GRACE BLOGS COLLECTION
Wow, I love to write. I think I could write all day long and not get bored, especially if it meant helping someone. Although I don’t have time to write all day long these days, I get excited when God puts something on my heart to write and post for your encouragement and then the Holy Spirit helps me put it into words. I hope this post on good parenting helps you. Of course, all the glory goes to God…always!
Good parenting takes time…lots and lots of time. This is one big reason us McCollom’s don’t plan such a tight schedule that we end up running from thing to thing to thing. We learned years ago that to be able to listen to our kids and to be able to train them according to the Word of God this would take many, many, many, many conversations over the years; therefore, we purposely leave time in our schedule for these conversations.
Of course, just like everyone else, I have over scheduled our lives before. (I say I instead of we because Steve really doesn’t fall into this trap) But every time I do over schedule, I find that those parent/child conversations that are suppose to be positive and bring a positive outcome become more of a frustration. When that happens our kids can begin to feel like they are a frustration to us and that is definitely not God’s plan for parenting!
I just had a conversation with my girls this morning that was not in my plan, but the extra time was in my schedule helping me be able to calmly listen and talk through what we needed to talk through. And most importantly, having that time and not being in a hurry helped me remember to stop and hear from the Holy Spirit before making any decisions or saying anything I would regret.
I believe this kind of parenting leaves our kids feeling loved.
Today I encourage you and remind myself with this:
Let’s leave lots of extra time in our daily schedules for good parenting! We’ll all be glad we did because good parenting is an investment we are making into our kids lives and we will reap the benefit of investing well!
Let’s pray and ask the Holy Spirit to guide us and then be willing to click the delete button on as many things as we need to in our schedules so good parenting doesn’t end up getting deleted!
If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!
Sandra McCollom
Starr (L) and Angel (R) are gonna be 13 this weekend!
Unbelievable!
You know, I used to think that as a parent, I wasn’t suppose to be my kids’ friend, but I was only suppose to be their parent until they became an adult at which time I could then start being their friend. The only problem was, I tried this approach for 9 years and it didn’t work for us.
I was legalistic and, although I never abused my girls, they felt more afraid in my “authoritative presence” than they felt comfortable around me. Not all the time, of course, but far too often.
Really, what was happening was I treating my girls the same way I wrongly thought God was treating me. I was rarely comfortable in God’s presence and was almost constantly afraid of what He was thinking or how He was feeling about me.
But THANK GOD that by His grace, my view of God and my view of parenting changed; therefore, the past 4 years have been very different for my girls and I. The results have proven to me that it’s a very good thing to be both friend and parent to your kids. In fact, it’s worked so well for us that our girls absolutely LOVE spending time with us. It’s certainly not because we’re perfect parents, because, of course we’re not perfect.
We just all do life together. We’re a team. We love each other. We allow each other to be human…to fail. And we forgive…often.
What better time for a child to feel like they not only have a parent, but a really good friend that they can lean on other than while they’re growing up and trying to navigate all the mazes that life brings!
My goodness I love my girls with all my heart. I’m not afraid of having teenagers. I’m looking forward to it. AND the best news is …we get to spend eternity together!
If you have not yet made Jesus your Savior and received the wonderful joy that His finished work on the cross has provided for you to live in, please visit my page here titled Jesus In The Driver’s Seat. On this page I explain the good news of the gospel and you will have the opportunity to pray a prayer of salvation, making Jesus your Savior! Jesus loves you and His arms are wide open!
Sandra McCollom