Why you don’t have to be the perfect parent (just keep plantin’)

Today, I speak to a young mother who’s in the thick of it with small children. I speak also to the parent who’s raisin’ older ones and who’s waitin’ for the seeds to bear fruit. You’re dis-couraged…

It happened just today.

At the back door, he stops. He’s on his way to work, but he halts, then turns. Raising his voice, he sends it ’round the corner to where I’m preppin’ for my own busy day. The morning words he has told me for years. “Pray for me, I’ll pray for you.”

But this day, he adds something: “What do you need prayer for today?” And so I say it. “That I can really know and believe and walk in my identity.”

“You can pray that for me, too,” he says. And all at once, “Can I come pray for you right now?”

“Why, yes!” I say, and here he is. Laying both hands on my shoulders, my handsome, bearded son, he with the Jesus hair, begins to pray. And his prayer to Lord Christ, it starts like this, “Thank You for my mom.” Then follows a most insightful and cogent prayer for his mother, asking Friend Jesus to help her know, really know, who she is “in spite of what her feelings are saying.”

With an amen and a kiss on the cheek, he is gone.

Of the four sons I have mothered and guided through childhood, this son–this very one–gave me the most frustration and stress. For his ADHD and great difficulty with focus nearly sent me ’round the bend many a day. Homework was a nightmare. Schedules and time frames were hellacious. He had a stubborn streak a lotta-miles-wide. He demanded a very firm hand. And yet…

And yet, his heart for the Lord was wider than that, and his passion for the lost? Supernatural. A hugger and a kisser with a quick, keen wit and a prankster. A tornado in blue jeans, Kid Kaboom.

I will tell you that we made many mistakes with him. My angst would overflow, and I would yell. I would push him away sometimes, exhausted by the force of his personality. Then, too, we parented, in those early years, from a legalistic position, and it hurt him. We loved him as we’ve loved all of his brothers–with all of our hearts, to the best of our knowledge and ability. And now, the fruit.

Here’s what I want you to know. You, dear parent raisin’ kids, are a partner with God. I believe that you’re just like us; doin’ the very best that you can, but you’re fallin’ short.

Know what? It’s okay. Now that Mr. Schrock and I are more on this side of that equation, all those seeds we planted during all those long, exhausting, occasionally stressful years? They’re bearin’ fruit. And here’s why. In this partnership we have with God, He’s the biggest partner. He’s the true Kaboom for our kids. He’s the One with the miracle strength/wisdom/insight/power, and His name is Faithful and True.

This day, allow Him to parent you first, then partner with Him for your kids. And then, tired parent, wait in hope for the fruit. # youcan # Jesushelps