is there and pray. She asked me if she could change her plans today!!

Brothers and sisters, your miracle is just around the corner. I believe for it. It is just as easy to believe for a miracle as it is to believe the negative. If you need help in prayer, write.

She is my miracle, and yet God is going to provide more and greater miracles. I believe that our community will never be the same, that my state will never be the same. This is a summer of miracles coming. This 15 year old is going to radically change lives about her. She is not going to stop. She saw her friends, lost, and her compassion rose up and said NO!

Miracles-God’s testimony to His power and what we can not accomplish without Him.

Now, I lost that particular battle (But, I still will win the war.). My emphasis on a lot of things then are considerably different than they are now. My stepdaughter took off to live with her biological dad. She came back 7 years ago. She just celebrated 7 years off heroin.
I tell you that because as you read the above story, you might have thought “wow, how great is that”. But it ended and pain came in for many years.I made mistakes, but she is still my daughter. Always precious, always worth it. When I talk about the “trials” of being a parent, I get it. I made ALL the mistakes. (And how naive was I?)

Let me tell you the greatest understanding I have received in nearly 25 years of walking with Him. “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:42, NKJV). Goodness. And over the years I have come to realize that His goodness in us, through us, is the answer. Ephesians 4:31 says, Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

A young woman who walks with me said, “you love me into change”. Isn’t that it? Loving people into their destiny?

Perhaps the hardest thing for me was to get over my own guilt, my own pain, allowing the Lord to love me, so that I might be able to love others. Being a father or a mother is more than just putting on your big kid pants. Sometimes it requires change. Anyone can put on “big kid” clothes. But it is who is in them that counts.

Many will ask, why did you republish this? Does it not reflect failure? Well, yes, yes, it does. Mine. And keep in mind, it was about hope, about belief. Not necessarily the prophetic. Many things that summer were amazing, but as a friend said yesterday, “what value is revival without reformation”. It is the question. We all love the touch, but is it the spark to character and change?

Fathers Day Week Part 4 – Honor Your Wife

leejohndrowteamI am a dad. I want the best for my children and my grandchildren and all the generations to come. And as I come up to Fathers Day next week, it is my heart to write on 5 things that I think are important to dads. As I listen to my grandchildren pray for their “dad” to return to their life, I cry inside. I hurt for them. So, if as a dad, I can stop one child from going through that, then I feel it is all worth it.

Continue reading Fathers Day Week Part 4 – Honor Your Wife

Joy Comes In The Morning

alyssacamera 004Today we celebrate Jacob’s 7th birthday. (His birthday is actually tomorrow, April 20th.) He is already up and it is not quite 6AM. He wants to get the full treatment!

It is also the 1 year wedding anniversary of my daughter Amy and son-in-love Manley. Add in the fact that they are shortly (May 5th) adding a new baby boy to the household and it is a busy time in the Johndrow household. (Truth be told there are two new babies coming our way in the next few months.) Continue reading Joy Comes In The Morning

A Seed Planted-Potential At Hand

"Use me!"
“Use me!”

A seed planted

This morning as I was traveling back from Boston, I was caught up in the idea of seeds. I thought about all the things a seed will do and what it can hold or contain. Depending on the seed, it has potential to grow trees and create children and supply food.

One of the most amazing things is that the seed is not representative of what the final product looks like. Unlike an Erector Set or Lincoln Logs or Legos in which you can “tell” where the result is headed, when you see a seed you do not know necessarily if it will be big or tall, green or red or pretty much anything else. Continue reading A Seed Planted-Potential At Hand

Manipulation And Control…Meet Grace!

I was ministering in our local fellowship. Our team was there. When I got done, a man stormed out of the service. He was yelling “he did not even mention my blog”. I was dumbfounded. He pushed my wife over into a row of chairs. I was far enough from him that I could not get to him. One of my friends headed out to speak to him. I saw them go out the door together. I knew it would be okay. He had been under lots of pressure lately, so I was not too worried about it. I walked towards my wife and the others who had been pushed aside. Seeing they were all okay, I headed outside. Continue reading Manipulation And Control…Meet Grace!

It Is Time To Do Mighty Exploits!

veldt1252014 Dream

The death squads moved quickly across the veldt. Quietly, other than their shadows no one would have known they were there. They children were huddled up in the corner of the room. Fear was visible on their faces. And then a great light shown in the room.

At first I thought it was a flashlight from one of the men outside, but quickly the light enveloped the room and seemed to dissolve.

The next scene was at a table. The children were laying quietly on the rug in the corner of the room. Looking out the window, I realized we were about 5 kilometers from where we had been just seconds ago. Continue reading It Is Time To Do Mighty Exploits!

The Secret Behind Restoration

It is more than just a place to go. It may be how you get there.
It is more than just a place to go. It may be how you get there.

What is the secret behind restoration?

I had two dreams last night. Very closely related.

First dream
In this dream a large bus was carrying young children to a very remote area to camp. When we got there large tents were there. I saw young people running towards the lake. The water was so pure, so clear I could smell the freshness of it all. Continue reading The Secret Behind Restoration

The Christmas Past

JAcobsantaclausWell, the Christmas season is in full swing. And even if the use of the word Christmas is politically incorrect, I am still enjoying a lot of it. It is less than  a week until Christmas. As I have said in the past I would be lying if I was to tell you I am not excited. The idea of having all my children and grandchildren and maybe a friend or two over is so cool to me. This year we have “let up” on the presents except for the grandchildren to help out some other folks and that is just fine with me. I also broke the “Ann Lander’s rule on Christmas letters” to my clients and readers. So, far ALL the letters were thanking me for being a voice, not listening to Ann Landers and thinking about them. Besides no one would ever take me to be PC (politically correct) anyway.
As I write this I am listening to Christmas carols. The fire is going in “my mind” and the Christmas lights are going. The only thing missing tonight is the voices of the grandchildren. And maybe a hot chocolate with my wife.

Last night I visited some awesome lights!

I am thankful for those who have written me and said “I was going to skip the… tree, Christmas, etc., but you have inspired me.” YAY! Continue reading The Christmas Past

Why I Don’t Believe in Rules

Tina to the rescue
Tina to the rescue

Yep. That’s me. No rules.

I hate rules.

I am a believer in small government, trust in God and helping others. Rules do not make it for me. Laws do not make people better. Taxes do not cause people to be better givers. And I do not need the government to help me help others.

I was not always that way. For instance giving for me was difficult thing. (Having any joy over anything was hard.) Becoming a believer in Christ changed that for me. But I struggled with the rules about giving. Now I just give because I want to. Not because I believe I have to or I ought to. (If you want to tithe or give imputed offerings that is your deal.) Continue reading Why I Don’t Believe in Rules