Are You Raising Influencers for the Kingdom?
Last year an image of a teenage boy standing at a flagpole alone made its way around the globe, the story garnering the attention of our nation. A high school junior had chosen to pray in front of his school all alone, in plain view of onlookers and passersby. One of those onlookers posted about this act of bravery and faith in a local community group. Through this post I learned that my son, Hayden, was the young man who’d decided to stop and pray when he could have kept on walking.
The sight of him standing alone at that flagpole interceding for our nation brought grown men to tears and weary women who hadn’t prayed in thirty years back to their faith. Our entire family found ourselves humbled and amazed by how God used this one act of standing alone in obedience.
No one knew the story behind the story. Not a single person who flooded our inbox with words of love, encouragement, and praise for Hayden knew how he’d struggled throughout his freshman year. After he struggled to find a place of belonging, after coming home each day discouraged, after failing to make the teams he tried out for, seemingly unable to locate his place on campus, I began earnestly seeking a private school alternative for Hayden.
Can you believe I found one? We couldn’t afford tuition, and yet I found an option for Hayden to return on scholarship to a private school he’d previously attended. I was positive he’d be over the moon with excitement, literally doing a dance around the living room in delight.
Instead, Hayden was thoughtful, tentative. This was not the response I had anticipated. When I asked, “Why the perplexed demeanor?” he simply replied that he “needed to pray about it.” My deeply-connected-to-Jesus son did pray about it. Then he told me he felt strongly that the Lord wasn’t done with him at his school. There was still more he wanted him to do. When I finished crying, I told Hayden we should begin praying that the Lord might show him what specific strategies and tools he had in mind. What did God’s plan for Hayden look like on his campus?
Since then, Hayden has led multiple students to Christ, is leading a growing Bible study, and is thriving in choir and theater. Students who are hurting or want to know more about Christ often approach my son for prayer or discussion about faith.
I wonder, what if I had pushed him into going back to private school? What if I hadn’t trusted his ability to hear from Jesus?
My daughter is five and starting kindergarten this year. She’s impressionable and outgoing, a sponge who absorbs everything from her environment. The thought of sending her to public school sends shivers down my spine. My health doesn’t allow for homeschooling. Private school seems like an obvious choice, and yet my husband and I have found ourselves seeking God’s face. What is his will for our child? God he sees what we cannot, and knows what we do not. It’s too easy to make assumptions.
Having taught in public schools for many years, my eyes are wide open. I know these are decisions to be made prayerfully and carefully, with all the knowledge at hand. These are not one-size-fits-all decisions.
I also know that wherever my children receive their education, they are not immune to the impact and influence of culture. Daily I pray over and for them. Daily I pray the Lord will use them and anoint them to minister to their community. Daily I pray that he will protect them from anyone who might seek to harm them in any way.
Wherever they receive their education, may our children be influencers for the kingdom of God, making disciples of all men.
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Stacey Philpot is wife to Ryan and mother to Hayden, Julie, and Avery. She is a writer, goofball, and avid reader. Stacey has ministered for over 15 years to youth and women in her community in order to equip them to go deeper in Christ. She blogs at aliferepaired.com and chronicallywhole.com.
Photograph © Scott Webb, used with permission
