11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside. 1st Corinthians 13:11
This morning, my son and I were having a heated discussion about his chore money. He felt that I owed him money even when I explained to him that he did not follow through with all of his responsibilities. And for the next fifteen minutes, in his childish ways he whined, tried to reason, complained and even threw a tantrum like a child will. And I expect that from my kids - because their reasoning ability is all centered around themselves - what is fair to them, what makes them feel good, what they can get for the least amount of work.
I get it (even though at 7:10 in the morning right before his bus is supposed to come, this "discussion" was trying my patience - huge!) And what can I do besides stick to my parenting guns - I can pray that he will grow into a young man who sees life not just though his selfish eyes - but consider the world and people in it around him.
As adults, aren't we supposed to have this all figured out? When we see our kids throwing a tantrum about something like this - it's obvious right? Or is it?
For some of us - I don't think it is. If it was, we wouldn't be in this world of addiction, hurts, hang-ups, habits. If it was so obvious, shouldn't we just be able to stop?
Perhaps, you never received the type of parenting that you needed in order to be able to cope with life and instead you chose addiction as the answer. Now as an adult you see your life crumbling around you and perhaps are wondering why? It's time we stop reasoning like a child and put on our big girl (or boy) pants and make adult choices. If you feel like you don't know how - seek help with a counselor, attend a Celebrate Recovery meeting, or a 12 step meeting, ask a trusted friend for their honest truth.
It's time to put childish thinking, child reasoning and actions aside. It's time to getting our healing on! What pants are you wearing today?
Matthew 18:3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
Yesterday, my children and I returned home from a trip visiting my parents. And to keep peace (and my stress level down too) in the car they watched a video that we got at the library before we left. It was called "The Little Red Wagon".
In this movie the young boy (age 9 or 10) saw that towns affected by hurricanes had been destroyed - complete loss. And this young boy named Zach took his wagon and started collecting supplies. When he went to visit the Red Cross shelter he met kids there and quickly realized that these kids now had no homes, no toys, no food - nothing! And so he realized the problem was bigger than just a hurricane and fixing up a house. And so he took his red wagon and started to collect for the homeless. And his crusade led to a walk across the United States collected over $100,000 in money and much more in donations.
And so I'm driving, and in the mirrors I'm sneaking peaks of my kids watching this movie. As many of you know I have a special needs son who is very intense. As I am driving, my son asks if we have homeless in our town. And I said yes. Then about 5 minutes later he asks if we have shelters or food banks and I answered yes.
Well, we no sooner get home from our trip and we finish unpacking and I crash in a chair. He comes out of his room with a paper with all sorts of things written on it. So I asked him what it was. And he responded that it's a flyer to collect food for our shelter. He told me that we have people who need food and we have lots so he wanted to go collect food like the boy did. And so within an hour of being home he was already out in the neighborhood collecting for our food bank.
Now I know it's a long story but it got me to thinking. How simple was that?!? He saw a need and went about fixing it. Why do we as adults make things so complicated? Why do we make all sorts of excuses? I think part of it lies that life has molded us to think a certain way. Children see things so black and white and we see too many shades and variations.
Addictions are nothing but an excuse. I'm sorry - and I'm in the same boat. Using a hurt or hang-up or habit -- we do it because it makes US feel better. But children see life differently. And I think that's part of what Jesus is talking about in the verse when he says we must become like children in order to enter heaven. We must see things more clearly and when we see a problem - fix it and not wait for some one else to come along.
And so, this movie has inspired my son to pick a new neighborhood each week to get donations so that no one has to go hungry. I learn from my children each and every day! I hope you can learn from the little children too!
