One of the struggles we've had since coming home with Tadesse and Biruk is their endless fascination with buttons. We brought an iPad (which we have been continuously thankful for) that they played with on the plane and in the guest house. Their fascination with all things electronic has made us laugh on a number of occasions, including in the O'Hare airport when Tadesse was trying to manipulate the graphics by touching the screen of a huge TV. It has also panicked us, like when he pushed the fire alarm, which someone had the foresight to cover with a clear plastic lid.
Since then, we've had an endless battle of the buttons and dials. Car windows go up and down and up and down in 30-degree temperatures. We have been locked out of the car. An app on our iPad was changed to Chinese instead of English. Apps have been deleted altogether. Warm water has been turned to hot. Lights have turned on and off and on and off.
Of course, not all buttons are benign. My Volkswagen has a push-button start. On our farm there are all sorts of buttons that can cause serious injury. Because of this, our first patient "no buttons" reminders have turned into "NO. BUTTONS!"
The ultimate truth is that if they don't understand the repercussions of an action, they should not do it. If they don't understand, they need to trust their mom and dad to tell them if something is safe or if it will harm others. In other words, if in doubt, don't do it!
When my frustrations mount and I'm about ready to blow, I try to sit back and think about how I am guilty of the same infractions, and always when I'm thinking about parenting issues, I think about God and how I behave as His child.
I am guilty of pushing so many buttons.
The Bible is full of "Don't push that button," yet we tend to think we're above those warnings. We think of our God as an archaic God, one from the history books, one who doesn't understand today's society. Yet our God knows and understands where we have come from and where we are going. He is the ultimate technician, the IT and engineer of the universe. He is the doctor above all doctors and the counselor above all counselors. He knows the consequences of every button we push, and I don't think I need to go into details because we each have our own buttons. We each try to justify our actions by every means except for looking at the Bible and what God has to say.
And like Tadesse and Biruk, when we do something we know (or should know) we shouldn't have, we run to our Father to ask Him to fix it all again, just to have us mess up again tomorrow. (I sometimes can't help but wonder if when I come to Him, asking for forgiveness and a fix of yet another situation, does He sigh and roll His eyes like I sometimes do? Does He get exasperated and need a nap? Does He require some alone time to regroup?)
The Bible says this:
I am so thankful that God is a better parent than I am. I am thankful that even when I do what I'm not supposed to but return to Him in repentance, He models to me what good parenting is: full of grace and love and mercy.
Thank You, God, for being the God of do-overs. Thank You for respecting and allowing repentance, and give me a heart that desires to follow You. Help me to trust You, that when I am tempted to try something that has unknown consequences, I look to Your Word to guide me out of that situation. And while I'm at it, God, please give me patience with my children to understand that their misbehavior has an adult equivalent in my actions. Help me teach them while being teachable myself.
Since then, we've had an endless battle of the buttons and dials. Car windows go up and down and up and down in 30-degree temperatures. We have been locked out of the car. An app on our iPad was changed to Chinese instead of English. Apps have been deleted altogether. Warm water has been turned to hot. Lights have turned on and off and on and off.Of course, not all buttons are benign. My Volkswagen has a push-button start. On our farm there are all sorts of buttons that can cause serious injury. Because of this, our first patient "no buttons" reminders have turned into "NO. BUTTONS!"
The ultimate truth is that if they don't understand the repercussions of an action, they should not do it. If they don't understand, they need to trust their mom and dad to tell them if something is safe or if it will harm others. In other words, if in doubt, don't do it!
When my frustrations mount and I'm about ready to blow, I try to sit back and think about how I am guilty of the same infractions, and always when I'm thinking about parenting issues, I think about God and how I behave as His child.
I am guilty of pushing so many buttons.
The Bible is full of "Don't push that button," yet we tend to think we're above those warnings. We think of our God as an archaic God, one from the history books, one who doesn't understand today's society. Yet our God knows and understands where we have come from and where we are going. He is the ultimate technician, the IT and engineer of the universe. He is the doctor above all doctors and the counselor above all counselors. He knows the consequences of every button we push, and I don't think I need to go into details because we each have our own buttons. We each try to justify our actions by every means except for looking at the Bible and what God has to say.
And like Tadesse and Biruk, when we do something we know (or should know) we shouldn't have, we run to our Father to ask Him to fix it all again, just to have us mess up again tomorrow. (I sometimes can't help but wonder if when I come to Him, asking for forgiveness and a fix of yet another situation, does He sigh and roll His eyes like I sometimes do? Does He get exasperated and need a nap? Does He require some alone time to regroup?)
The Bible says this:
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of \His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork,created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2: 1-10).
I am so thankful that God is a better parent than I am. I am thankful that even when I do what I'm not supposed to but return to Him in repentance, He models to me what good parenting is: full of grace and love and mercy.
Thank You, God, for being the God of do-overs. Thank You for respecting and allowing repentance, and give me a heart that desires to follow You. Help me to trust You, that when I am tempted to try something that has unknown consequences, I look to Your Word to guide me out of that situation. And while I'm at it, God, please give me patience with my children to understand that their misbehavior has an adult equivalent in my actions. Help me teach them while being teachable myself.
