.....These are the things that our God asks of us as parents to his children. What I need as a parent, Growing in grace and love. So I begin this journey with you as I dig deep into God's word and search for scripture to better understand God's role for us. To be able to parent and discipline my girls I first need to have grace and love that only God gives us.
Here is a few that come to mind as I think of his word.....Proverbs 15:32 , Psalm 73:25 , Genesis 18:19 , :and :Ephesians 6:4.
They all speak to me and open my heart to his teachings. The ones I have versed with my girls, those I have studied as a child and tried to follow throughout my spirtual journey.
Understanding that we are asked and called upon to discipline and act as guardians over our children to train them makes me wonder how many others have tried the books and the lessons that were used by our parents to try and obtain respect from our children. I have often mistaken my role over my girls and taken it personally. No more, I have seen the light and am trying to follow in God's footsteps. I will walk gracefully, full of love for my girls as I try and gain a foothold in their path with Jesus. I know that I will stumble and lose my way, but my hope is that they see me look towards heaven for guidance, strength and patience.
To better train up my girls, I must first understand them and their needs. I am blessed to have this time to gain perspective and understanding from my Father before trying to put my head around something bigger than myself. I love that I have moments throughout the week when I feel strained but through God's strength I pull through and see my girls as his beloved!
" Understanding that you function as GOd's agents can keep you sharply focused and humble as parents. It is sobering to realize that you correct your child by God's command. You just stand before him as God's agent to show him sin." Wow, to grasp that thought is humbling and allows me a new perspective on his job for me as a parent. I have definately felt as the author states, "seek forgiveness of my children for my anger or sinful response. I have had to say, 'Son, I sinned against you. I spoke in unholy anger. I was wrong. God has given me a sacred task, and I have brought my unholy anger into this sacred mission' " Oh how elegant and yet so far from what we think in the heat of a moment. We lose our grasp and fall, but as his children...he looks upon us, holds out his hand and picks us up to help us return to his arms again. He loves us unconditionally, despite our sin and wavering spirit. So we should love his children this way.
One other message I get out of this chapter....to make sure our discipline is not punitive but corrective. The punishment must fit the crime no longer applies. It is instead an expression of love and true discippline becomes a flower blooming as our children become our greatest joy♥
Tripp asks us to look inside ourselves and find a heart for God taking that to nourish our children, to bathe them in his love and to be in charge of their molding into a Christ-child. What are my fears, loves, anxieties? They are all summed up in this...." to love my children is to be full of love, to fear their safety is to be safe myself and to have worries of their future in this materialistic world is to worry about my own end"..... these are the things that keep me praying, centered on God.
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