Adapted from “10 Things Children Love (But Moms Secretly Hate)” by Jessica Wolstenholm
Each week this column strives to offer advice and tips designed to make
your marriage and/or family life better; advice that, if taken, will enrich
you as a husband, wife, parent, or even fiancé(e). The advice offered
always involves some degree of work, but the rewards far outweigh the
effort.
Today’s column is completely different. After reading this, you will not
be compelled to exert any effort or conduct yourself any differently.
Today’s column takes a light-hearted look at some of the conflicts that
plague parent-child relationships. So, let’s take a look at…
Ask God to give you an opportunity to become more
detached from secondary things. Give something away
that you are attached to. Share your car, your home,
your time, your money, or your possessions
with someone this week.
Notice the feelings that arise in you when you think
of giving something away. Spend time talking to God
about how attached you are to your things.
Walk through your home, office, or some other
significant place in your life and, in your mind, give all
you have to God. Tell Him that you could live
without the things you see. What is this time of prayer
like for you?
Think this week about where in your life you need
Christ’s spirit of detachment. Where do you need grace
to pray, “Not my will but Yours be done?” Talk to God
about what it means for you to pray this sort of prayer.
1. Glow sticks. They’re magical enough, until they’re useless pieces
of plastic that your kids insist on keeping on the off chance that they
may start glowing again someday!
2. Balloons. Full of innocence and fun until one child’s pops before
their sibling’s.
3. Kids’ Meals Toys. Because getting taken out for a deliciously greasy
and nutritionally void meal isn’t enough of a treat?!
4. Lollipops. Freely handed out at every bank and post office in the US,
these sugar-on-a-stick treats are not what moms need for their kids
during a day of running errands—not to mention what happens
to those discarded sticks festering in the back of the car somewhere!
5. Play Doh. If we wanted random blobs of color in our carpet, don’t
you think we would have purchased it that way?
6. Anything from the Dollar Store. Has anyone managed to get a toy
home before it breaks?
7. Bath Crayons. Because the bathroom isn’t messy enough already.
8. Kites. Mary Poppins made it look way easier and more fun than
it actually is.
9. Restaurant Crayons. Kids always want to bring them home…as if
there aren’t enough crayons at home already.
10. Stickers from the grocery store or doctor’s office. How ‘bout
instead of offering little Johnny 5 stickers, you knock a few bucks
off my total?!
If any of these struggles resonated with you as a parent, rest assured—
you are not alone!
Stay tuned for more details on both of these events.
Romans 12 (1) Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters,
by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice
— alive, holy, and pleasing to God — which is your
reasonable service.
2 Timothy 2 (15) Make every effort to present yourself
before God as a proven worker who does not need
to be ashamed, teaching the message of truth accurately.
[2 Timothy 3:16] Every scripture is inspired by God and
useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for
training in righteousness, (17) that the person dedicated
to God may be capable and equipped for every good work.
1 Peter 4 (10) Just as each one has received a gift, use it
to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace
of God.
Galatians 5 (13) … serve one another. (14) For the whole
law can be summed up in a single commandment, namely,
“You must love your neighbor as yourself.” (6:10) So then,
whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all
people, and especially to those who belong to the family
of faith.
Find a place to quiet yourself. Take a few moments to just sit and
empty your mind. When your mind is quiet, acknowledge that
God is present with you. Thank Him for his never-failing love and
companionship. Place yourself in His hands. Invite Him to speak
to you in whatever way is most needed. Read through one time
silently. Now go back and read it again in a soft whisper so you
can hear your own voice. Read it slowly.
When a word or phrase “lights up” or “jumps out” at you, stop
and attend. Let the word or phrase roam around in your mind
and heart. What do you hear? What feelings do you notice
in yourself? (You may want to write these down.)