What's in a Parent?

I'm very excited to have another young adult giving a "faith at home" testimony! Let me introduce you to Mackenzie, a senior in college. A self-identified "PK", he shares how the faith of his parents has impacted the young man he has become.

What’s In a Parent?

“What’s in a parent?” That’s a question I’ve been pondering as I have grown and matured for the last few years now, transitioning out of my collegiate career and into a new time of life that will—Lord-willing—allow me to become a parent to my own little ones someday. Being raised by parents who honor the Lord in what they say and do has shown me not only the irreplaceable value of having a supportive Christian environment at home but also the incredible importance of living that faith out on my own two feet. Let me elaborate a little more on this.

Being a ‘PK’—a pastor’s kid, a.k.a. ‘one of those kids’—naturally came with its own sets of pressures and challenges. This seemed to be compounded by the fact that I grew up in a small town where the rules of life teach that reputation is everything. To make for more of a gushy story, I attended a Christian school my whole educational career—K-12 and college! With all that said, I’m completely aware of the overall response many will think when reading these last few sentences: what a poor, sheltered life. It wasn’t until the last half of my time in high school, however, that I began to understand the immense blessing that God had undeservedly poured out on my life in the form of godly parents and a God-honoring upbringing. You may call it sheltered, but I call it a gift from the Lord. Here’s why…

First, experiencing ‘faith at home’ has enabled me to see two examples of how the Christian life should be lived: in humility, service, and love (no, my parents did not pay me to say this). I can’t stress enough the incredible importance of having at least one close godly figure in one’s life that can act as an encouragement, an example, and a sharpening agent to walk through this sanctifying spiritual journey with. To have not one but two of these figures in my life has been a tremendous benefit to my spiritual growth, especially through awkward and uncertain times, e.g. late elementary and junior high. Second, ‘faith at home’ has allowed for a spiritual foundation that I have been able to launch from as I entered into the college years. I think of those times when I was small, and my dad would lift me up onto his shoulders. I’d feel so adventurous and brave! This picture is similar to what I’m trying to convey here: the spiritual foundation laid by my parents who prayerfully lived godly lives in the midst of my maturation into adulthood has enabled me—in a sense—to use their shoulders as a foundation for me to launch from as I jumped into the great unknown called ‘college and beyond.’ Last, knowing that the Lord has blessed me with a home environment that has been especially inducing to my own walk with the Lord leaves me feeling graciously humbled as I recognize that it has not been an independent effort to establish my own spiritual life. Of course, salvation is an individual decision, but we were not meant to live the Christian life on our own.

Knowing God has so graciously ordained my life to be filled with godly examples such as my parents has forced me to see that He alone is the reason that I am alive in Him, walking in His grace, and pressing on toward the goal. So what’s in a parent? I suppose the only way to fully answer that question is to wholeheartedly continue to follow our heavenly Parent, our Father.