itsawonderfilledlife

I want to be a good parent … don’t we all?

We want to be a soft landing, a steady hand, good council, a consistent voice and always pointing in the right direction. We want to be their reliable protector, their sure guide, their fair disciplinarian, their comfort.

In short, what we want is to do the tasks of parenting perfectly, so that they avoid mistakes, hurts and danger.

“Planning out my children’s lives isn’t my job. My best job as a mom is to be obedient to God. God’s job is everything else.”

As I agonized over a struggle in the life of one of our children, one day, I came across the quote (above, by Lisa Terkurst). It was as though God placed it right before my eyes, his finger pointing to it, as if to ensure my attention.

Our three are not children, not school-aged. Though two still live at home, though one is still (for eight more months) a teen, they are all societally, legally and self-actualized adults.

I am no longer responsible, in any way (except by my own choice) for their hygiene, their meals, their education, their housing, their transportation … the list goes on and on.

Never, ever, has it been my responsibility to plan out their lives. Not when they were children, not when they were teens, not now that they are adults. That is their responsibility, their freedom.

The Bible tells us, as parents that we are responsible for:

• discipline and instruction (Ephesians 6:4)
• training (Proverbs 22:6)
• basic necessities for life (1 Timothy 5:8)
• modelling the honouring of our mother and father (Ephesians 6:2)
• blessing them (Proverbs 127:5)
• encouragement (1 Timothy 5:1-2)
• teaching them to love the Lord God (Deuteronomy 6:5-7)
• saving up for them (Proverbs 19:14)
• showing compassion on them (Psalm 103:13)
• teaching them to care for the Earth and living things (Genesis 1:28)
• teaching restraint (1 Samuel 3:13)
• teaching them to obey (Ephesians 6:1)

Nowhere does it say to plan their life for them.

So, who in the Bible is a model of good parenting?

More to come on Thursday, with a story about a parent who allowed their children to plan their own lives.