"Soul"y Responsible

My blog has been kind of quiet lately, I'm guessing that's in part due to a break that my "Boundaries" study group has taken over the last few weeks. Those women just have an unbelievably, gentle way of dragging me kicking and screaming to the truth. The clarity that comes out of these study times sometimes astounds me. Today was one of those days.

We started off talking about one member's daughter who has gone off to college. Academically she's got it all together, her spiritual life however is proving to be a bigger challenge, at least that's what her mom is worried about. We sat and listened and let her talk it out, and then we all agreed that in the end, it's just hard letting them go and potentially fall victim to the very things we worked so hard, for so many years protecting them from.

I said "it's hard to be a parent and be solely responsible for someone". And that's when it hit me like a ton of bricks, which is an odd euphemism for hearing God break in and speak to you, but in all honesty my guess is, that due to a general lack of perception on my part, bricks are what He's left with in order to garner my attention. The truth is, that no one loves your child the way God does, no one *knows* your child like God does, and certainly no one has a bigger investment in their success than He does.

You'd have thought it was a lesson I had already learned with one of my own. In second grade Chloe had a horrible, horrible year. To begin with she was struggling with a lack of focus, and compounding that problem was a classroom setting worthy of a horror movie. An incredibly disturbed child continually acted out violently, finally necessitating a code word for classroom evacuation. At the end of the year, many people encouraged me to write letters requesting specific teachers, or classroom settings, which I will admit I was tempted to do. In the end though, I decided to test God, took a leap of faith, and just gave the whole situation over to Him, with the understanding that no one had more insight about what Chloe needed than He did. The results could not have been better. In every way 3rd grade was a success, and I learned my first real lesson in intentional prayer, and entrusting my children to God.

I'd love to tell you how consistent I am with that faith, but we all know how untrue that would be. Realistically it's a process, one of God raising my husband and me while we, along with Him, raise our children. In the give and take of every day life we have to remind ourselves daily of His promise to walk alongside us in partnership as we uncover the mysteries of His wonderful gifts that are our children.

Maybe you're skeptical, a control freak, or just really don't believe it. If so, I have a challenge for you. The next time you're faced with a particularly difficult parenting decision, take a moment and ask the One who uniquely knit that child in your womb *His* perspective, and I promise parenting will never be the same again.