Awhile back, I blogged about Lies. I know I believe a bunch.
My friend at Knittin' Peace is firstly, one of the few who put me on the straight, narrow and difficult path of homeschooling. Secondly, she is one of the truly honest people I know. I love her for that.
I don't usually comment on other people's blogs but this one HIT right between the eyes. Can you hear me screaming? OUCH!
Oh, the lies I want to believe! If you want some truth in a spoon, take a mouthful of this short article. If you want to see her knittin' go to her etsy site and consider buying something special from someone special.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The Lie of Control
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4 comments:
Treon just spoke at our support meeting about this, in even more depth. You can't put your desires (by control or any other way) on your children's hearts. That is when you become disappointed in them. Because...they are not what YOU think they should be. Instead, you teach them to love the Lord, so that He can mold their hearts, while you guide according to what He has gifted them with. If you try to control the outcome....you can miss God's call on your children's lives for a long time.
Perhaps I misunderstood the article’s sentiment on “control”, so I’d like to apologize in advance if my comments sound contrary. As parents, we have an enormous responsibility of caring for our children and ensuring that they are raised with certain values and that they grow to love God. Our children have been entrusted to us, and we have a God-given right and obligation to act in their best interest. To do otherwise would be doing them a disservice. Occasionally, we are bound by our love and parental duty to take certain actions in order to discipline our children and to keep them on the straight and narrow. Ultimately, we are compelled to exert some form of control on their attitudes and decision-making. We have been granted incredible power to influence the minds and hearts of our children, but we must wield that power with great caution, maturity, compassion, responsibility, and most importantly, on the basis of unconditional love and centeredness in Christ.
Hi Shirin, I am so bad about ignoring my poor blog.
Melissa, I agree with you about us having to know how to wield this power that we have. You make a great point.
I think I was unloading some of my feeling over the notions that have been fed to me (at many homeschool conventions) that I have ultimate control over who my children become. It's a nice dream - but it's not gonna happen the way I orchestrate it. At some point I need to trust God to do His part.
Blessings!
Robin, I’m glad to make your e-acquaintance through The Schneider Web. Thanks to Shirin for providing us with a forum for these kinds of topics.
To echo your sentiment, God is definitely always in control. I believe He uses us as instruments of his love, peace, and mercy. With regards to parenting, it is through His divine grace and mercy that we have the wisdom and the wherewithal to teach our children valuable lessons that He would want them to learn; even if it means “controlling” (and I use this term very loosely) certain aspects of their lives. And because our children lack the life experience to possess such wisdom, we are called upon to be their beacon. But anyone who has children knows that we learn as much from them as they do from us. That’s because God uses them as instruments too!
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