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Home / For You /
Lessons from Our Children
To those who have never had children, it may appear that parenting involves
a lot of giving, and possibly not much receiving. The fact is, parenthood
is filled with countless joys and a deep sense of fulfillment that makes
all the sacrifices worthwhile. And on top of that, many times God uses
these little ones to teach us precious spiritual lessons. Following are
some examples. If you have one to share, please use this form
to send it to us. You might just see it on this page one
day!
When my oldest son was a toddler he was easily frustrated by objects that
he could not make do what he wanted them to do. He would throw a chair
that would not sit as he wanted or a toy that would not untangle from
a string. He would get so mad. One day I sat him down and told him that
the next time he could not make something work the way he wanted to just
say, "Mommy please help me." It helped with his attitude a lot.
He knew that when something he was doing got overwhelming all he had to
do was ask for help.
Several years later I was telling this story to a friend and the Lord
just spoke to my heart showing me how it is the same between the Lord
and us. So often we try to do things on our own, getting frustrated and
angry, and all the time He is just standing there waiting for us to say,
"Jesus help me please."
— Diana McKay
My
18 month old daughter is afraid of non-family members, so when she hears
a knock on our door while she is away from my side, she checks to see
if she can get to me before that other person. If she cannot, because
of fear she hides or moves into another room till she hears the person
who came bid farewell or open the door to leave. Then she will come out
of her hiding place and come straight to me to tell me, "He is gone."
That is her way of informing me that the comer had been a problem to her.
For a time, that person had taken her joy and freedom, but once he was
gone, she is free once more.
As Christians, we sometimes meet moments is our lives when the “knock”
of something approaching alarms us. Learning from this child, when terror
surrounds you, do not make cry out, but gather your confidence in the
Lord. He is still there! Stay cool, the Lord will bring it to pass and
you will be free again.
— Ebbie Nkomo
When
my children were small, the Lord taught me a valuable spiritual lesson
about how He ministers to my needs.
Like all little ones, my toddlers regularly needed attention from me.
I bundled them into jackets before they went outside to play, I wiped
dirty faces, distributed hugs, fixed countless peanut butter and jelly
sandwiches, spoke words of encouragement, applied band-aids and sympathy,
found toys, and performed countless other “motherly” tasks throughout
the day. My response to needs I observed was automatic, because of my
love for them.
One day the Lord helped me recognize that because I am His child, He meets
my many spiritual needs in just the same way—from a heart of incredible
love for me. Just as my little ones were often unaware of their needs,
many times I cannot clearly identify my spiritual needs. Yet my Heavenly
Father knows, and He is right there with just the appropriate remedy.
Am I feeling a bit discouraged? It is my Father who sends a friend with
an encouraging word, drops a song in my heart, or points me to Scripture
with just the message I need. Do I need wisdom for a challenging task?
My Father knows, and He sends the insight that I need at just the right
moment. Do I need a different perspective on some situation? My Father
helps me see that through the words of a sermon, a passage in a book I
am reading, or . . . well, He is very creative in how He meets my needs!
God showed me that His love for me is not necessarily displayed in great
outpourings of blessing or outstanding spiritual experiences, but rather
in the countless small expressions of His care and concern for me each
day.
— Karen Barrett
As Mom to three children with quite varied personalities, I have noticed
that the response I get from them sometimes determines who I call for
help. That is, while two of my children are a little slow to respond,
say, to open a door for me, or to quickly add two hands to my slipping
load, the third responds with cheerful willingness, and is at my elbow
in a flash to do my bidding. Therefore, I am much more likely to call
that child when there is an urgent need.
Contemplating that thought, I wondered how my Heavenly Father sees my
response to His call. When He sees a need in some life, there are many
people on whom He can call, but some respond more willingly than others.
How do I respond when there is a heart in need of encouragement? A mother
with more than her share of duties to juggle? A job around church that
may be unlovely, but necessary? An intercession required on the part of
a wandering heart? Or a shy or quiet person who could use a cheerful word?
Dear Lord, help me to be ready and quickly willing to do “thy good pleasure.”
