"...to whom much is given, much is required."
Now obviously he was quoting the parable in Luke 12, but what he said made my gears whir just a little bit more.
Now obviously he was quoting the parable in Luke 12, but what he said made my gears whir just a little bit more.
I have been given so much.
and much is expected of me by way of parenting them.
In an attempt to better my parenting I'm doing two things. Firstly, I'm joining the Gentleness Challenge that Courtney is hosting. I need to keep the frustration to a minimum and be more gentle towards my children. I want them to see a mom who loves God so much and wants their best. While they push my buttons often, they don't deserve to have my frustration taken out on them. In her post, Courtney quotes Matthew Henry,
“What is spoken wisely should be spoken calmly, and then it will be calmly considered. But passion will lessen the force even of reason, instead of adding any force to it.”
and that quote really hit home with me. I'm so excited about the accountability that this challenge will offer.
Secondly, I'm hosting a somewhat impromptu book study here at Hitherto of the book Visionary Parenting: capture a God-sized vision for your family by Dr. Rob Rienow. Every Monday, I will post a summary of the chapter, what I learned from it, and how I'm applying it. There are only ten chapters so it won't take too long at all.
Parenting is such a huge responsibility and blessing. Just last week my firstborn turned six. SIX! To echo mothers everywhere, "Where does the time go?" I have only one shot at this parenting thing and I want to get it as right as I possibly can. How about you?
Are you going to sign up for the Gentleness Challenge?
Does your family have an over-arching vision or purpose?
If so, what is it?
If not, have you ever thought about it?
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