I don’t want to raise a good child…

If you are a mother, you know what i mean when i say that there are days i feel i have failed; i have not done enough this or done too much of that. i have allowed my son too much freedom or too little freedom. i’m being too permissive, i’m being too strict. He’s not behaving because i did not do this or use that method of discipline. He would be a less impulsive child had i insisted on this or that earlier in his little life. He would be more single-minded if i did not offer him too many choices, or should i have offered more choices. i should not yell so that he would not grow up to be a yeller or a bully. i should, i should, i should… the list is never-ending. Sigh!

If you have ever entertained any of the above thoughts, then you need to read this article.

Lysa TerKeurst – I don’t want to raise a good child.

You have no idea how much i needed to hear what Lysa had to say, and i dare say that there are mums out there who need to hear this too.

i have a fountain-dancing child; a round peg of a child who has been told he needs to fit into that square hole and he has been labelled for the convenience of the school system. So i have been trying my desperate best to help my son get into that square hole. It is not easy – there are places where his roundness just overfills the square, there are places where his roundness does not fill in the corners properly.

i am not upset about the labelling. i just want to know how i can help him to better get along in this strange world we live in; how can he be part of this world and yet still shine for the Lord and fulfill the plans God has for him.

Reading what Lysa wrote greatly encouraged me. i need to be raising a God-following adult, not a fit-into-this-world adult, because we are children of God and our permanent address is Heaven, not Earth. Only when he is a follower of God can he fulfill God’s purposes for him; purposes which are always best for him because God is God and He knows best.

i leave you with the 3 simple mothering perspectives from Lysa’s post:

1. Don’t take too much credit for their good.

2. Don’t take too much credit for their bad.

3. Don’t try to raise a good child. Raise a God-following adult.

And all the mamas of fountain dancing children said, “Amen!”

So mums say “Amen” and be encouraged; you are doing your best and God picked you to be your child’s mother, His Purpose shall be accomplished – simply pray that God help you and all of us to raise God-following adults!

And let us love our round-pegged children for who they are.

syc

PS: Sometimes it is good to go dance in the fountain with your child/children, feel what they feel – the freedom to be who they are.