Sister To Sister Dialogue

Robin and Lucretia talk about their childhood and the influence their parents had on their faith. They discuss the importance of prayer, seeking God's guidance, and instilling Christian values in their own families. They reflect on the challenges of living for the Lord and the peace that comes from trusting in God. They also mention the troubled times in the world and the need to rely on God's strength and miracles. Hi, this is Robin and my sister Lucretia, I'm going to let my sister jump into the water. Hey everyone, this is Lucretia, I am the middle daughter, Robin is the oldest, I'm the middle. I invited mom and Robin to come and visit us and check out our new digs and they've been enjoying themselves. We had a really fun time today and tasting some olive oil. We tasted like maybe five or six different flavors of olive oil. So many different kinds and you know some of them are mild, some of them are strong and robust. I was educated today and that was just so much fun and mom was having a blast. It was so very beautiful, I was totally surprised at the beauty of Texas. There were really beautiful areas, mountains and trees and country-like settings. So I really enjoyed myself today, even though it rained like crazy. Yes it did. Yeah, there was a tropical storm. My sister and I decided, okay, let's do a podcast together and maybe talk about our childhood. Yeah, I was in agreement with Robin. I just said, Laura, you know, I'm going to jump out in the deep water today with you and I'm just so happy you and mom are here. Getting our feet wet to do this podcast together, sitting here in the studio. Go and just reminisce our childhood and so does that sound like a great idea? It sounds like a great idea to me. But you know what, I want to just talk about, just a second, about this morning. Mom is 92, will be 92 and she was having some aches and pains. Lord put into our heart to pray for her. But let me back up a little bit more. My sister is a massage therapist and so I said, well, how about giving mom a massage before we leave and then let's pray. We called mom down. She sat in the massage chair. We started praying for mom's healing. She had like arthritis in her joints, in her neck, in her arm, her hands. We prayed until the power of the Lord came down. We knew it. We were rejoicing, praying in our prayer language. We claimed healing. We claimed that God would do all that he promised, like when we come before him with our knees. It was just a beautiful, beautiful time of coming before the Lord. It kind of brought us back to our childhood. Isn't that what you think, Lucretia? Oh, yes. Our childhood. Wow. All we knew was going to church and serving, having a harmonious family, no arguments. Well, well, well. A little bit. A little bit. Sibling rivalry. Just a little. Yeah, we used to go outside and argue because so mom wouldn't hear us. But we truly didn't argue. We really did. But mom and dad, they trained us in the way that we should go. Right. Well, they really, really took seriously the scripture in Proverbs, the 22nd chapter, where it says, train up a child in the way he should go. And when he is old, he will not depart from it. Not only discipline-wise, but also Godly-wise. We were just talking this evening about how we were in church, like, not just one service on Sundays. We were at Sunday school, morning service, and then we had youth service at 6 o'clock, and then evening service. And then we went to church on Wednesday. They instilled God in us. Not only that, what else did we do at home? Oh, my goodness, Robyn. You remember the times. We'd be looking at TV, and she'd tell us to come on in, gather in around the bedside. She would pray. And we wouldn't get up our knees because she was done. That's right. And we may have been tired or whatever, but we respected our grandmother and our grandfather. They truly believed in showing us the way and how to get closer to the Lord, even as young children. You know, even in our home, mom and dad, I'd pray every night, whether we wanted to or not. Right. Remember that? Yeah. It was a beautiful thing. It really gave us purpose in the kingdom of God. It gave us a sense of identity in Christ. It taught us how to respect God and love God and really know of His faithfulness. We never heard our parents complain when there was a concern, a struggle. We took it to the Lord in prayer. Thank you, mom, and thank you, dad. for instilling those practices, those Christian values, the importance of knowing God in our lives. And the Bible definitely does say that when you are old, you will not forget it. It will be in our hearts and in our minds. And when we go through challenges in our lives, those things will rise up and we can remember how good God is, that God is good all the time, and all the time God is good. Yeah, mom. During church time, I did different occasions like Christmas and Easter. They had each parent to pick out some type of recitation for their children to memorize. Oh, yeah. Ours was always long. Always. Maybe much longer than other children at the church. Yeah. And I remember being so disappraised to speak in front of people. I got over it and after I was done, what a relief. Yeah. And I saw mom smile, you know, like, you did it. Yeah. And we wanted to please our parents. We wanted to just let them know that mom, dad, we love you and we want to please you. Other children at the church, they may have been getting in trouble. You know, we tried to stay out of trouble. Yeah, we did. We did. We always told each other or we even told mom and dad, God gave you really good kids. God