Why do I do it? Why do I just plow headlong through things and not stop to set my heart straight? I often fail to recognize my dependence on God for strength, courage and saying no to self. And the hard part is that I am often on cruising on autopilot and I don't even realize that there is a problem. Yesterday I learned another lesson about the importance of prayer. I consider it a lesson because the Lord was gracious enough to show me how I do not do turn to him as often as I ought to. And what's more, I am not pointing my children to Christ as often as I could be in the real, nitty gritty struggles we face.
Sometimes mothering can teach you things you need to learn. It is quite a big responsibility to be leading these little ones in this thing called life. I often feel like I must show them the way that I, quite frankly, am still in the process of finding. We all have tactics, strategies and ways of dealing with things that become ingrained and automatic. And I find that those things become magnified when I am in the process of parenting one of my children.
You may be wondering what I mean. Well, one of the main things I am trying to teach my children is that life is all about relationships. If the first and greatest commandment is to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and the second is like unto it "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" then we can clearly see that truth.
So how does this apply to the child who is afraid to talk to the guests and runs upstairs to hide from them? The initial response is very matter of fact "You need to come downstairs", "You should be friendly to our guests"...then as more crying ensues..."Get up off of the bed and come downstairs"...
I hope that you appreciate the pressure and time crunch of this moment. If you are like me you have probably been in situations where you do not feel like you have the time to deal with a child's emotional outbursts. Everything inside of you just wants the kid to get with it and do what they are supposed to. Well, by God's grace my tactics were not working. God was going to show me that this was an opportunity to take a moment and point my child to the Word of God and to help them to see that though this was a very hard thing to do (for them) that God's help and strength are but a prayer away.
How often are we self-centered and afraid to come out of our comfort zones and serve Christ? How often do we just do what feels good to us, regardless of how it makes others feel? There is so much more to it than just "Come down from the room and quit your crying"! There is a spiritual need that needs addressing. There is a mom who knows that when she struggles she needs to turn to the Lord and get her focus back on him.
And so, I got down on my knees and we prayed together. It didn't fix everything and the tears didn't stop right away. But I know that it was the best thing I could have possibly done with my child. And I hope that I remember that in all of the opportunities that God gives me to point my children to him.
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