— Ellen Morgan
Once as my family was preparing for church, I was assisting my children
in their efforts to get dressed. We had almost finished the process, having
arrived at the task of putting on socks and shoes, when I noticed my three-year-old
daughter was walking on her tiptoes. “I need help with my socks,” she
cried.
“Come over here and Mom will help,” I responded. As she came my way, I
asked, “Nicole, why are you walking on your tiptoes?” She assured me anxiously
that it was simply because she wanted to, but her answer was not convincing.
Upon examination of her feet, I found that she had a rose thorn embedded
in the bottom of one of them. When I indicated that the thorn had to go,
she pleaded with me just to cover it up with her sock, as if that would
take care of the problem. She was convinced it would hurt too much to
try to remove it. I got out what I call my special “sliver-removing set”
consisting of tweezers and needle. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. A brief moment
of pain and the thorn was out, and Nicole was jumping around the room,
exclaiming, “I knew it wouldn’t hurt!” Her father and I just laughed.
This incident brought to mind that we may occasionally find ourselves
in a similar position spiritually. There is something in our lives that
causes spiritual “pain” or hindrance. Rather than allowing the Lord to
remove the problem, we limp or tiptoe around—afraid it could be too painful
if we were to allow the Lord to remedy the situation.
— Michelle Hancock
On a very dark, stormy morning, I bundled my children in my van and proceeded
to drive to a nearby hospital where I picked up my work for the day. As
I was trying to navigate through a torrential downpour, I realized that
my four-year-old daughter was talking about sunshine. Soon, I realized
that she was praying and telling the Lord about how much she enjoyed the
sunshine. For a minute, her words struck me funny. I thought, is she not
aware of the terrible stormy weather? As I noticed that she was looking
right out the window as she was saying her little prayers, I realized
that the stormy weather did not influence her prayers. Then I recognized
what a perfect object lesson this held for me.
I understood that when things seem somewhat stormy, a heart full of sunshine
is still a prayer away. Though difficult circumstances often do not change
with our first prayer, we should focus on what God can do rather than
look at the clouds of impossibility. As our hearts will whisper the desires
of our heart, God will hear them and answer them in His time.
— Rodica Musgrave
Being raised in a home with a drunken and overbearing father, I had a
lot of trouble picturing my Heavenly Father as loving, and not just waiting
for me to make a mistake.
When my son came along, and a few years went by, I began to notice, (I
believe the Lord let me see) the relationship between father and son.
No matter what our boy did, my husband was loving, just, fair, and forgiving.
I began to see that that is the way it was meant to be—that normal parents
do love a child no matter what. A window in my heart opened up, and I
could see that my Heavenly Father was not just hovering over me waiting
for me to mess up, but He was on my side, as we were on our son’s side.
I have had to learn this or remember this over and again. Also with my
own feelings toward my son, I realized that there was nothing he could
do that would turn me against him willingly. I believe God feels the same
way about us.
— Donna Barre
The offspring of animals by nature are almost without exception on a
fast track to leave their parent’s care and get out on their own as quickly
as possible. Human babies, on the other hand, have many years to go before
they could hope to fend for themselves.
When my son was born, I was struck with not only how profound was his
dependence upon my wife and I, but also with how wholly unconcerned he
was about his extremely vulnerable situation. Not once have I ever observed
any hand wringing or anguished looks as he lay in his crib fretting about
what he was going to do if we walked out the front door and never came
back. No, he has perfect confidence that we will meet his every need.
All he knows is trust in us.
As I pondered this, the Lord turned my attention to another relationship
of trust—that between Him and myself. I began to see in a clearer way
than ever before just how completely He wants us to depend on Him. Our
problem is that, unlike my son, we often labor under the delusion that
we can take care of ourselves passably well. In reality our degree of
success as a follower of Christ is wholly dependent on the degree to which
we truly trust God, and God alone, to be the sole source for every need
and every decision in our lives. Thank you, Dayton, for evidencing the
peace and joy that you daily experience in your life of perfect, childlike
trust. I want to be more like you in that regard, my son.
— Dan Barker
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