Today, as my little girls turns 18, I’m reflecting on parenthood. Definitely one of the greatest joys and challenges in my life, with many successes & failures along the way. When I was 29, and preparing to become a parent for the first time, Marina and I had been doing our homework for years so that we wouldn’t make any mistakes…we were determined to be perfect parents. It’s funny how time & experience & frailty all contribute to the erosion of unrealistic expectations we ‘perfectionists’ burden ourselves with. The older & wiser I get, the more I realize how imperfect I am and how much I truly depend on my relationship with Jesus to direct me each day…and how resilient kids are to the shortcomings of their parents! Through all the years of loving McKenzie and watching her grow into a beautiful & fierce young woman, I’ve done my best to invest myself in this little princess in a way that honors God and empowers her. Here’s a quote from a favorite author:
“Parents who truly understand the goal of parenting – to draw out the image-bearing potential of each child – become fully engaged in the challenge…They build character, value, and vision into young lives…These parents see the ’season of parenting’ as the ultimate spiritual challenge, worthy of their best efforts, most fervent prayers, and largest investments of time. They search for ways to improve their skills through books, tapes, seminars, and interacting with other parents. These parents look to the church for assistance, and they support with their time, money, and prayer, the ministries that enhance their children’s spiritual training. In short, they do anything they can to encourage authentic spiritual growth in their children – even if it slows their professional advancement and postpones the pursuit of personal dreams. They know that molding a runny-nosed little bandit into a God-honoring difference-maker is the most stretching, demanding, and ultimately fulfilling challenge they can face. So they earnestly devote themselves to it.” (Bill Hybels)