Roots and Wings!

     How blessed I am that God chose Jill as my sister in law.  

Glean from her!  She has wings to follow!  

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This cute picture & parenting quote contains a lot of Godly wisdom in its simplicity.  It brought several great verses to mind!

It states the 1st gift to our kids is "ROOTS"....roots that will NOT wither or fail them, and that’s a role that only GOD can fill (NOT us as parents, NOT money, NOT position/title):

(Jer 17:8) "They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."

(Psalm 1:1-3) "Blessed is the person who does not follow the advice of wicked people, take the path of sinners, or join the company of mockers. Rather, he delights in the teachings of the LORD and reflects on his teachings day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams—a tree that produces fruit in season and whose leaves do not wither. He succeeds in everything he does." 

It states the 2nd gift to our kids is "WINGS." Our refuge is under HIS wings & our strength & ability to FLY come from the LORD! Only HE can be their Savior, only He can be their Strength to soar higher (NOT parents, NOT money, NOT position/title). 

(Psalm 91:4) "He will cover you with His feathers. He will shelter you with His wings.

His faithful promises are your armor and protection.

(Isaiah 40:31) "But those who trust in THE LORD will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint."

MOMS & DADS…Let’s teach our kids that simplicity!  Growing “roots in the Lord” is the only SURE way to live, that attempting to grow “shallow roots” in the things of this world OR even in us/family will only lead to discouragement, disappointments, and failure.  As much as we love them, if it’s a selfless love as God intended, then we will also teach them HOW TO live without us, and to be more dependent on God the older they get. We have to give them the chance to grow their wings AND spread those wings to fly, just like a momma bird pushes its babies out of the nest – it’s HOW they learn!  But if we keep clinging to them and pulling them back into the nest, we become “wing-clippers”, selfishly disabling them. We will be stunting them from becoming who GOD created them to be, AND forcing them to continue their dependence on us instead of on God! 

Parents – we have a choice. We can live OUR life for God and teach our kids to do the same through our example.  Or we can selfishly cling to them and try to live their life for them.  I think I’d rather let go and trust GOD to GROW them!  I do have a feeling that if we stunt them, not only will God frown on us for “idolizing” our children, but our children (and THEIR children) will suffer for OUR selfishness someday.  Parents – young OR old – we need to let go and entrust them to God instead of overprotecting them.  We must allow them to learn hard lessons by experiencing the consequences of their own behavior and choices in life (instead of trying to rescue them from the PAIN that would actually LEAD to their personal growth & healing!)  And lastly, when it’s time, we need to let them “leave & cleave” without guilt trips or even feeling sorry for ourselves.  Anything less would be dishonoring to the kind of marriage God intended for us to experience!

Moms & Dads, let’s be a parenting generation that brings honor to GOD (and not to ourselves, not to the family name, but to the name of JESUS), and let’s become who He wants us to be to our family.  Let’s be the generation to EQUIP our kids to run NOT to us, but to HIM.  It starts with us being an example.  And the best part is that we don’t have to do this alone -- WE CAN’T do any of this on our own, because living for Christ is impossible without the power of the Holy Spirit living IN us and THROUGH us! J