The lessons of Parenting

Hmmmm........I was laying in the bed praying this morning and thinking about Zman. You see he is struggling with Dad being gone....always has. But he is 9 and its time for him to learn how to deal with disappointments and frustrations. Sure he needs those extra hugs and affirmations but he also needs to learn to deal with his emotions.

So the past couple of weeks Zach has been making really bad choices and acting very disrespectful.....all of which is a big switch from when dad first left...he was the one who I thought would get me through the tough spots with his love:) So, he is grounded until Jesus comes back....one of his uncles has a meeting with him this week.

But this is what I began thinking.....you see Zman loves to play football and is on the Aplus football team. Today is a big game and he was told that if he behaved yesterday I would sign the permission slip for him to go. Well he was doing well...until I fell asleep and he snuck downstairs to his brothers room....AFTER I told him to stay in his room. Well mom discovered his error of judgement and now there will be no football game for him. He is really upset and has apologized and all that jazz....but I still won't let him play.

Then I began to think that I am like that with God. While this may shock some of you...haha....there are times I can be a hot mess! I struggle and I make bad choices, I don't always do what I am told and sometimes I do what I am told not to do (kinda sound like Paul here don't I?). But I still have the audacity to ask God to bless me. The thing with God is He forgets our sins and they are as far removed from us as the east is the west. Does this mean we do not have to deal with the consequences of our sins.....absolutely not....but more often than not God deals with us using grace and mercy.

So my point in this very early morning hour is this.....the next time you or I get frustrated dealing with the children that are ours....our friends and families imagine God's pain and frustration dealing with his......and how lovingly He handles it.