Parker lost his first tooth this weekend. You should have seen my family. We cheered, gave high fives and hugs, and acted like Parker won the lottery. My sister called it a rite of passage. I think Grandma might have cried because her grandson was growing up. Looking back, it was a little surreal. It doesn’t seem like such a big deal now as I write about it. But yesterday, it was a big deal. It was a milestone.I never used to think much about milestones. I don’t think many people do until they become parents. It is a scientific fact -- your brain gets weird when you become a parent. Consider the evidence. Before you have children, you think about normal things: sports, the weather, how you can save money for buying books and CDs without your spouse finding it and spending it on Sonic drinks. You know, regular stuff.
Then one day you have a baby and you think differently. You forget about sports and the weather and you start keeping track of odd things related to your children: their first poop, their first set of clothes, their first sneeze, their first real foods, their first steps, their first words, their first day of school, their first loose tooth,…. you get the picture. Milestones help us keep track of development.
I got to wondering about spiritual development. Most theologians agree there is a progression of faith. It is not just that we become closer to Jesus. Our faith actually changes as it grows. It looks different over the years. And I got to wondering about milestones in spiritual development. What are the markers that our faith is changing and growing? Here are few items to ponder…
- Your first prayer (other than for salvation)
- Your first answered prayer (I remember mine)
- The first time you read the Bible on your own and God spoke to you through it.
- Learning to tithe.
- The day you realize life--including your own salvation--is not about you.
- The first person you lead to Jesus.
I’m interested in your thoughts. What are the significant milestones to the Christian life? I would love to hear from everyone, but especially from those who in their spiritual journeys have put a few miles on the tires.
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4 comments:
One of the biggest milestones for me spiritually was when I realized that not only did I NOT agree with everything my parents believed but that it was okay that we had different opinions. As a child growing up in a family where church was very important, it took me awhile to begin questioning things I'd been taught my whole life. It wasn't until I got into college that I began searching for the reasons behind those beliefs. I spent a good amount of time arguing with my parents about certain spiritual things -- trying to win them over to my side so that we could all believe the same thing all the time. Eventually I realized that we can believe different things (although, in our case, our basic faith remains the same) and they can still be my parents and I can still be their daughter and we can still be Christians who share their faith. This was both a difficult and relieving lesson to learn. It's hard to realize your parents may not always have the answers--especially when you've looked up to them your whole life; but it's a relief to go your own way and feel confident about it.
A big milestone for me has been learning to be patient and understand God's timing & perfect plan for your life. That is a hard thing when you want to have it all planned out a certain way and then it doesn't work out that way. If I start out by giving it over to God instead of trying to plan it myself it always works out so much better.
A couple of other things on this post....
-Congrats to Parker on the tooth
-I hope that there has been a picture taken of that for the scrapbook
-Shame on you for blaming Shanda for stealing your secret money to buy Sonics....those are necessities, CDs & books are not
We've actually talked about this inmy class the last two weeks in connection with the topics of sanctification and being filled with the Spirit.
We agreed that some see a slow steady growth and others have times of what evolutionists called "punctuated equilibrium" where something occurs that causes a rapid growth spurt. Both methods are valid as God deals with each of us differently and we respond differently.
i remember when i was a kid i would pray for some kind of super spiritual lightning bolt that would make me a mature believer. Never got it.
But after 25 years of prayer and study i "suddenly" realized i was a semi-mature believer. it was just a very slow lightning bolt.
Another milestone for me....
Realizing that being a "good Christian" didn't involve keeping a list of do's and don'ts.
Does anyone else see, as a general rule, that as faith grows there is a transition from being more to less legalistic? It seems to me that new/immature Christians stress over following rules. And these rules are often black and white. As we grow, we become less interested in the rules and we acknowledge that many areas are shades of gray.
Just thinking out loud....
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