{words with friends} unconditional love
Today brought with it much drama that I haven't completely been able to rationalize and find solutions for.
My heart is heavy and my mind aches. I need to write it out.
::What do you say when you hear children saying mean things to one another? When your older child is the brunt of unnecessary meanness? When your youngest doesn't understand what he's saying and repeats "nobody likes _______ {child's name}" again and again?
Parenting might be easier without any outside influences. But we're built for companionship. Right?
::What do you do when your child doesn't participate {AT ALL} in a class you thought they were ready for? When they completely refuse to cooperate and behave in ways you aren't sure are developmentally appropriate? You look around at all the other cute little {girls} in the class and wonder if they are much much older than your cute little {boy} or have somehow been better trained to listen to a teacher. You don't want to push him too hard, but seriously??
This is an important life skill. Listen to the teacher! Follow directions! Have fun!
Parenting is always harder than it looks. Even though that looked pretty hard today, parents watching from the sidelines. It's harder. Especially when you're ME and take everything so seriously. I keep wondering, will my three-year-old be OK? Have I done something wrong?
So tonight we chatted before bed about LOVE.
And I thought hard about unconditional love and unmerited love and how important it is for us to be examples of the way God loves. We love the kids who say mean things, but it's OK to ask them to please stop. I love my uncooperative non-participator, but it's OK to ask him to give it a better shot next time. God LOVES us with all His heart, but He asks us to change our behavior {so often for our own good}.
Bottom line. He never leaves us. He never gives up on us. He never quits loving us.
I think this is the lesson for me tonight. We'll keep loving the unlovable. We'll keep doing things that will eventually be really good for us, even though hard right now. We'll look to God for our worth when we start to feel insecure or unlovable.
We'll sing "Yes, Jesus Loves ME" with enthusiasm. And we'll LOVE each other. It's hard. I often feel empty. But I believe it's possible to love others unconditionally when we let Jesus' love soak deep into us.
How do you practice letting Jesus' love soak deep?
My heart is heavy and my mind aches. I need to write it out.
::What do you say when you hear children saying mean things to one another? When your older child is the brunt of unnecessary meanness? When your youngest doesn't understand what he's saying and repeats "nobody likes _______ {child's name}" again and again?
Parenting might be easier without any outside influences. But we're built for companionship. Right?
::What do you do when your child doesn't participate {AT ALL} in a class you thought they were ready for? When they completely refuse to cooperate and behave in ways you aren't sure are developmentally appropriate? You look around at all the other cute little {girls} in the class and wonder if they are much much older than your cute little {boy} or have somehow been better trained to listen to a teacher. You don't want to push him too hard, but seriously??
This is an important life skill. Listen to the teacher! Follow directions! Have fun!
Parenting is always harder than it looks. Even though that looked pretty hard today, parents watching from the sidelines. It's harder. Especially when you're ME and take everything so seriously. I keep wondering, will my three-year-old be OK? Have I done something wrong?
So tonight we chatted before bed about LOVE.
And I thought hard about unconditional love and unmerited love and how important it is for us to be examples of the way God loves. We love the kids who say mean things, but it's OK to ask them to please stop. I love my uncooperative non-participator, but it's OK to ask him to give it a better shot next time. God LOVES us with all His heart, but He asks us to change our behavior {so often for our own good}.
Bottom line. He never leaves us. He never gives up on us. He never quits loving us.
I think this is the lesson for me tonight. We'll keep loving the unlovable. We'll keep doing things that will eventually be really good for us, even though hard right now. We'll look to God for our worth when we start to feel insecure or unlovable.
We'll sing "Yes, Jesus Loves ME" with enthusiasm. And we'll LOVE each other. It's hard. I often feel empty. But I believe it's possible to love others unconditionally when we let Jesus' love soak deep into us.
How do you practice letting Jesus' love soak deep?