Monday, May 19, 2008

"Angels"

I am becoming aware of some things by being a parent in suburbia. The parents (and I MEAN A TON OF THEM) think their children are "angels", unable to possibly be broken. Lie? Not my child! Steal? Not my child! Bully? Not my child! Struggle? Not my child!
It starts at an early age. From preschool, these parents look with a blind eye. Why? I believe it is because that shows as a "failure" on their part. Most of these parents are successful (or previously were before staying home). They could not possibly have a child that is broken. Or, maybe it is because they don't want to be the "bad guy" by disciplining them so it is easier to pretend (or go to their "happy place"...hee hee). As the children grow up, the parents still do not see what is in front of their eyes. The problems get bigger however the parents transpose blame on someone else (always someone else's fault).
Wow! From early on, I realized that my children, like myself, are broken. They are not puppets and how ever hard I tried (and BELIEVE ME...I TRIED), they would show me that I was NOT a ventriloquist. That was the biggest blessing. He taught me humility very early on in my motherhood.
My prayer is that I will not have a "blind eye" when it comes to my children, but God will reveal to me how to guide them, nurture them, and (yes) discipline them. I also pray that I will be transparent when it comes to dealing with my children. I pray that I will share the bad (struggles) along with the good (we so easily want to "brag" about), giving God the glory through it all. Because, if we were honest, we all know we can't parent on our own.

1 comment:

Tricia Hoffmann said...

I find your post very intriguing. It goes along with Matt's message this weekend. I know that my kid is far from perfect but I really want the Lord to (as you do) guide me in a way that glorifies Him while disciplining and nurturing Trinity. What a tough road to hoe! Hope you are well!