Parenting God's Way

Good Day!!!

In the past two weeks on the Sabbath Day I have felt so wonderful. I was spiritually fed those days and found much joy in doing the work of the Lord. I am so glad the Sabbath Day was made for mankind to focus on what's important, and that is...our spiritual growth. I do love the Sabbath Day. I just wanted to share that with you.

I have a slight problem when it comes to parenting... I like things done my way. You know that we as parents can see things our kids can't because we have experienced more in life. We know things, and how the world works. But how did we get there? We got there through trial and error. We gained experience by trying it ourselves then learning from the experience. SO, why can't I seem to let go by letting my children experience life and make mistakes?

I have a child who I believe is making unwise decisions at this time and I am struggling to let them make their own mistakes. The decisions they are making are not life or death decisions but, they are about being happy or miserable for the rest of their lives. So...as a righteous woman I went to God for the answers.

The scriptures showed me how our Heavenly Father parents us. He tells us that we can make our own decisions but there are consequences for any decision we make. He makes it clear what those consequences are. So he leaves it up to us to decide the direction we will go. But, the real cool thing is if we make the wrong choice, we are still not alone in the consequences. He is there for us and he will help us get up on our feet again. He will still love us not matter what we do. He wants to help us get back on the road to success and happiness. I am so grateful for that knowledge.

So, I took His advice and told my child that they should be allowed to make their own decisions. But I made it very clear what the consequences would be if they made the wrong choice in this issue, never-the-less, I would be there to help them and would still love them. I felt at peace with that conversation. But, I also made it clear that I was Mom and I probably would still check up on them!!! (I'm a slow learner).

I love my children, as I know our Heavenly Father loves us. I am so glad He created families so we can better understand the relationship we should have with Him. I pray for wisdom all the time because I want to be like Him. I want what's best for my family and I want them to know that I want them to feel true happiness.

Well, I want to close my blog today with a thought I sent to my child recently in a text (because my child was out of town for a couple of weeks). I saw them being idle with their time and I wanted to make it clear that they can do whatever they wanted with their time but here was the consequences.

"Look at your day, what can you say you have accomplished, sometimes there are small accomplishments and sometimes there are big ones, but can you say that you have had a successful day? If you can't then you have wasted your day, and can never get it back, so live today as if there were no more days to live, find happiness in your day...I love you."

I did not get a negative response back but I got a "thank you, Mom". I felt good because they knew I loved them and would still always be there to lead them on a good path.

I read a statement recently by a man named George Albert Smith who said,

“I would not seek to force people to live up to my ideals but rather love them into doing the thing that is right." I felt like this was the way our Father in Heaven would have us do it.

I will love my children into making the best decisions for their lives, and accept their decisions are part of them growing into the person they were meant to become. I will trust in God, as long as I do it His way I know it will all be for good.