Abdicating Responsibility

My mother was a fairly consistent type of lady. That is to say, that if mom said, "NO", it didn't mean this time, but not next time. No meant No!

I grew up not liking the fact that I did not get away with much. In fact, I used to hate birds. My mother collected them. The reason I did not like birds was because, these "birdies" kept telling on me. At least that's what I thought. Until I discovered that birds were teachers, School Principals, Sunday School teachers, friends, peers, neighbors & sisters. I have two! So I really did not get away with much...

When I got a bit older, I remember complaining to my mom, "I wanted you to be my friend, like everyone else's moms were friends with them". I continued rambling about how everyone else got away with stuff, but no, not me!

I remember my mother saying to me, "Son, God called me to be your mom, NOT your friend"! That shut me right up! I remember thinking, there is alot of truth in that. I didn't like it at the time, but I saw the wisdom in that. But it was this next bit that has really played over and over in my mind. She said to me, "Son, the easy road is to ignore your disobedience." She then added, "The harder job is to deal with it".

Is that not the truth? As a parent myself, the easy thing to do, is to look the other way. Pretend we did not see that, or hear that, or notice that. The harder task is to put down the paper, get off the lounge, step away from the computer, push the food away, stop the conversation and take the God given privilege we have been entrusted with, to train our children in the way that they should go.

How are we doing? Are we seizing every opportunity to train our children in the Gospel, that presents itself, or are we abdicating our responsibilities?

Over the next few posts, I will share with you some of the successes and failings of the Chavez family's opportunities to train our children. This is going to be done with the intention of encouraging you. Giving you a laugh. Providing you with some ideas. But most importantly, to remind you of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the reason we do what we do. We don't want to raise "good kids". We want to raise children who are aware of their need of a Savior.

I think we ought to be strategic and intentional about, 'parenting with an eternal perspective'...

So, we thought we would share some of our experiences with you... and yes, with our children's permission...