Parenting isn't glamorous.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant, being make in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:5-11
We have been sick for 14 days in our house. Not all at once...it has been progressive. The kind of sick that starts with one & then Mommy sits back & watches everyone else fall like dominos. We have paid 3 co-pays, brought home 8 prescriptions & gone through 1.5 boxes of Kleenex.
Gary Thomas, author of Sacred Parenting, gave me deep insight today. He says, "Jesus looked earthy in his human body, his work took on unparalleled importance. He left the glamour of heaven to get dirty, and even occasionally smelly, on our behalf. He chose a relationship with us over a spotless appearance and heavenly comfort." Parenting calls us to that same place. If our motivation as parents is glamour alone we will miss Jesus Christ. If glitz is what motivates us, then we will miss the wisdom & the genius of the gospel. As parents, when we experience our own lack of glamour, we can take with us outside our homes a new understanding of what really matters. Becoming more like Christ. We, as parents, should act out of reverence for God & not as society tells us.
My patience in thin, my tolerance for snot & coughing in the middle of the night has worn me down. My girls don't realize that Mommy feels just as sick as they do & that Daddy was up half the night coughing too. But they do know when I respond out of my flesh after a long day of being housebound & can tell the difference between me being patient & loving versus me being tuned into my selfish desires.
Lord, make me more like you!
Rachel
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