the    sides

It appears that all 3 of our kids are hitting a phase right now that has Amy and I looking at each other like – ‘what bus did we get on?’ You figure out early in parenting that each kid is different. So that’s not new to us. You learn pretty early on that what works with one kid won’t necessarily work with the others. So that’s not what is new either.

What is new is the intensity of the changes and how they not only start out different – they stay different, change different, handle everything different.

What isn’t different? How clueless I feel when faced with their differences.

I handled 18 years of youth ministry, change, culture shifts, other people’s kids, and other people’s problems. Faced with the defiance of my own 6 year old baffles me.

Why is giving grace and mercy to other people’s kids easier than mine own?

I’ve sat with many parents who were frustrated, angry, depressed, and shell shocked at the decisions of their children. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve encouraged parents – ‘It’s possible to be goldy, loving, wonderful parents and have kids that turn out to be hellions.’ I’ve seen the opposite as well.

But this rant has really less to do with my kids, more to do with me. My kids aren’t hellions. Far from it at this stage in life. They push the boundaries. They are in the middle of discovering who they are. They are just being kids…

It’s just I’m convinced that God has put these 3 in my life to point out how selfish I can be, how so not together I am and how ridiculously dependent I am on God’s grace…every single day.