Stop Kicking Or
You’ll Miss the Good Stuff
I should have
trusted the promise of parenthood when my mother and father needed it. Yet
because I did not trust in crucial moments, but have lived to see the rightness
of their judgment, I cherish that promise all the more. I cling to it
desperately, and I pray the persistent love and persevering wisdom of my
parents continue for my younger siblings and are passed on to the next generation
through their children and my own.
The
truth is, you never stop needing your parents.
Some time after
I had married the man I was truly meant to be with, I was putting away dishes
in my parents’ kitchen on a visit. In a conversation about relationships, my
mother told one of my sisters emphatically, about me, “She almost missed this!”
She meant the
peace and contentment in my life, seeds planted before I had begun that
courtship that had grown and blossomed in our marriage. It was a precious state
of being that had been completely lacking in my previous rebellion. I often
think back on this, that I almost missed it, and I would have, if it
weren’t for my parents’ intervening wisdom.
The truth is,
you never stop needing your parents. Parenting doesn’t stop when a child turns
16, or 18, or 21. It doesn’t stop when kids graduate high school, get a first
job, or decide they know better. Although eventually all your decisions are
yours as you come into adulthood, the guidance of a mother and father, from
both the lessons from your childhood and their advice in the present, is
invaluable. Ironically, the less direct influence my parents have had on me,
the more I realize how much I have needed their patience, discipline, and love.
Whether you are
still under your parents’ roof or have long since left their nest and begun
your own, cherish the promise of parenthood. Think on how it has influenced
your character and choices. They have been, and will always be, your mother and
father.
Full Text at: Stand
Strong When Your Kids Go Off The Rails
