A lesson learned....yet again

I am reading a book called, "How Children raise parents" by Dan Allender.

I have been reminded once again how I spend my time and energy focusing on the behavior of my children rather than their heart. While I may not always admit that I tend to do this, I surely do and you may even confirm this with my children if you would like.

And yet we all would agree that our desire would be that our children are conformed to the image of Christ, no matter how wild, or radical or improper that may seem at the moment. Do I care that my son wears faded jeans to church or do I care that he wrestles with the reality of God made flesh and how that affects his life.

I find myself wanting to conform and wanting to look like a good little Christian family more than helping my children truly confront the matters of the heart.

Here was a harsh wake up call.

We sat down to dinner the other night just as the blizzard started to really rage outside. Jeff said that we should pray for the homeless because there would be sure to be many who would die during the night.

Yes, good idea. Let's pray.

Conner started to pray and then broke down in deep sobs as he tried to pray for those who might be out in the storm. His heart had been touched and mine was as cold as ice. What a lesson to learn from my 7 year old!

Lord, help to focus on their little hearts. Help me to focus on what really and truly matters. Thank you for using Conner to awaken my soul to love and mercy... The very things I desire to teach him! Give me you Wisdom in this thing called parenting.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone