it's easy as a parent to want to fix. to lead. to push. to mold. and to some degree, those things are good. expected. and just wonderful if the children are young. but as they become older, as they grow, as they spread their wings and leave our nest, parenting takes on a new facet. it's time to quit telling and start believing. believing when they can't. believing in who they are. believing in who they can be. but most of all, believing that god has a plan that is just right for them and that he is busily working out that plan. it's time to stay out of the way. to let them falter some. even fall. it's time to let them find out what they really want, not what you want for them.
and it's beautiful. and harder than any other facet of parenting. letting go. releasing. relinquishing. giving over. and finding god faithful. in all things. to nurture and care. to grow and assist. to meet them where they are.
and it causes me to grow. to increase my trust. it causes my faith to soar and my hope to be renewed. god uses this time of life to prove to me how very much he loves and cares for each of us...by showing me how he watches over and reaches out to my children as they go through their stages. part of the time they are just selfish. it's true. heartbreaking. troubling. and yet, as i watch, god shows how he doesn't mind the stage but actually uses it to bring understanding into their hearts. true understanding. not convincing. and that a life that is not fake is a life that he can use.
i don't want to interfere in my kids' lives and cause them to become fakers of faith. i instead want to pray for them faithfully and see them become real and true believers. full of his spirit, not rules and regs.
god has a plan. it's not my plan. it's not your plan. it's his plan. for each individual kid of ours. and we don't get a say at all. we just get to pray for his will to be done. not ours. his. it is the greatest honor of being the parent of older and adult children...to become their unknown prayer warriors. the one who intercedes to the father. who trusts him no matter where or how the "child" is.
god has a plan.
i love that.
i love this stage.
it's inspiring.
blessings.
and it's beautiful. and harder than any other facet of parenting. letting go. releasing. relinquishing. giving over. and finding god faithful. in all things. to nurture and care. to grow and assist. to meet them where they are.
and it causes me to grow. to increase my trust. it causes my faith to soar and my hope to be renewed. god uses this time of life to prove to me how very much he loves and cares for each of us...by showing me how he watches over and reaches out to my children as they go through their stages. part of the time they are just selfish. it's true. heartbreaking. troubling. and yet, as i watch, god shows how he doesn't mind the stage but actually uses it to bring understanding into their hearts. true understanding. not convincing. and that a life that is not fake is a life that he can use.
i don't want to interfere in my kids' lives and cause them to become fakers of faith. i instead want to pray for them faithfully and see them become real and true believers. full of his spirit, not rules and regs.
god has a plan. it's not my plan. it's not your plan. it's his plan. for each individual kid of ours. and we don't get a say at all. we just get to pray for his will to be done. not ours. his. it is the greatest honor of being the parent of older and adult children...to become their unknown prayer warriors. the one who intercedes to the father. who trusts him no matter where or how the "child" is.
god has a plan.
i love that.
i love this stage.
it's inspiring.
blessings.
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