Kids & Parenting

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Parents share in a common desire and responsibility to teach their children how to live. "Teach a child in the way that he should go and he will not depart from it." However, I more often find myself learning as I am teaching. I often think to myself, "Oh, he gets that from me" and "Wow, I really need to change my behavior too." I learned very quickly that my worst habits are revealed in my son, a direct replication of his mommy.

Lately, my son has been asking for Megatron. When I say, "No, not right now," he responds with, "But I asked." He learned quickly to ask first. Now, however, he believes that if he asks course of action should be "Yes" and happen every time he wants something. I heard myself say, "If you don't stop asking, you definitely won't get the Megatron." Never would the Lord say that. So, my instruction to my son is changing and I am learning to communicate it on his level.

As a parent, it gives me joy to give gifts to my son. I love to see him get excited with even the littlest of gifts simply because it provides him with something new to explore. The more I delay in purchasing Megatron, the more I hear, "I want, I want, I want." What I saw was Eve in the garden denying everything the Lord had given her for one piece of fruit. She convinced herself, with the help of the serpent, that she absolutely needed the one piece of fruit the Lord told her should could not have. With that one piece of fruit, she forsake everything. She gave up walks with the Lord, a garden that provided everything she would need without having to work for it, and life without end.

In an attempt to communicate this truth to my son, I asked him if Megatron was more important than all of his other toys. Was he willing to lose all of his other toys just for this one Megatron? I quickly found out my son didn't understand when he began putting Optimus Prime and Bumblebee in the trash so he could get Megatron. I was befuddled that he would dispose of all his other toys so quickly for one toy. My eyes awakened to the truth that even if he were to receive Megatron, he would never be satisifed. After a short amount of time, he would soon disregard that toy for another. A new explanation had to be found.

I began to think about the instruction to the church at Philippi: ". . .but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." There are two parts to letting "your requests be made known." Prayer (conversation) and supplication (need, want, asking). To top it off, the supplication is to be delivered with thanksgiving.

The new concept was activated yesterday when we went to the zoo. My son loves the zoo. He gets to be outside in the sunshine as we make our trek to some of his favorite animals. We had a great time. Then we walked past the racks of souvenir toys. "I want, I want, I want." I addressed the issue by sharing a view of what he did get as opposed to what he did not get. He saw lions, monkeys, leopards, fish, butterflies and bears. After refreshing his memory, I explained to him that mommy would like to hear, "Thank you, Mom, for taking me to the zoo. I had fun."

We are still in the beginning of teaching the truth of thanksgiving, so I can't tell you how the new approach is working on my son. However, my heart has changed. Instead of focusing on the things I do not get or that do not work out the way I think, I choose to concentrate on the blessings. It is only from this place of thankfulness that I am instructed to offer my requests, and I am confident my requests will change like night and day. My requests will no longer be in the form of complaining and dissatisfaction.

The Israelites were discontent. They were given every bit of nourishment that they needed, but it wasn't what they wanted, so they complained and were left in the desert to suffer many years. If the Israelites had come from a place of thanksgiving and gratefulness to the Lord, the suffering might have ended years earlier because their requests might have turned into productive requests giving them more efficient results.

We all have much to be thankful for and I ask the Lord to remind us every day.

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