Friday, April 20, 2012

BCS Reflections: A Parent's Prayer

It's nearly the end of the school year and I haven't even mentioned a thing about what a wonderful addition to our family life Briarwood has been. Well, guess I just did!

Ever week or so I receive an email message from the Superintendant and a recent one really hit the spot for me. Hope you enjoy it too!

A Parent's Prayer: From an Imperfect Parent for Priceless Children

Make me the parent, O Lord, who will show my children the strength to face weakness; the courage to face fear; the grace to accept honest defeat; and the humility and gentleness to accept victory.

Make me the parent who will show my children not a path of ease and comfort, but the ability to accept the challenges of stress and difficulty. Use me, I pray, to be the example of one who can stand up in the storm, and there learn compassion for those who fail.

Make me the parent who will teach my children the value of a clear heart and a high goal; to look in the mirror of their own faults before they find fault in others; to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to cry; to reach into the future without ever forgetting the past.

Make me the parent, O Lord, who will show my children enough of a sense of humor, so that they will always be serious, but never take themselves too seriously. Give them humility, so they will always remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength.

And after all these things are theirs, add for me, I pray, the wisdom to show them the dubious value of titles, positions, money, and material gain; and the eternal value of prayer, the Holy Bible, a Christian home, and a saving relationship with Your Son Jesus Christ.

Then I, their parent, will dare to whisper, "I have not lived in vain.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The Old Switcheroo!

There once was a boy named Duke.  He was a gentle lad, narry a thing would faze the boy.  Eager to help, happy to please.  And then one day...POOF!  He was gone!

That my friends is the little tale that is my life these days.  Yes, my sweet, quiet, happy go lucky, did everything himself early, "Ok I will!" baby boy has decided that he would prefer to stick out his tongue, scream at the top of his lungs in defiance and flatly tell me "I'm not gonna do that!"  And he's FOUR and A HALF.  Not terrible two's, not tricky three's, all FOUR and A HALF years of I did it one time after Jack was born and this is what I finally get for it.

Sigh.

I daily chant "This too shall pass, this too shall pass."  And have devoured (for the third time I believe) Dr. Kevin Leman's bestseller "Have a New Kid by Friday!"  The main premise of which is "B does not happen until A is completed.  Say it once and walk away."  Except I finished it a four Friday's ago and A has not been completed yet.

It's a test of wills I tell you.  At least with Jack, there was this constant desire for approval.  (Gee wonder how that happens in a first born, pffffft!)  If I got upset with that child, he couldn't last an hour without breaking down, apologizing and trying to make it better - even if it meant a full blown fit first.

With Duke, he's a simmerer (hmmmm, like maybe his father?) and after 17 years of marriage I haven't figured how to manage it with him.

Oh crap.  It's gonna be a long year.