I love how the Bible can so perfectly apply to a certain situation. I woke up this morning, cupped tea in my hand and dug into the Word to find this…
“My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed by you.” Galatians 4:19-20
Staring at the three combative faces before me, disgruntled and caught up in a frenzy of anticipating school anxiety, this verse sprung to life. In the aftermath of the bout of whining and an abrupt lashing out between siblings, sometimes that is the exact word I feel, perplexed. Of course as most moms probably think to themselves at one point or another, I thought, “Did I raise them to be like that?”
Oh, how I await Christ being formed in my children. How I await that for myself day in and day out! Can’t you just see the look on Paul’s face as he wrote the part about changing his tone? I know my tone takes on “interesting intonations” when I’m reprimanding and nudging my children to behave. At times I develop such a tone that the word nudging no longer applies.
Isn’t it frustrating to be perplexed by someone, waiting on them to “get it?” If you nodded in agreement you can probably guess where I’m headed. Every time my children drive me to a point of perplexity, I must ask myself, “Am I currently doing that to God? Am I being insubordinate, whiny, causing needless trouble or am I just not getting it?”
I think one of the most rewarding aspects of parenting is to live out the demonstrative love that our Father has for us. In the same breath, I believe that is also one of the hardest parts of parenting, guiding our children with a patience and persistence until Christ is formed in them.