Greetings Parents!
One of the hardest parts of life is being invested in something, fighting for it, working with people for it, and then finding out they don't have the same visions. Sometimes it's their own selfishness and sometimes its a totally different direction. It's a let-down and a difficulty. And then we face a choice - try to continue to pursue the path and force the other, yield and follow theirs, or agree to separate.
In sacramental marriages we are called to continue to collaborate. God promises that if our joint visions is for that which He has made marriage, then we will survive, somehow. But that requires two human wills desiring unity with his One great Will. One human will can still bring a marriage business and ministry partnerships, ow awesome for God to know everything! While I try to think through the short- and long-term consequences, He just knows them. In the past it was which activities to encourage and which to discourage - usually because they were not in this family's time, travel, or finance budget. Taking on a paper route was a bigger debate - a way for the boys to earn money through their own labor (with parental help), but no particular end-date. Going to a friend's house when we've never met the parents or friend. How to know which of these will end up being beneficial or which might lead to sorrowful outcomes? And which sorrowful outcomes are OK - like losing a game or having a losing season vs. being betrayed by a supposed friend at their home with no other family or friends around (fortunately not something that happened to our boys - but it is a momma's worry!).
It's hard to relate, sometimes, to God's all-knowingness, and to remember that His guidance is available. In good moments, I remember to ask Him for some direction - a feeling, a clue, or an event that decides things for us. On the back end, when I second-guess and worry that I should regret a decision, that's when I need to remember that God knows all, knows my decision, and before time began He had in His Plan the answer to my prayer for Him fix any mistakes I made that might hurt my children. The important part is to remember to say that prayer!!! "God, help me to make the right decisions for my children and please somehow fix the bad things that might happen when I make poor choices for them."
Life might not turn out exactly as I planned, but if we constantly turn to Him for help - before and after each decision, we can trust God to bring ultimate goodness into our children's lives. It might not be as we expected or wanted, but after our death, we will see, be grateful for, and rejoice in the goodness He wrought from both our parenting successes and failures. Just remember - PRAY!! without ceasing!
Hug your children tight, teach them to pray in every moment, and help them trust in God's love so that they will never despair after failure, but seek God's aid to know and correct their flaws while trusting in His ability to bring good into and out of every situation.
-- Linda Bader, Coordinator of Religious Education
P.S. Did you know... our guardian angels are not just at our sides, but are constantly interceding for us with the Father? Both with us and beholding the face of God, they are a living means by which God has care over our lives more often than every nanosecond. Talk with your angel constantly, he wants to help you in every moment! (But don't try to name your angel - we do not have the right to name these spiritual people who were created by God and who already have a name we'll learn after death!)
