There are lots of conversations these days about the growing gap between the rich and the poor, the "haves" and the "have-nots." One presidential candidates talks about "two Americas." Much debate occurs over whether or not we should offer health care and government assistance for those who can't or won't do for themselves. But the disparity doesn't just occur in an economic sense.

Recently after church, my husband, Dave, and I went to lunch. Our 18-year-old waitress talked to us about her uncertain plans for the future. "I don't know what I want to do," she said. "I think I'll just take some general courses in college and then try and figure things out."

As she was talking, I thought about the gap between the spiritual haves and have-nots. This young girl before me had no idea that she could ask God to guide her in these all-important decisions. She had no idea He was interested in her life. She had no idea that all the days ordained for her were written in His book before even one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16). She had no idea.

I recently experienced the privilege of helping to lead a woman to Christ, who is going through a major crisis in her life. She doesn't have time to mature spiritually before tackling these challenges. I feel helpless in knowing where to begin to equip her for these major life decisions. If she'd been raised in a Christian home, she would have the foundation--even if she hadn't built her life upon it to this point. The time to dig the foundation is not when an earthquake happens. The foundation has to be built long before if the house is to survive.

That's why Jesus talked about the wise man who built his house on a rock. Rain, floods, and winds came "but it [the house] did not fall, for it was founded on the rock" (Mt. 7:24-27). The guy who built his house on the sand, however, didn't fare so well. "And great was its fall."

Everyone encounters difficulties in life. I did. And when I did, it wasn't how much money my parents had left me that equipped me for the challenge. It was how much spiritual foundation they'd given me that made the difference and showed me how to make the right choices.

So it is to all the parents and grandparents reading this today that I dedicate these words. Help your child dig a firm foundation on the rock of God's Word. Give them guidelines for navigating their lives. Model for them and instruct them on how to have a personal relationship with God. Show them that He cares and that they can go to Him about anything.

And when it's not your child but maybe your have-not waitress, take out your shovel and help her dig, too. Do it now, before her earthquakes come.