Partners in Parenting

 “Are you a ‘CRAZY’ parent?”
As if the question in the title wasn’t bad enough, let me give you the answer:  YES, you are a crazy parent!  And you should be.  We all are to some extent.  Love is a crazy thing that makes a person do crazy things.  For instance, I’ve come to really like movies that are classified as romantic comedies.  I used to loathe them.  My love for my wife has brought me to watch a ton of them with her, and now, I actually like them.  Love made me do it!
Our love for our kids make us more sensitive to their hurts, aware of their limitations, anxious about their failures, upset about their poor treatment from others, etc.  Ever feel your “blood boil” toward another person (child or adult) who has made your child feel less than fabulous.  I have, and it’s because I can become “CRAZY” with my love for my kids.  It isn’t easy all the time, but I try to keep a broad perspective on my kids and life in general to help me place everything in its proper context.
Parents are supposed to love their kids with a “crazy” kind of love, but that love also should be smothered in a great deal of perspective on life.  We learned to have a “crazy” love for our kids from God.  After all, only a “crazy” kind of love would have our Father in heaven send His Son, Jesus, to be our Savior despite our hurts, limitations, failures, and poor treatment.  Love made Him do it.  “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

Family Discussion Points!
As parents, is it hard to see your kids with perspective?  What are they good at?  Not so good at?  Need help with?  Can teach others about?
Is it good to be a “crazy” parent?  Yes, No, or both.  Talk about it.
How does life change knowing you have a “crazy” parent in God?

Partners in Parenting

“This doesn’t make sense, but it is right!”

Yesterday, I did something very strange for only the 2nd time in my entire life.  It seemed weird to do, but I knew it had to be done!  I kind of felt wrong in doing it because it goes against everything I have been taught as an American.  I was a little sad before I did what I did, but during and afterward, I felt a strange kind of pride and reverence.  I remember the last time I did this, and I had the same kind of feelings.  I’m sure I’ll do this again someday.  I don’t think it will ever become just a normal event for me.  As I stood next to our small campfire in the backyard yesterday, I remember saying to myself, “This doesn’t make sense, but it is right!”  Having thought that, I went ahead and did what I knew I had to do.

Wondering what I did?  I placed an American flag in the fire to burn.  Our flag has flown outside except in extreme weather for the past two years.  This past winter really took a toll on it.  It was torn, tattered, and unworthy to fly outside our house any longer.  Why did I burn it?  Here’s what I found on the internet today, but I knew before that burning it was the right thing to do.

As a revered symbol of freedom and justice, the flag of the United States of America needs to be treated with the utmost respect. This respect extends to the flag's eventual retirement and destruction. The United States Flag Code (4 USC Sec 8 Para (k) Amended 7 July 1976) states: "The Flag, when it is in such condition that it is no longer a fitting emblem of display, should be destroyed in a dignified way, preferably by burning."

As I did this, I was reminded that God can be that way too.  His ways don’t always make sense, but His ways are right!  Like this:  “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”  Romans 3:28

Family Discussion Points!

Play a fun game of “right or wrong” at the dinner table.  Give an action and have the kids guess if it is right or wrong.  (example:  You buy something and get too much change for your $10 bill, and you leave happy that you have extra money.)

Talk about how God doesn’t always make sense to us because He is God, and we are not.  Focus on how He decides to love everyone, even sinners.  Typically, you get punished for doing bad things, but God gives forgiveness to everyone who believes.

Partners in Parenting

“Don’t Quit!”

I really enjoy exercising.  I like all kinds of sports, and I enjoy the physical activity of playing sports.  Basketball, hockey, ultimate Frisbee, running, biking, volleyball, etc. is all fun to me.  I like being a bit out of breath during an activity.  I like mildly sore or “tight” muscles the next day.  I like the positive energy in my body that exercise creates.  Since I’ve only had a few sports injuries in my whole life, exercise has a huge “up-side” for my body and overall health.  I’ve been thinking about this so much as I anxiously await the arrival of warm weather to start exercising regularly again.  The truth is though, I have just used the weather as an excuse since winter started.  My exercise pattern has been very sporadic since then, and I’ve gotten started a few times without continuing.  Why?  I could give a list of reasons (starting with the schedule of my three kids), but in the end, I wouldn’t be giving you reasons, I’d be giving you excuses.  There is a difference between the two.  Ask your child to clean their room tonight and listen to their response.  Do they give you reasons or excuses for why they can’t do it tonight???

My spiritual life can be just like my exercise life – sporadic.  The habit of daily prayer, weekly worship, regular reading of my Bible, and time spent talking to God are all things with a huge “up-side” without any “down-side” at all.  I just have to remember to discipline myself to not give up once I start.  Like exercising, when I quit the healthy patterns of my daily walk with God, I lose out.  I want to encourage you to start if you haven’t yet or continue if you’ve already started – exercising and spending daily time with God.  Either way, don’t quit!

Paul wrote to the early church:  “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize.”  I Corinthians 9:24

Family Discussion Points!

Is it hard for you to start exercising or keep exercising or both?

What is the long-term benefit of exercise to the body?

What is the long-term benefit of exercise in daily walking with God?

What is the consequence for quitting and why is it easy to quit?