is just so good. And he had his hands on all of us. Yes. But it started with the training that we got. I heard mom say I wasn't going to make it to heaven. On my mother's prayers, I had to know God for myself. Right. You know, I had that personal relationship with the Lord that was so important. As we got older, Faithy, we had to read the scripture, pray to God, and believe in the foundation. To me, that's the greatest thing is showing the light in your family. Sometimes that's the hardest, Lucretia. Wow. You know, for a family. Right. And I think that's why we all are living for the Lord today. Yes. And serving him. Can I read Joshua? Yes. 24. All right. In verse 15, And if it seems evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your father served, that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And we knew that was true in the house. It was. Our parents, they felt convicted. They felt, you know, they were very convinced certain things weren't good for us. And they stood upon that, and they didn't waver. Matthew 6.33. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and then all these other things will be added unto you. So scripture tells us that even when we acknowledge him in everything that we do, he'll direct our path. Come to him and ask for wisdom. He will give it to us. He promises that his Holy Spirit would lead us and guide us and direct us in the path that we should go. So I thank you. I thank God for my parents. I thank God for my grandparents. And I thank God that this is the path that I have personally, and I know the Crusades, and my other siblings have chosen for their families to seek God first, his righteousness, and then all these other things will be added unto you. Yes, education is good. Just knowing how to survive in this world is good. The most important thing is for us to seek God, pray, read God's word, desire to come into his presence. Those things are the greatest gifts for ourselves and a great gift for our children. Well, Robin, you know, I was sitting here. I was listening to you. I was sitting here thinking, you know, how did you feel about the household that we would be in? I was going out on a little date, and my brother went with me. Yes. My little brother went with me. He was in the back seat. And that was just something that the parents, I guess, maybe it was passed from generation to generation. Yeah, that stuck in my mind. Crazy. Yeah. I do remember that. But that was one of the things that I thought was like, maybe that's a little bit too much. You know what? They were just trying to protect us. Yes. They were trying to keep us from falling into certain kind of temptations. They were, it's because they loved us. There's another scripture. You were talking about Philippians 4 and 6 and 7. Talking about do not be anxious. And so it seems we can find that. Philippians chapter 4, verse 6 and 7. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding shall keep your hearts mine through Christ Jesus. So, you know, we just had to kind of get over some of those, you know, we asked, the reply was no, you can't. We knew that there must have been a reason why our parents just wanted to keep us shielded from the world and have to ask God to help us get through it. Yeah. And the Lord would give us peace. We're passing that on, our inheritance. Right. It's so great. Yeah. And it's just important that we tell our children, you know, about the Lord and how He makes our lives so rich, you know, if we have Him in our lives. Right. I definitely agree with that Lucretia. Thinking about what's going on in the world right now. Oh my gosh, we're definitely living in troubled times. There's just so, so, so much going on. There's a lot of stress out there. There's a lot of anxiety. There's depression. You know, even young people are thinking about taking their own lives. It's just so much pressure. And we know that it's the work of darkness that is behind all this. So just the scripture that you just read in Philippians 4, 6-7 just says, do not be anxious. God is with us. God will hold us by His righteous hand and He will stabilize us on the rock and keep us from falling and slipping. We believe that. And there's one thing I'm thinking, Lucretia, that the parents bringing us up, they really believe God as a miracle worker. And I remember that vividly. Wow. The prayers for healing, the prayers for deliverance. That's just what happened back in the day. They would have ten revivals and saw God as a miracle working God, as an all-powerful God. But our brother... Mom said he had scarlet fever, but it was some type of strep throat condition where it could settle into a major organ. For some reason, his skin tone became like an ash gray. He ended up falling sick. He couldn't go to school. He was homeschooled. That was a difficult time for Mom and Dad. So Dad, being the faith person that he was, he really believed in prayer and fasting and believing that God can heal. Before we knew it, it was like, wow, what is going on with my brother? But I remember him being home. We decided to take him to the faith healer. It was wonderful. Mom didn't go for some reason, but the rest of us went with Dad in Fresno. Praise God. I remember Dad took him up to the front and they prayed the prayer of faith. For some reason, we just knew Jared was healed that day. Mom and Dad began to take Jared back to his appointment. Gradually, God's healing began to manifest itself. He was getting better and better and better. Before we knew it, Jared was healed. I have no doubt that the physicians were amazed. How can you go from possible kidney transplant