I feel like there are so many voices online right now; it’s like static to my mind! So, if this is one too many, feel free to tune me out. I felt the urgency to take a second and remind us of our mission as parents.
I know there is lots of advice out there, so mostly what I want to do is give you some questions to ask yourself.
What are you aiming at in your parenting?
What are your three long-term goals that you are praying for concerning your kids? You know… character things that will define them as the men and women God created them to be.
Are you aiming at those goals now…during this unexpected, never ending (feels like it) stay at home for some, or overload at work for others?
Are the habits that you and your children are developing now something you want to stay when all of this is over?
Forced home schooling, the inability to have very many face-to-face adult conversations and all the other adjustments this time has forced on us will certainly mean boredom, sibling conflict and marital stress. There is a feeling of loss, sadness, anger and grief over all the things we have missed or will be missing.
It’s tempting to lower our standards for how we use our time and allow children to use their time. Are those compromises helping you hit the goals you have?
Do they lead you where you want to go?
We are almost 2 months in, and who know how much longer! I’m not sure anyone really knows. But when that day arrives, let’s be able to look back and know that we went forward, not backward in our relationships and in our parenting. (and grand parenting J)
How?
- Take a minute and honestly answer the questions I have posed.
- Talk the answers over with your spouse.
- Humbly own the responsibility of any unhelpful lowering of standards.
- Make adjustments now. It’s not too late.
Aim well. Model well. And, above all else, pray.
The One Who changes hearts and renews minds is at work in you and will work through you as you turn your face toward Him.
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful. 1 Thessalonians 5:24