She looked at her child and said, “I always try and tell the
truth.”
A mom was correcting her son for not being honest. She spoke
to him in a kind and nurturing way, and as I walked past them this weekend, I
thought nothing of it.
But as the week passed, I began to realize the contradiction
in that statement. How many times have I
given advice to my kids in such a way that was more confusing than helpful? And
just like this mom, we think we are giving solid advice to our children, but
really we’re making them scratch their heads in confusion.
The issue lies with the word “try.” We don’t want our
children to just try, we want them to do. We always want them to tell the
truth.
When I was a kid my dad used to say, “Think before you talk.”
And I still have to remind myself of that wisdom when parenting my own
children. I need to make sure that when I’m teaching them, I’m actually giving
them sound advice.
James 1:19 challenges us to be quick to listen and slow to
speak, but in our fast-paced, on-demand society that seems impossible, or is
it? What are some things you’ve said to your kids that you later realized was
more confusing than helpful?
Relax by definition is to make less tense, less rigid, make
lax and to diminish the force of. In everyday terms, it means to kick back and
do nothing.
Relaxing is a state of mind for me. I may be relaxing from
work, but really I’m doing tons of stuff at home. I am by nature a workaholic
who loves to be constantly moving.
To relax is to accomplish goals I set for myself on my day
off. My wife likes to remind me that I don’t give myself any real down time and
that accomplishing my lists of tasks isn’t a good substitution for a day off.
And I have to say she is right. I do need to slow down and
just chill. I know God rested on the seventh day as He looked over creation and
said it was good. But I’m not following His lead. I go like a machine until I
break.
Well I write this post because the machine is broken. God
has gotten my attention because I’ve been dealing with this incredible back
pain, and in turn he’s humbled my heart.
Yes God, I do hear you. You have my attention. You are telling
me to slow down and relax. Well I now have no choice but to be at dead slow and
actually unwind and enjoy it.
Despite my best attempts to fight having down time, God
grabs my attention by allowing something to happen that purposefully slows me
down. It puts this back pain into perspective.
What has God done or allowed in your life to get your
attention?
But as the week passed, I began to realize the contradiction
in that statement. How many times have I
given advice to my kids in such a way that was more confusing than helpful? And
just like this mom, we think we are giving solid advice to our children, but
really we’re making them scratch their heads in confusion.