to healing? Healing is a process. Yes, it can be. Yes, it can be a process. Yes, God is a God of miracles, but He also is a God of healing. Thank God for beautiful memories of God. We didn't have a doubt that God was real. By what we saw, by what we heard, by the example, by the light. Knowing that God is real. Even though the enemy of our souls, the devil, is out there trying to steal, kill, and destroy. We have to remember God has come that we might have life and have it more abundantly. That means us. We can take it for us. He's already done it. It's for us. It's not like we deserve it. We don't deserve nothing. Because of God's grace. Because we belong to Him. We've given our hearts to Him. We live for Him. We are telling our children about Him. They're living for Him and they're seeing that God is real. Our parents knew who they were in Christ. That we are more than conquerors in Him. When the enemy tries to come in, God is there to fight for us. To me that's just a beautiful example that we can live a life of victory. We thank God for that. We thank God for that. We encourage our listeners to not give up. Don't give in. Don't become wearied in well doing. Keep praying for your children. We know that children, our teens, our young people are going through challenges. We were talking about that earlier too. Challenges that we never went through. So more than ever we need to let them know that they can be blessed by God. That God hears them when they pray. That God will answer their prayers. That God loves them. God will strengthen them. God will just give them the desires of their heart if they seek Him first. That's right. So Lucretia did you have any last words? No. You're just hitting the nail right on the head. If they seek Him first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these other things will be added to them. Don't worry about following the crowd. Don't stand alone. But God is with you. God is with you. And He wants to use you. He wants to do great exploits in you. And you've got to be stronger these days. You know that the devil is the enemy of our souls. He grows darkness. He's the prince and the power of the air on the earth. But God's power is even though sin abounds but grace much more abounds. So God will give us even more tools and more, you know, just what we need. Give us whatever we need and it will overpower. God's power in us, living in us will overpower the kingdom of God. Young people have to believe that. But they have to be equipped. They have to be equipped. So I encourage our parents to continue like you said, Robin. Don't give up. Pray for your children. Take them to church. If they say, I don't want to go. Say no. As for me and my house, we are going to serve the Lord. If mommy's there at that age, you're still responsible for their soul. There's no option. Because when we grew up there was no option. Yeah, there was no option. And mom and dad, our blood will not be on their hands. That's right. But now that we're in the accountability, now we're responsible for our own souls. Right. Let us as parents pray and ask God for wisdom. We don't know what these kids are facing on the school campuses. We don't know the bullying, the indoctrination, the gender confusion. There's just a lot of things that our kids are facing. Parents, let's pray for our grandchildren. Pray for our children. Curse them. Love on them. Just don't find being negative all the time. But look for the good in them. Let them know that they can make it. Remind them of who they are in Christ. And let the family be a place of peace and joy. The home, a place of refuge and strength. I think it's a tragedy when our young people are facing difficulty on the outside and then when they come home, it's the same thing. Wow. To me, that's a tragedy. So let's make sure our home is a place of love and embracement and nurturing in the name of Jesus. Thank you, Lord, for this time. Dear Father, we thank you for this time. We thank you, Lord, for who you are, Lord. And we thank you for our upbringing. Oh, God, we thank you for our grandmothers and our parents, Lord, who showed us the way, showed us, oh, God, that we could have a personal relationship with you, oh, God. And if we, Lord, just face any difficult situations or anything that's too hard for us, Father, even if we do, we can come home to our parents, Lord, and discuss and talk about what's bothering us, Lord. And, Father, that we can live, oh, God, for you. It's not impossible for our young people to live for you, oh, God. Just help our parents, Lord, to do their job and bring their children up in the way that they should go. Lord, your word says they will not depart. And, Father, we thank you. Lord, we stand on that promise, oh, God. And we ask, Lord, to bless each family, bless each person that hears this podcast today. Help them not to give up. Help them, oh, God, to be strong in the Lord and the power of his mind. Lord, help our parents to put on the whole armor. Teach them to put on the whole armor of God that they may be able to withstand against the wiles of the devil. Oh, God, it's not impossible. Lord, we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. And the love of God, Lord, will shed abroad in our hearts toward one another. We thank you for this time. We love you and we praise you. And, Lord, we're looking for great things in our young people, great things in our family. We thank you. Amen. This is Robin from New Generation Christian Family Matters. We hope you enjoyed this podcast. If you need prayer, please contact us. If you have something to say, I promise we will listen.