The Weight

…and responsibility of parenting has really been on my mind lately. The magnitude of this job, really, is just unbelievable and magnificent.

Bella is growing up so rapidly. She’s this little person who interjects, interrupts, who ponders before decisions, who has preferences, who says things like “Xyz is my favorite” and “I Love xyz”, who rationalizes, who offers opinions. She instructs, she constructs, she plans, she role plays. And, in no time, she’ll be flying the coop to conquer the world if she’s anything like her parents.

This sounds all crazy-worry-mommy-like, but really, Charles said it the other day, we’ve got 15.5 years to equip her with everything she needs to be an independent, positive, strong, God-fearing, good person. There are things like us wanting her to be able to defend herself, cook for herself, stand up for herself, change her own tires – trivial things when really what’s most important is that she continues to nurture her relationship with Christ. 15.5 years is no time at all in the big scheme of things and considering how fast time has already passed.

What does this mean and how do we create the desire in her to want to be this God-fearing, good person? How do we foster her desire to make day-to-day decisions so she'll live the way God wants her to live?

Good thing we’re not parenting alone. Charles and I had a long talk about this last night and I’ve been praying about it – and the bottom line is, it’s not just Charles and I raising Bella, we’ve got a third parent--Jesus--in all of this. What a blessing.

In my search for enlightening parenting articles, God led me to this really great article that described four cornerstones to creating this “want to” in our children. To summarize:

• Kids today need to hear that there are absolutes when it comes to right and wrong. And when they do, they'll want to know more about what is right and what is truth.
• Next is the concept of rewards and consequences. We need to teach them decisions really matter. The impact of good decisions needs to be stressed as much or more than the consequences of sin, or you run the risk of just scaring kids.
• Reveal to kids how the world is constantly trying to influence their choices and desires.
• For kids to truly want the truth of the Bible to guide their lives, they must see it as the obvious place to go. How you position the Bible will make all the difference in the world as to whether kids embrace or ignore Scripture.

Sound simple? It could be if I could just submit it to God instead of constantly worrying about it!

The children’s message at church today seemed directed at putting my mind at ease. Pastor talked to the kids about the inheritance that they would receive from us as their parents. He joked about maybe a special watch, the house, tons of cash (ha! Or debt?!)—but he said we were already leaving them a HUGE—and the most important--inheritance just by bringing them to church to hear God’s word. Imagine that! We are doing something right!