Have you ever heard someone say, “God moves in mysterious ways”? I sure am glad that statement isn’t true. The will of God doesn’t have to be mysterious.
Here are seven things you can assure your son or daughter of that God has promised for their future.
- God’s will is salvation. Our heavenly Father desires that all of humankind have eternal life with Him. That includes your child.
- God’s will is dominion. Dominion simply means control. God wants your teen to apply His Word and take control of their body, thought life, attitude, and future.
- God’s will is discipleship. We are all to grow in our walk with Christ. As we mature, we are to help others do the same.
- God’s will is unity. Encourage your child’s words and actions to be united with God’s Word.
- God’s will is stewardship. Challenge them to take proper care of their time, money, abilities, and all God has entrusted them with.
- God’s will is relationships. Through the power of relationships, they will be able to accomplish things that would be impossible if they were on their own.
- God’s will is progressive. God has a plan for their life that will be completed one step at a time, not in leaps or bounds.
Source: The Big Black Book For Parents by Blaine Bartel.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Blaine and Lori Bartel didn’t set out to build a place like this. They became it.
Blaine once lived at the top of the ministry world—national TV, a booming youth movement at Church on the Move, and a growing church in Dallas. But while the stage lights were bright, the darkness underneath was darker. A secret 23-year sexual addiction buried everything he valued—his marriage, ministry, finances, reputation, and identity.
Crushed and barely holding on to life, he spent over a year in deep therapy, wrestling with shame and fighting for healing. Then, somewhere on a windswept highway between Kansas City and Tulsa, he heard the voice that lifted him out of the soil:
“I am not going to give you a recovery. I am calling you into resurrection.”
Everything changed.
Blaine found complete freedom and began decoding a Jesus-centered path that leads men out of the grave and into new life. For more than a decade, he’s been guiding other men through that same resurrection.
Lori was walking her own road—rebuilding after 17 years married to a chronic alcoholic, carrying both the wounds and the courage of a woman who refused to stay broken. She was searching for purpose, for peace, for somewhere her heart could breathe again.
Then God crossed their paths.
They met over pasta at Ti Amo (“I love you”—God’s little wink).
A year later, in a simple wedding wrapped in hope, they said yes to each other and to a calling bigger than themselves.
Today—13 years in—they share one mission:
To pull men out of addiction and to rebuild the marriages addiction has shattered.
House of Resurrection is the fruit of the very ground that once tried to bury them—a sacred space for honesty, healing, and brand-new beginnings.
They are joyful parents of four grown kids, proud grandparents of two, and happiest anywhere with lakes, beaches, sunshine, and reminders that darkness never gets to write the final chapter.