Walking with God as a Christian Parent – my Interview

I am extremely humbled to have been interviewed by Dr Phillip Towndrow for his new book, Walking with God as a Christian Parent – Developing wisdom for the 21st century.

As Rev Ezekiel Tan puts it, “Raising a child today is more challenging than ever before, with an unprecedented range of influences and experiences making an impact on parenting decisions.”

It is indeed not easy for parents to navigate the complex landscape our children are growing up in and with each of my 6 children, I am constantly learning something new.

At the heart of the book are 8 personal sharings of how God has worked in the lives of these parents, with lots of wisdom to be found.

Dr Towndrow expertly extracts the pertinent points, guiding readers to avail themselves of the insights and practical advice.

Walking with God as a Christian Parent

The 8 chapters include: Intentionally Passing on the Faith, Sowing Seeds Building Foundations, Sharing the Treasure I have Found, The Parenting Project, The importance of Presence, I cannot Fail, Discipline and Parenting, and my chapter is titled – Walking with God.

Here’s an excerpt:

Michelle also has a deep grounding in God’s divine provision. She explains her personal circumstances in simple yet impactful terms:

Even when it comes to my children and the schools they wanted to get into, my friends would ask, “Hey, what are your plans?” Everybody had plans. They would either send their kids to all kinds of tuition to get the necessary grades or they had other plans through sports or the arts.

I had no plans. I had total faith in God’s provision of what was best for them. To me, kids should be kids. My third daughter just went into Secondary school this year. In the end, to everyone’s amazement, she got in through DSA (Direct School Admission) in a sport she’s never played in her life.

I remember the day we went to church and I prayed so hard. It was funny. I prayed for two things. To get into her sister’s school, or a mission school. I wanted her to be involved in a sport that I didn’t have to pay for. And she told me, if the appeal was granted after school had started, she didn’t want to transfer. Within a few days our prayers were answered perfectly, just before school commenced.

And that’s how I live. I know that things will be fine. If there’s anything I need to discern, I simply go to the adoration room in church and pray about it, with all my heart and all my soul, and I will get my answer, either through people, through the psalms in Church with touch me deeply, or other signs. When my last child started preschool, I wanted to do some meaningful work. I had so many criteria – flexible timing, minimal work during the school holidays, working with passionate people in an area I was interested in. It seemed a long shot, as I had not worked much in the past 15 years. I prayed about it, and the most perfect opportunity came about, with all my criteria met!