“Sit up straight. Put your feet on the floor. Use your fork. Get your elbows off the table. Say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Say, ‘Yes Sir’, ‘No Sir’. Chew with your mouth closed. Turn the lights off. Shut the door. Wait your turn. Be kind. Don’t whine. Eat everything that is on your plate. Stop talking. Don’t interrupt. Be quiet. Don’t point. Keep your fingers out of your mouth. Keep your hands off your face. Don’t eat chocolate it will give you pimples. Pick up your room. Don’t act like that, people are watching.”
How many times have you heard these things from your parents or have you said these things to your children? If you are a parent….more than likely you strive to be the “perfect” parent and desire to have “perfect” kids who do and say the "right" things.
What is the “Perfect Parent?” Who do you know that seems to be the “Perfect Parent”? Does it encourage you...or...discourage you to know that they don’t exist? And….even if they did exist…”perfect parenting” does not always lead to “perfect” kids (which also don’t exist)!! None of us will ever have “perfect” kids!!
Perhaps we should also take a quick motive check….do we want to be successful as a parent because we know it glorifies God or because of how it reflects back on us? Are we so focused and concerned about how we are perceived in the eyes of others, especially in the church, that our motive becomes the applause of man rather than the applause of God. We might be fooling ourselves into thinking we are doing it for the right reasons...but we for sure are not fooling God...or our kids!!
We can do everything “right” and still our success rate can be less than perfect. Have you ever lain awake for endless nights wondering if what you are doing (or did) is wrong? I sure have! I spent many nights in battle with satan for the very life of my son. God asks us to fulfill the calling of ‘mom’ by being obedient to Him and to be sure our parenting is complete--obedient to His commands--not perfect.
And, by the way, we cannot take credit for our Godly kids any more than we can take credit for our wayward child.
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3 comments:
You are in my head this week!!! I needed that as well!
Thanks for the post, would appreciate your prayers!
Jennifer....I sat at my computer yesterday after reading your first comment....so wanting the "perfect" words to encourage you....and nothing "perfect" came. All I knew to do was to pray....for you and the thousands like us!!
I can totally relate to this. The last 2 paragraphs really hit home. Thanks for reminding me that we can't blame ourselves for our wayward child. Sometimes that's hard to remember.
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