Greetings Parents,
Priorities! For my children, getting a daily token or prize from a game by logging in every day is of utmost importance. We parents, however, hold a higher regard for them being able to survive some days without electronics. Having free time to do "whatever" is paramount to a successful day for them, but we parents lean more toward certain chores being done before the free time is exercised. We can "teach" until we're blue in the face on the reasons why certain things need to be done, or need to be done first, but we can't make physically make them do as we wish. We can enforce consequences, but we can't move their arms for them, at least not after a certain age. At times it is frustrating!
I wonder sometimes, how God expects me to raise "good" children when they are so ornery? We impose consequences and seek to establish a good order, but while we might create outward compliance, the defiance grows in their minds. Sometimes the defiance comes from outside factors that have influence on our children - their world outside the home and the world we let into the home via various media. The influence can be good, but it can also lead astray, planting seeds of unhappiness when our children are to young to fully perceive that true happiness is not merely "pleasure," be it immediate or delayed. What's a parent to do?
The first answer is always prayer! So much aid and protection can come from prayer! Discernment for right decisions can be found through prayer as well! So what does God do when we won't turn to Him? He has no one to pray to for help! He is the recipient of all prayer - the "buck" stops with Him! He has already done so much! At some point, there is a limit to what both God and parents can do. He proposes, sends His Son to meet and greet, sends saints, performs miracles everyday, and never ceases calling everyone with open arms. He comes down from heaven every day to meet us at the altar, but only asks for a once-a-week commitment plus holy days. He asks us to have a conversation with Him each day - which is less than we usually expect of some children. We usually expect, or would like, them to chat with us at least a little each time we see them again. I guess God might appreciate the same thing.
Perhaps whenever our children frustrate us in some way, we could use that as a trigger to remind ourselves to consider in what ways we are frustrating God. Have I spoken with Him much today to know if He has something amazing for me planned in which I am not participating? Or am I sosure that what I have planned for the day is better for myself and others than what He might have in mind?
Hug those chatty and quiet gifts tightly and may God bless you and your children abundantly!
-- Linda Bader, St. Thomas More