Don’t Expect Your Child to be Perfect

        

I remember a time in my sweet daughter’s life that no matter which restaurant we were at, before we even said grace, she would drop her fork on the floor.  After awhile it became a joke in our family.  It was during those years when she was growing so quickly it affected her co-ordination.  It would have been cruel of me to demand her not to drop her fork again.  No one’s perfect, especially not us as parents.  And yet some parents seem to expect perfection in their children 

Perfection is different than excellence.   If you are looking for perfection you are not allowing your child to be human and make mistakes.  Every child at times will have messy hair, a messy bedroom with an unmade bed and spill his glass of water.

But excellence is another matter. Expect the best of your children; challenge them to do their best.  If we inspire them to reach for high but realistic goals they will often reach those expectations or at least achieve a lot more than if they are not cheered on by us.
Praise them when they do well in a subject they struggle with in school; encourage them in the process as they strive to do better each time.  And don’t create what I call ‘perfect little worlds’ for them, protecting them from real life’s problems and pitfalls.  Just be there to guide them so when they leave the nest they know how to handle responsibility and make good choices.

In our Genesis reading today Abraham had to let go of his son Ishmael.  How hard that must have been; not being able to be there for him and teach him to be a godly man.  But God used this for His plan like He uses all things for good in our lives, and He provided for Ishmael and grew him to be a great nation.

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I want to walk with you spiritually this year, inviting you to read the Bible through from cover to cover; from Genesis 1 all the way to Revelation 22:21.  If that sounds too difficult for you and your kids, you can join in again after you have taken a break or join us for the days you’re up to it.  We will start on Sunday, January 18th and finish Saturday, January 16, 2010.  I promise that you will understand the Bible in a much deeper way if you read it through from cover to cover in a year’s time.

Accept my challenge to read the Bible through in one year chronologically, including the Old and the New Testament.

Day 9: Today read:
Genesis 20:1-22:24
Matthew 7:15-29
Psalm 9:1-12
Proverbs 2:16-22

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