Weeds that are pretty.......like in the photo above......they draw the eye in, yet they are so annoying in the spring grass....and around my house they tend to return in the late summer months....
we pull.........we spray.......we pull again...........
yet our eye is drawn to that beauty...........because they really are rather pretty, don't you think??
In the scripture on the topic of "liberty" that I read today, the following verses caught my eye.....they drew me in.......
"Hear me, Oh Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good; turn to me according to the multitude of your tender mercies......draw near to my soul and redeem it; deliver me because of my enemies."~Psalm 69:16, 18~
When we pull those weeds from our grass, we tend to either plant fresh grass seed or maybe put in some pretty bulbs or flowers in the area where the dandelions were. We pull out the "bad" and replace it with good.
This brought to me a picture of what God wanted me to see in this Scripture......my patience was tried this weekend by some of the actions and attitudes of my 16 year old daughter. And I had to ground her. Something I've never had to do before but a lesson has to be learned.
The enemy? Entitlement. Disrespect. I won't go into details because I don't want to embarrass her on a public blog, but let's just say many teens just expect their parents to pick up everything and cater to them. To arrange our schedules to fit their social lives. Yes, they are going to make mistakes because they are human. Yes, we as parents are going to make mistakes because we are human.
Yet......this was something we had been training and teaching her in from the very beginning of kindergarten. That's 11 years, folks!! And.....let's just say one evening this weekend, I didn't handle things well with her and tears erupted and negative emotions spilled out and words were hurled and we can't take back our words......
and then the next day, my husband and I handled another situation by just telling her she is done with a social life for the next 2 weeks. DONE! Grounded.
These kind of discipline is what usually works with teens.
And sure enough, an apology was issued, we talked about what to do in the future, I gave her words to use next time the situation arose, and we ended the weekend on a good note. (and yes, she's still grounded. I believe in keeping my word and there has to be a negative consequence for change to happen).
God was showing ME that these "enemies" of entitlement, disrespect and my own bad attitude towards her bad attitude, have to be brought to the throne of God and in His mercy and grace, we need to repent of these....we need to be redeemed! We need to draw near to Christ and He will draw near to us.
And He does this!!
We have to pull these things out of our selves.....get them out of our hearts.....pull them like the yucky "weeds" they are...and plant seeds of kindness, respect, wisdom, patience.
God will deliver us from those negative attitudes and relational issues.
Teenagers are tough.....parents of teens need to be strong emotionally and spiritually. They are just...tough. And just like my Father shows me mercy and grace and redeems me....I need to model this for my teen girl.
Mercy, grace. Redemption.
There's liberty in that.
And new beauty will grow from it.
8 comments:
Ohhhhh Faith--How I understand where you are coming from...truly I do...Blessings
This is something I have been praying about in myself. My heart to be more tender and to show more grace. Once our teens are in trouble I tend to "harbor" that in my heart and not let it go. WHY CAN'T I LET IT GO? Thank you for this very timely word today. It goes well with Dianna's picture thought in her daybook! :)
I love how women of God draw strength from each other!
Yep, parenting is tough. But we'll get through! :)
I remember raising three teens and it is not for the faint of heart. You are instilling in your daughter respect and integrity and that is a wonderful thing! Have a blessed day.
It's tough buy but definitely worth it. Love the 3 words mercy, grace and redemption linked to liberty!
I love this post! I just have to say whenever I get sad or flooded with negative emotions, I immediately pray so that God would remove them. He listens to every single prayer and He can cleanse our thoughts :) How great is He!!
Dear Faith,
You are such a blessing. I love the fact that you are REAL without giving specifics here in this space of Gold in the Clouds.
My husband and I have had so many talks over the entitlement mentality of young people today. It is heartbreaking because they miss out on so much when they are allowed to have that mindset.
I'm grateful that things are worked out (and that you've held to your word about grounding). Because you and your husband were able to take these times to the foot of the cross, you are giving your teen such a blessed example.
Hugs to you, my friend.
Dianna
Faith, you have been an example to me in the past of asking God for wisdom in a situation, and receiving real, immediate and practical insight from Him- and here again too. I feel joy that your tough love worked to bring her a place of being willing to talk things through with you. I hope and pray for that wisdom from him when I have this sort of need.- Kathy
I know how tough it is to raise teen girls! I have to admit that looking back, I didn't always do so well.
Yes, we had to deal with entitlement issues ... and bad attitudes ...both theirs and mine!
Prayers for you, dear sister, and well done on keeping your word!
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