Beautiful Balance

I spend a lot of time thinking and praying about missions and family, especially the balance and combination of the two. Hopefully I will write more on this later, but for now here is a quote by Denny Kenaston, in describing William and Catherine Booth (founders of the Salvation Army) and their family, that God used to greatly encourage me today. I found it in a book I am reading, The Mission Minded Family.

..They had a beautiful balance of two major commands in the Word of God. They were to win souls, and to raise your children. God's kingdom is built in these two ways. We are commanded to train up a generation of children who love God with all their heart, mind, and soul. We are also commanded to preach the Gospel and to make disciples in the world around us and in all the world. These two commands can easily get out of balance. History is full of examples of men who won the world and lost their children. On the other hand there are innumerable cases where parents focused on the children, and did nothing to win the lost world around them. This type of parent tends to raise a generation of separatists who quickly become ingrown, legalistic, and unconcerned for their neighbors' lost condition...

I'm so glad God has chosen these two modes of spreading His Kingdom. And I'm so glad that He has made a way for me to be involved in both, in fact for them to intersect. With His help I don't want to neglect one for the other. If I keep my focus on Him, He will keep it all in beautiful balance.