R3_LOGOToday is our fifth videocast in our series about Radically Redemptive Relationships.  There is probably no other area in life where we experience more pain, hope, heartache, and desire . . . and I think God intended it to be that way. My prayer is that we will not be afraid to look a little crazy in love with them this week.  How else will they know that Jesus is wilder than they can imagine, and He loves them more than we can imagine.

Today my children are 28 and 29. My son, who from the age of 2, let me know he was only going to wear cowboy boots and denim shorts is a lawyer (he’s had to change his dress code), and that’s something to be proud about. But I love him for who he is – he is funny, he is courageous, he is the most honest person I know, and he introduces me to all the great movies and music I would never know about without him.

My daughter is 29 and the head of marketing for a really yummy product that’s called barkTHINS (it’s chocolate that’s good for you and we have a few hundred packages of it, if you want a sample!). She is going to change the world. I just know it. She is passionate, brave, humble, and can recognize a good sale a mile away.

It’s been hard for me to learn that these two people are not mine. They were magnificent loans – for a season. Today they are God’s. All His. And if that makes you sad, because your children feel like they are all yours with their constant demand for your attention, take heart. There will come a day when the words of the ancient King Jehoshaphat’s words will bring peace to your soul. He was “parenting” a group of bedraggled, confused, scared people (our children get that way sometimes, but mostly we do!) He saw the enemy approaching and said what every parent I know has said at one time: “This enemy is greater than we are, and we don’t know what to do.”

In 2 Chronicles he shares what God told him in that dark night of the soul – you know when you wake up at 2:00 in the morning and just know there’s something “off” with your child.  He heard from God, “Don’t be afraid or discouraged. This battle is not your’s.  It’s mine.” 

heartinhand

Nobody tells you that the most terrifying battles of parenthood are nothing when they are learning to sleep through the night or to do their homework. Those are battles, but they pale in compare to battles about life choices and struggles that can last a lifetime. I remind myself when I gather my sanity that, “These children are not mine. They are His.”

I will leave you with this prayer from Walter Bruggeman as you watch the videocast at: https://youtu.be/thiRB6EjKVc.

I am a parent dear Lord,
I ask nothing from you for me.
I pray only that in your mercy
you would grant my children their needs.
May their lives be long and healthy.
May they achieve all their dreams.
May they always live in a world that is free.
May they be who they were born to be.
And may they know to their last days
that they were deeply loved by me.
Amen

 

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