When Mommy Knows Best: Lessons I’ve learned from my kids

Perhaps a similar things has happened in your family.  Your child gets it in his head that he wants to do a certain thing that he thinks will be fun.  You have a different plan that you think will be fun, but your child has decided beyond a shadow of a doubt that your plan will not be fun.  In fact it will be terrible.  Probably the most terrible thing that has ever happened to him.  Crying and general tantrum throwing ensues (from said child) along with heavy sighs and eye rolling (probably from the parent).   This was the scene at my house recently.  My son wanted to go swimming at the YMCA.  My husband and I decided that was not the best plan because there wasn’t really enough time, and we suggested that Daddy take him to the park to fly a kite.  Honestly you would have thought we suggested taking him to prison for a root canal and listening to Let It Go on repeat.  He was basically dragged out the car, dramatic sniffling not withstanding.  Twenty minutes later I got this text message.

In case you can’t quite see it, let’s take a closer look at the face of abject misery…

Oh wait.  That’s not misery.  That’s joy.  That’s a big fat dose of “Hey what do you know?  Daddy and Mommy have good ideas after all!!”

It’s funny how the parent/child relationship can mirror our relationship with God, isn’t it?  Obviously in that situation I am the whiny child and I can only hope that God is not actually rolling his eyes at me (although seriously, who could blame him?).  My kids remind me of myself.  I get into my head what I think will be good for me and my family.  And then when it turns out that my plan is not the same as God’s plan, I throw a big fat temper tantrum.  I know in my head that God’s plans for me are good, and I can easily bring to mind verses like Jeremiah 29:11, which says, ” ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ ”  But this “head knowledge” doesn’t always quite make it down to my heart.  When I see my kids throw a tantrum about a plan that I know they will enjoy, it reminds me once more that just because God’s plan may be different than mine, or it might not be fun experience, that doesn’t mean that it won’t be good in the end.  And just like I hope that my kids will ultimately trust me because I love them so much and I would literally do anything for them, I need to trust in my heavenly Father’s plans because he loves me so much that he already has done everything for me.

Being a parent is the most exhausting thing I have ever done, but as I work to raise children who will desire to be like Jesus, I know that God is shaping my heart as well.