With the North American Christian Convention being in our "backyard" over at the prestigious Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, we had contacts with a few people who were interested in bunking out with us for the convention to save hotel/motel costs. The ones that contacted us first were Brian and Misty Gorman. Brian is the former Senior Minister of the Robinson Christian Church near Cynthiana, Kentucky. He is currently the Senior Associate Minister of the First Christian Church, Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Brian and my oldest son, John, are good friends. John introduced Brian and Misty to each other while they were in school together at Kentucky Christian College. While Brain was at Robinson, John was at Indian Creek Christian Church on the other side of Cynthiana. Now they work together in Kenosha at the same church. Having Brian and Misty with us was like having a part of the family with us. Before Brian left for Wisconsin he and I had become friends and golf buddies, spending quite a bit of time together.
With them in our house I got to know one very important family member. No, not Misty. It was their fifteen month old son, Elijah. Elijah and I got the chance to spend some quality time together in play and just kicking back and relaxing; which for Elijah, didn't take long. Relax was not his forte. It was more like, run. There is a reason men and women meet and marry and raise their families before they hit their mid fifties. Keeping up with a budding toddler reminded me of that reason.
However, it also served to set the stage for what will take place over the next several months with my own grandchildren. Our twins are now eight months old and in the preliminary stages of crawling. Right now they hop and roll a lot. But before long… What I have to keep reminding myself is that they were supposed to only be six and one half months old by now. They were six weeks premature at birth. My expectations are just whatever they begin doing when they begin doing it. Children develop at different rates. We need to keep that in mind when dealing with new Christians.
New Christians will develop at a variety of rates depending on their spiritual environment, age and interest. One thing is a constant. They need to know that God is not just a Savior but that He is gracious. "As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious." 1 Peter 2:2, 3 The overwhelming truth of the cross is wrapped up in the immeasurable grace of God. When I showed Elijah I would carry him and play with him, he would reach for me. God's grace is God carrying the Christian. How much the Christian reaches out for God in that relationship determines their growth.