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Many of you reading this newsletter are parents having children you would like to influence spiritually.
We are part of a small group of adults from our church that gathers for laughter and spiritual encouragement each week. At various times we have all expressed the feeling that we have utterly failed as parents.
Sometime this past year I read a book about faith where the author distinguished doubt from unbelief. Perhaps this is a distinction I had heard before, but it came at a time where it served as great encouragement.
Doubts are those questions, nagging suspicions, unvoiced waverings that each of us feels in response to so many of life's commitments. Doubt is part of this journey. It comes at moments unexpected and unsummoned, stays for some period of time, and then departs. For some, doubt feels as though it takes up permanent residence. But you can continue to act on your core beliefs even while experiencing doubt. Particularly if you are connected with others who share those convictions.
Unbelief is a state of rejecting some belief, value, or framework. Unbelief must be conquered.
Unbelief is having the switch in the "off" position while doubt is experiencing a dimming of the lights.
Think of a belief as a plant rooted in one's life. Doubt covers a range of experiences from feeling as though the plant isn't there, to feeling as though it is there, but being pulled up by the roots; to feeling as though it is there, but not as wonderful or productive as one had thought.
With unbelief there is no plant - rooted or otherwise. The belief is rejected. It may be that one looks at others who are cultivating the plant with bemusement or disdain. You may be convinced that the plant is illusory or that it isn't worth growing, but you are confident that it is not part of your life.
The point: Watching your children struggle with doubt may be terribly difficult, but doubt is not unbelief. If your child is genuinely experiencing unbelief than you are trusting for conversion (a radical change in perspective) and not merely confirmation.
In either situation, it is a reminder that your child's journey, whether that is a journey of faith or intellectual development, is her own and cannot be traveled for her.
Is it any wonder that so many of us as parents find strength in prayer for those we love?! | 
