Parenting Thoughts

My sister just returned a book to me on parenting that I really like, but haven't read in ages. Knowing I can always use a little kick in the pants--I mean encouragement-- in this area, I decided to skim through it again and it is interesting to me to see how my perspective has changed since the days when I agreed with every word of it.

The part I love is the emphasis on helping your kids to see the why behind the wrong things they do and figure out the correct way to handle the situation. Despite taking a years-long break from focusing on parenting books and not feeling too confident in my skills these days, I could see that the way I handle the boys' misbehavior is often the same method she describes in the book, so guess something stuck with me!

But the part that is making me stop and think now is where she talks to her children about God being pleased or not pleased with what they did. Now this is a super easy concept for kids to latch on to. They do the wrong thing and God isn't pleased; they do the right thing and he is pleased. That's the way it works with people so it's not a difficult leap to think God is just like another parent or authority figure.

But then where does the gospel come in? What about the part where God loves us LIKE CRAZY, even more than our parents do, and went to incredible lengths to have a relationship with us? What about the part where God looks at us and sees Jesus's perfect record instead of our sin (and how is that compatible with God being grieved when we sin anyway??)? It's definitely the more difficult concept to understand and I think it often gets overshadowed by the more easily understood "pleasing God with our actions" idea. I know it happens to me!

When I think of how I didn't please God, I shy away from him. When I think of how much he loves me no matter what I do, I draw close to him and as a result, want to do things that please him.

So though I love my parenting book, these days I think I'm going to do all I can to show my boys that they don't earn God's love by doing the right thing but already are absolutely adored by him and he just can't wait to work in them to make those changes that will help them love him and others better. Thoughts??

BTW, I will have much more fun posts with pictures coming up in a few days when we are reunited with Matt and our computer:) Get ready for Julia in a hula skirt!