Parenting is really, really hard
work. Tonight we had to put our oldest girl (almost 4) to bed without any of
her night time privileges. No books, no game, no bed time snack. This has been
the most grievous repercussions we have placed upon her in her almost four
short years. And you know what; it was really, really hard to do. All Amee and
I wanted to do was hug her and give her coveted ‘privileges’. There was lots of
crying and not the crocodile tears kind, true heartfelt crying. You know the
kind of cry that says I don’t understand, I am so sorry please let me have my privileges.
I asked her over and over if she know that I loved her, but that her behavior
towards her mommy lost her all her privileges. She tearfully asked me how she
could get them back and I had to tell her that tomorrow she would have them
back, but tonight there was no way to earn them back. She simply needed to go
to bed. If you are a parent you know how hard it is to punish your children,
but you also know that standing firm is the responsibility of a parent so to
teach our children the need for proper boundaries.
The story of the flood is the story
of discipline, but it is also the story of salvation. It is a story of
destruction, but also a story of restoration. It is a story of promise and a guarantee
that the punishment for our sins will never lead to destruction as long as we
return to God. We made a promise to Rose that tomorrow would be a new day, that
her privileges would be restored. The rainbow is God’s promise of restoration.
It is his parental promise that though our sin has repercussions, it will never
change His love for us or his desire for us to be in a right relationship with
him and with his creation.
Think today about God’s grace, but
also about how we respond to that Grace. Especially when that grace looks more
like punishment than freedom. So how will we respond to God’s grace? How will
Rose respond to Mommy and Daddy’s grace. We hope with the understanding that
the boundaries we set are in order to give her freedom and life and in so doing
give us all the proper boundaries to be in a right and loving relationship with
one another.
In Christ,
Fr. Rob+
These blogposts are great! Thanks for writing them. Although, I am sorry to hear that Rose was a stinker. Hopefully, things are better today :)
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