"Sweet Spot" of Forgiveness

Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.    -Proverbs 17:9

Five years ago as I was preparing to leave the teaching profession to become a stay at home mommy I had a life-changing conversation with a parent, Amy. Her son, Sam, was awesome and had such integrity and Christ-like character for a fifth grader.  We were in my portable for our parent-teacher conference and I posed this question to her, "What words of advice would you give to parents?"  She simply said, "We let our kids know we are not perfect. We say sorry and ask for forgiveness when we have made mistakes as a parent."

That was the BEST counsel I ever received about parenting. Sometimes we allow our pride to get in the way of saying sorry and it robs our children the opportunity of seeing us humble as sinners in need of forgiveness just like them. My most recent struggle in parenting is raising my voice in times of frustration instead of taking a moment to pray for wisdom and peace. I have cried many times over how I have "lost my cool" because my kids were driving me nutty.

The one soothing balm to my "wound" is to humble myself and go to my child, ask for forgiveness and tell them I love them. I have also prayed out loud with my kids and apologized to Jesus for the way I have acted/spoken. It is a great lesson they will see and repeat in the future as they sin against others. Each time I ask my son for forgiveness within a few moments of silence he follows up with saying he, too, is sorry, asks for forgiveness and loves me as well. He is getting it! Those have been some of the sweetest memories as I look back on my journey in parenting so far!

Challenge:
Say sorry, stay humble, pray and allow Him to use you to impart wisdom that will repeat generations after you are gone :) 

O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.   -Psalm 86:5