Growth Chart

It's funny how whenever I start to get comfortable, God likes to challenge me to grow. I have been listening to Connie Brown talk about parenting (in her series, "I got stretch marks for this?"). In this teaching series she talks about growth, and that the growth of the parent directly correlates with the growth of the child. I have been mulling this over for the last several weeks.

Anyone who personally knows us knows that our kids are wonderful, and that we have a very strong-willed child named Liam. Liam has been challenging me to grow all his life. Often times when we feel stretched we blame the child, or their temperament, not realizing that God was full-aware of the temperament of each child he would bless us with, and the weaknesses in our own lives we will have to overcome to reach our full potential. I propose that when we feel stretched, when we are stressed out and feel overwhelmed because of one of our children, it is simply an area that we need to grow. Every time i hear these words "I am Stressed out right now" come out of my mouth, I realize, I need to grow up.

Now, i consider myself to be a fairly mature person, and it's a tough pill for me to swallow at times to realize that my child's growth is stunted by my refusal to grow.

This i know, when Liam starts to argue with me, and i've had a long day, i physically feel my body brace itself for the oncoming battle that i know will ensue. My voice rises, i start to think irrationally and react, quickly and compulsively instead of a measured response that serves everyone best. Why is it that we excuse ourselves from growth, but expect our children to tow the line? We feel because we are the adult, it must be because he threw a temper tantrum in wal mart that we are stressed, overlooking the fact that we made him skip his nap and substituted lunch with goldfish. Or we blow up on our children because we have told them 5 times to make their bed and it is still left unmade. we tend to dismiss the fact that had we disciplined them the first time they disobeyed and every time after, we wouldn't be yelling at them, for something we've allowed them to do.

I find I am in need of real growth. I need to be more patient, more understanding, more apt to say yes. I need to let loose with my kids, play and enjoy them more. I know that I do a great job with them, but my desire is to be a mirror to them, of their heavenly father. That Will and I can show them what repentance and true forgiveness looks like. That we can equip and enable them to govern themselves, and allow themselves to be governed by the Holy Spirit.

So, today I look at my growth chart, and realize, I have improved and grown further in these last months then I even knew was needful. I am excited about the future, knowing more growth is sure to occur, and realizing that though it is painful, it is vital to not only my kids reaching their full potential, but so that i might reach mine as well.