Sometimes I am just overwhelmingly blessed at how really, really great my kids are.
Sometimes it takes hearing about some of the difficulties other parents are experiencing with their kids to make me stop for a moment and really appreciate just how very blessed my wife and I have been. That our children have tended to make good choices as they are growing and learning can only be a testament to God's incomparable grace.
Some might say that it is because we have been good parents, and while I certainly try to appreciate the compliment, in my mind and heart I know that I (we) have made so many mistakes along the way that it really has little to do with me (us).
What brought this to mind and made me consider this was having a dear friend, who was looking very troubled, share with me the difficulties his son is having in college (failing two classes this spring semester). Not that my friend's son is a bad young man in any way, it is just that he struggles applying himself to college and not taking seriously the consequences for his lack of self-discipline (and the dad is footing most of the bill for college). This young man has missed classes because of oversleeping, not sought out help from the profs or TAs, and has not tried to find others to study with, but he is blaming the professors and how hard the classes are, and everything but himself for his failure. It breaks my heart for this young man and for my friend. My friend is a very responsible man. I know my friend has not raised his son to be irresponsible like this. He has tried and tried to teach his son how to be responsible. Also, it isn't because the young man is not capable - he had all A's and B's the fall semester of this school year.
I'm really praying that this summer will be a time of maturing for my friend's son. This young man is going on a Summer Project with Campus Crusade which is a missionary project to a big city. I am praying and trusting for the the Lord use this time and place as an opportunity for this young man to grasp hold of the maturity that he is called to as a young man - putting away childish things.
- As I consider this one instance, I remember that my daughter, a college freshman, who has struggled (though not failed) in one class all year, and try as she might, she just hasn't been able to do well on the tests, and she will have to take the classes over to be able to get into nursing clinicals. The difference - she has continued to try even when she may have really wanted to give up; and she has A's and B's in every other class.
- I also consider my son who just finished his junior year of college and has been on the dean's list every semester. He's a bright young man, but he also applies himself diligently even when he doesn't like or agree with what he has been assigned. He absolutely detests what he considers busy work, but he does it anyway.
- Finally, I consider my youngest just finishing her sophomore year of high school. She pours herself into working hard to get good grades. She participates in extracurricular activities and has had a job for the last year.
These are but illustrations of each of them and their many positive qualities.
By the way... I am not paying for my kid's college. Not because I don't value college, rather I very much do. We have set our kids up that college is what they will do after they finish high school. It isn't really an option. It's just that I believe if they have to work for all of it, then they will appreciate their investment in themselves like I appreciate having to work my way through college.
Each of my children have wonderful, tender hearts that long to follow after the Lord and what could a God-loving, God-fearing parent desire more for their child.
Thank you Lord God that you have blessed my wife and I with great kids.
We can never express it enough.
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4 comments:
We are pretty great, it's true. :p
Thanks to your loving work and the faithfulness of God, He continues to draw us after Him. I love you so much!
You cannot minimize that you and Kerry have stayed married. You cannot even begin to imagine what this divorce has done to us. I look around at other families who are where we would have been, and I weep. So much loss ... so much death. Not to say God is not a redeemer ... He is The Redeemer ... but He oft does not remove consequences ... and while sometimes comparatively mild, they are still very severe.
I think of the time lost teaching my girls things, important things, because I've had to go through and work thru the divorce ... and then the time required to work thru the abuse from my parents. These have taken so much out of me ... have drained me ... leaving me depleted in areas I should be rich in for my girls.
And while I glory in the mercy and grace of Holy God ... I weep over the loss ... and greatly relate to those prophets who weeped bitterly over the losses of their people.
Thank you ... you, Kerry, Chris ... you are very, very dear to my heart.
Just to be clear, I understand where you're coming from in your response to my post. It wasn't meant to point fingers at individuals, but instead to recognize just how depraved our culture is - that, as you say, everything must be done yesterday! The fact that for so many people, work becomes no more than toil and drudgery, speaks both to our own hearts (which we must always guard, of course) and to the fallenness of this world, which makes it so very different than it ought to be.
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