27 Aug 2017 Seeking wisdom from the perfect parent: God
by Laurie Green
I always try to spend some quiet time with God before I submit an article. I want to be sure it’s something that will be beneficial and show the goodness of God at work in a mess like me. It seems that lately God has laid on my heart the struggles of raising our children, teens and young adults.
Before you read any further, make a huge mental note to yourself that I’m not perfect. I am simply a mom who has made my fair share of mistakes and successes. I truly believe God wants to use me to encourage you!
It seems that parenting is full of different seasons. Lack of sleep with newborns (and teens for that matter), spit up, diaper changes, terrible twos, trying threes, preschool, middle school, high school, etc. Each season has its own series of events that will test your patience and sanity.
On a serious note, I realized that with my young adults it’s very easy to grow tired. The struggles between them trying to find themselves and us trying to lead them usually crash into a series of unfortunate events. As a parent, I try to tell my kids that I’ve been there and done that and they don’t want to take that path. Some will listen, but others assure me that they can handle the path much better than I did…until the “I told you so” enters the scene. When I find this happening in my life a little too often, I realize it’s because I’m not in prayer as much as I should be. I’m not seeking wisdom from the one who knows EXACTLY how to be the perfect parent…God.
When my kids were toddlers I would often sneak into their rooms at night or in the morning and just gaze on those angelic little faces. I would speak life over them, I would speak the promises of Jesus over them. I thanked God that He loved me enough to give me these children. Yet, at some point, they grew up. They developed their own ideas and opinions. I no longer snuck in their rooms to gaze on their sleeping faces for fear of waking them. If they were asleep, thank goodness because now I can sleep. Like I said earlier, you grow tired.
This is a dangerous place, because the truth is that our older kids need our prayers EVEN MORE as they grow and go. Seriously, what if you are the only person on this planet who is praying for your child? It’s certainly not the time to grow tired and weary. They NEED our prayers and we NEED the rest in Jesus.
Just this last month I’ve have four different parents confide in me for advice on trying family situations. Truthfully, I don’t feel equipped to give advice. My life is crazy to say the least. However, during a long talk with my son, Marcus, he said something to me that I swear was like the voice of God speaking right to me. He told me, “Mom, you know if you decide you want to be a doctor, you can’t just go get all the medical books and lay them around and say, ‘Look everyone, I’m a doctor.’ No, you study. You open the books, you read, you take notes, you absorb all of the knowledge into your brain. You train. You practice with other doctors who help you. You get so good that when you take that test, you pass. Even more is that when you find yourself in that emergency situation, all that knowledge kicks in and you know what to do. You know how to react, because you did the hard work ahead of time.”
Now take that and apply it to our spiritual life. Are we reading and learning all the knowledge our Bible has to offer? Or, is it just sitting there looking pretty and on display for people to see? Because until we read it, learn it, practice it, put it to daily use, it does us no good just sitting there. We have to know what to do in those stressful and trying times. It needs to be totally absorbed inside us.
Let me give you a funny, but truthful example. When my kids all were in school I went to work at Conway Regional Medical Center in the kitchen. It was the perfect hours for a mom. I was officially titled a nutritional services aide. I also got to wear the cutest scrubs! One day after getting off work, my husband and I witnessed an accident in front of us. We stopped and both jumped out to check on the driver, who was shook up but OK. Several other people stopped and at one point I heard someone say, “Thank goodness we have a nurse here for him.”
Well I looked around to see where and quickly realized all eyes were on me and my cute scrubs! I nervously explained that I was merely a nutritional services aide. We still laugh about that today, but the thing is just because I looked the part didn’t mean I had any knowledge on the subject. Proverbs 4:21-22 “Don’t lose sight of my words. Let them penetrate deep within your heart, for they bring life and radiant health to anyone who discovers their meaning.”
A Greenbrier native, Laurie is the wife of Will Green. The two share seven children, five grandchildren and a golden retriever named Marlo. They own and operate a lawn care business and are members of New Life Church in Greenbrier. Laurie can be reached at [email protected].
