Trusting God with our kids

"But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile."
~(NIV) Exodus 2.2-3

"Trusting God with Our Kids"
Parenting by Design

          I want to be a good mother when I grow up.
          I want my husband and I to be good parents.
          Teaching at a high school, I am bombarded with stories and, in some cases, blatant evidence of parents not being parents and children having to deal with the consequences of an adult's childish choice. I have also seen what happens when a parent is too involved in the lives of their children, for the sake of 'protection'...one of these helicopter parents even called me at my house after 10pm on my CELL PHONE (I, to this day, have no idea how she got that number) to talk about her kids' grade (her kid was making a hard-earned B-).
          As I think about Miss Lila Jane growing up, I do think about all of the things that she will experience without me and I wonder if she will make good choices. It is so cool and comforting to think about the fact that Moses' mother trusted that God would keep him safe in a basket made of reeds on the Nile River, she knew that whatever happened to him it would be in God's design...wow, what FAITH!
          My own mother has trusted that we would make the right choices, even if that meant no longer forcing me (and, boy she really did have to tackle some bull-headedness) to go to church, and when I wanted to go to church, letting me go to the church of my choosing--a church different than her own. She trusted all three of us girls to make good choices, even when we weren't and even when we don't. Now, I cannot tell a lie my mother hovers a little, still to this day (what good mother doesn't?), but I have no problem telling her to back off and I also listen to her even if I don't always do what she says. She taught me independence and strong-will when she left me in God's hands.



"...I can't handle it,
I just spend every minute running around and working
and thinking and I thought I would have help but
Sookie has Davey and Michel has Celine and I'm...
I can't do it all by myself!"



          I want my daughter to trust me and letting her make poor choices without guidance from me wouldn't build trust anymore than hovering does. I will not just let her walk all over me, I will let her know when she is doing something wrong, I will be a good parent who teaches what it means to be a good child and I will love her no matter what choices she makes.

          What will I do when my daughter wants to go to her first boy/girl party? Stays out past curfew (I didn't really have one, anyway) and doesn't call? Drives on the Interstate? Goes on vacation during college without telling me where she's going? I will take a deep breath, I will force myself not to be judgemental, I will teach her about the right choices, I will pray and I will remember that God saved Moses in the reeds on the Nile, He has her in His extremely capable hands.

          If you try to be the best parent you can be, you will fail (even Lorelai Gilmore--the coolest mom ever--struck out a time or two), but if you leave your kids with God, even when you fail He succeeds...even if that doesn't look like it at the moment.
          So, Lord I give The Tiny Person over to you...of course, when I'm being especially crazy about something she is doing or not doing, please, gently, reminded of the fact that You are way stronger than I and can take and will always take care of her. Amen.