The Vance Family

This is how Amira likes to travel!

A few years ago I had all the answers. If you asked, I could probably give some [pretty good] advice on being a great spouse, raising practically perfect children, preaching fantastic sermons, and whatever else you’d like to throw my way. I even had Bible verses for all that!

But the old saying I’ve heard said a thousand times now rings true in my life…

“The older I get, the less I know!”

Marriage, ministry, raising children and life in general takes hard work, tireless determination and God’s grace. It is easy to talk about and hard to do.

I remember countless times seeing THAT child at Walmart (you know who I’m talking about!) and thinking… “That will never happen with my kids.” You know, the boy who whines, screams and openly rebels against his parents. The girl who gets what she wants, when she wants, and how she wants it… or else. The kid that is nothing less than a brat.

Well, guess what… God has blessed me with a wife and a munchkin of my own! Suddenly, I realized things really aren’t as easy as I had supposed. Just this week we were at the store and in a moment which snuck up on me like a tiger on its prey, I was that parent with that kid.

And you know what? The more I am blessed to lead a family, the more I realize something… we desperately need God’s presence in each of our lives! You see, no matter how much discipline, structure, schedule and consistency we have in our parenting, it is human nature to rebel. We are born in iniquity and foolishness, and without God’s grace we will continue in that same rebellion until our last breath.

Aubrie and I hope to raise children that fear the Lord, respect his Word, and enjoy serving him. But above all else we want to see them individually submit themselves to God’s loving hand when they understand their need of his salvation. That is why we try our best to have family devotion time. This has been one of the hardest things to keep regular and consistent in while traveling on the road, but the need for us all to meditate on God’s Word and commune with him in prayer is paramount. They need the Word of God. I need the Word of God.

Raising a child while on the road has its challenges. We’re blessed that [as of right now] Amira loves to travel. Going “bye-bye” is one of her favorite things to do! Spending hours in the car going from one meeting to the next is still something fun for her. It’s hard to believe she’ll be two this month, and it’s hard to believe that in just over 2 months we’ll meet her baby sister (who is still unnamed, by the way). With the Lord’s help we hope to live by the principle found in Proverbs 22:6

“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”

How do you and your family do devotion time together? What advice do you have and what challenges do you face? Leave your answer in the comments… I’d love to hear from you!

Here’s a recent video of us reading through a chapter in proverbs together as a family. Amira likes to repeat the phrases sometimes, it really is cute. We love you guys! Thanks for following us and for your prayers.