Topic: People/Family stories
When I think about people who have died and gone on before us, my memories of them are tied to something about their life. For some it may be what career they were in, if I knew them at church it may be what their role was in the church (teacher, preacher, hostess, cleaner upper, organizer, leader, singer, encourager), but usually I think of people in terms of who their family was and especially their children. If we?re a parent, we leave a living legacy of who we were and what we?ve passed on.
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And it freaks me out!!
Sometimes I?m quite a slacker in daily devotional times with my kids, often I am not a good example of the fruits of the Spirit, I tend to react instead of respond, but even with all these faults (and that is not an exhaustive list!), I still believe God is blessing my desire to raise them for Him. As far as I know, there are no perfect parents in the Bible, none that I know of in my circle of friends, none of the books I?ve seen on parenting are perfect in imparting all wisdom for every situation, but God blesses our main desire?our main focus.
A long time ago, I had to decide what our main focus was going to be: to have perfectly obedient children (husband had to tell me to get real), micro-managing their every choice, or to have children who are learning to make good choices for themselves through gentle and timely guidance, gradually gaining more freedom in choices as they grow in age and responsibility. For us as a family, our faith is our life?it?s our focus and we talk about it often, applying it to daily events or things we see happening in the world or in our town. We're not perfect and this is not dogmatic parenting advice, but it's how God has shaped something beautiful out of my life.
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All of this in turn causes me to grow in faith?to trust God more with my children, because I am starting to see how they are listening to Him and choosing to follow Him. It makes me want to let Him lead them without me trying to micro-manage how they behave or the choices they make. It is really hard for a Christian mom to do this, maybe you can relate. I can see so clearly the wisest paths, the safest ways, the obvious best choices. But I have to let them learn to see it, even if that means missing it in a few areas, occasionally stumbling along the way.
I hope someday, when people think of me, they will remember my children and see the beauty in my life?..something really great that I had a hand in. I hope to live a life worthy of His calling, raising four daughters?..
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Updated: Wed, Mar 15 2006 9:42 AM PST
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