Skip to main content

Are we willing to give it all as parents?

So I was driving today, and I heard this song that Matt Hammitt from the band, Sanctus Real, wrote.   He wrote it as a tribute and promise to his unborn child who they knew was going to born with a heart defect, but as I listened, it spoke to me in another way.  As humans, we all have problems and weaknesses.  As Christian parents, when our kids (especially teenagers) begin to show their, let's just say, not-so-nice side, we have to decide how we're going to respond.

Sometimes the way our teenagers act bring out the not-so-nice side in us, too.  Discipline is necessary in parenting no matter what form it takes, but what do we do with our hearts?  What do we do when our children disappoint us, make us angry, even go through spells when we may not even <gasp> like them very much?  How do we handle it?  Sadly, we tend to hold our hearts back.  We fall into a form of conditional love without even realizing it.  Our kids let us down or don't do what we think they should do so we pull back.  We don't want to get hurt again.  We want them to just "grow up" and make all the right decisions.  We get angry, frustrated, embarrassed.  We get hyper-critical of every choice they make.  They should KNOW better.  They've been TAUGHT better.  They should be making better choices, Godly choices. We don't know how to handle it so we hold back a part of hearts in a move of self-preservation that comes across as conditional love.  I'll show you my love if you please me, but if you don't, I don't want to have much to do with you.  I'll tolerate you because I'm your parent, and I do love you, but that's about it.

I don't have all the answers, but I know this, we are commanded to love one another.  There are no exclusions to that command.  We are to be merciful and gracious as Christians because the Holy Spirit resides in us.  We can't keep holding back with our kids.  We have to just keep laying our bruised hearts on the line.  Yes, we may continually get hurt and angry, but we have to take that to Yahweh Rophey, The Great Physician, and let Him heal the broken parts in us. This may be for me only, but if you're a parent and you're dealing with older children that are beginning to go their own way, and that way is not that path you think they should be on, take a minute to read the chorus below.  Then seek the only Perfect parent, God the Father, and let Him help you love them the way they need to be loved by their parents.

MATTHEW HAMMITT - All Of Me lyrics


Afraid to love
Something that could break
Could I move on
If you were torn away?
And I'm so close to what I can't control
I can't give you half my heart
and pray He makes you whole

(Chorus)
You're gonna have all of me 
You're gonna have all of me
'Cause you're worth every falling tear
You're worth facing any fear
You're gonna know all my love
Even if it's not enough
Enough to mend our broken hearts
But giving you all of me is where I'll start

I won't let sadness steal you from my arms
I won't let pain keep you from my heart
I'll trade the fear of all that I could lose
For every moment I share with you

Chorus

Heaven brought you to this moment, it's too wonderful to speak
You're worth all of me, you're worth all of me
So let me recklessly love you, even if I bleed
You're worth all of me, you're worth all of me

**If you've never heard of the song, you can listen to it hear:



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hope and Christmas

So, each year I pick out an ornament for each of the kids and one as a "family" ornament.  Most of the time, I try to find something that has to do with what we have done or something that speaks to me about this past year.  I really have not tried to even find one this year because it has been just kind of weird this year.  Today, I was shopping for something else and found the *perfect ornament.  Through all the ups and downs of this past year, I have been able to find that even keel, that peace that only comes from God.  How?  Today, I was listening to Adam Robinson, and his sermon reminded me of the how --- Hope.  Hope that only comes from knowing that the God of this universe, creator of all and lover of My Soul, still holds me and my family in His hand.  Hope that knows that He sees all and holds me through the hard times and promises never to leave me.  Hope that the promises of Heaven that were brought originally in the form of a tiny...
Post a Comment
Read more

A little on the light side

So, tonight the DH (darling husband) and I are going to a "Cocktail Attire" event. Of course, as any good woman knows, I didn't have anything to wear so I've been shopping a tiny bit. Looking for something that looks good, but not obscene. Something that looks like something a 40-something should wear and not a 20-something. Shoes that I can actually stand and possible dance in. And of course, something that doesn't add to our debt. Shopping for this event has not been easy.....and dare I say it? It has not been fun. Fact one -- women my age who want to still look really cool and gorgeous, but also modest, do not have very many options in the cocktail dress department; add 50 pounds overweight and the choices decrease exponentially. Fact two -- bad back plus a knee that has been acting up for over a week equals very slim choices in the cute shoe department also. I put these gorgeous 3" heals on, and immediately, my right knee is aching. Really? Really?...
1 comment
Read more

The Good Fight - Book Review

The Good Fight , by Shawna K. Williams, is a wonderful addition to the story that began with Jakob Wilheimer and Meri Parker's story in her book, In All Things . Their story continued in No Other . This book goes in a little different direction and, rather than continuing their story in depth, it expands on a supporting character named Roger Talbot. The novel catches up with Roger about ten years after the end of the first book and is set in Port Delamar, Texas. This story introduces the new Roger Talbot, a changed man. We also meet Pennye Boyle and learn how her life has been unknowingly intertwined with Roger's. It is a very well-written novel that will keep you enthralled until the end. Even if you haven't read the first two, you can definitely still read this as a stand-alone novel. From the very first pages, I was pulled into the lives of two very different people filled with the same negative, distrustful outlook on life. It is a wonderful love story with just a littl...
Post a Comment
Read more