When God Means Business

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4 min read

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Feeling the love during the tough times.

The coronavirus has gotten me thinking about my son who spends way too much time on his phone. He's having loads of fun spending hours talking to friends, playing interactive games and watching funny things online. He's doing what he loves, so why does it bother me so much?

Because I see so much more on offer for his life. I see incredible talent, care, potential, contribution, creativity... and I see it all being wasted away as he spends yet another hour looking in the wrong direction.

As a parent, I feel I've been given a job of a great and higher calling. I get to partner with God to assist, help guide, nurture, care for, protect and educate little souls as soon as they come into this world and go through their journey of life.

What an incredible privilege.

My job is not to make "my" kids happy. I say "my" because they don't really belong to me... they are God's children, given to me for a long or short while as a gift, an opportunity, a responsibility... I get to partner with God in assisting this soul on its journey.

Each soul is born very well-equipped – capable, wise, resilient, strong, courageous, brave, talented, creative, resourceful…. My job is to help that soul grow to understand and appreciate how well-equipped he really is and draw goodness and greatness from it, to share what I have learned on my journey and try to guide and perhaps show him the possibility of another way.

So, I take my son's phone away even though he thinks I'm taking his whole universe away.

Likewise, if my younger son wants 7 bars of chocolate for breakfast and I say no, he might feel that I've taken every bit of happiness away from him. I'm still going to take them away because maybe, just maybe, I see more than he sees at this moment in time. My vision and experience are perhaps greater than his.

If my older son continues to be on his phone all day and night, each and every day, I can see that he may end up missing the point of his life.

My younger son doesn't see the terrible effects that eating seven bars of chocolate for breakfast every day will have on him. But I do.

Similarly, maybe, just maybe, God, my loving Father, sees something that I am not seeing. What looks really harsh and upsetting to me is perhaps something very different than what I see.

If I take a step back, calm down and listen, really listen, quietly and carefully, curiously and thoughtfully, I might hear something useful, be open to see something that might be invisible to me at this moment in time.

Perhaps God, my caring and loving Father, sees something in me, some potential, some possibilities that I am not appreciating and taking advantage of.

So I'm taking a step back during the coronavirus; I'm open, I'm listening, I'm looking at myself, my own life, my husband, "my" children, my family, my community, my world...

And I'm wondering if there is actually a gift here, a message, some learning,

I need to stop the worry, the anxiety, the devastation...

I need to stop, be open, listen and take another look from a quieter space...

What looks harsh to me might end up being be one of my greatest gifts...

I am taking a step back because it looks to me like God means business. He's not going to give my son his phone back or my younger son his 7 bars of chocolate so quickly.

I’m trying to listen better, to take an honest look at myself, and I already have some ideas of what He might be trying to tell me. And what He's telling me is probably not the same thing He's telling you. We're all different.

I am excited to start trying to make the changes and look in a new direction.

I see hope and possibility, I see a glimpse of a better world, more perspective, changes in family dynamic, potential for closer relationships, simpler ways of life, more stability, less running, a chance to connect more with myself and others, a chance to slow down, do less, be more, connect, educate, nurture, care, support, guide and love.

Ultimately, I do want my sons to have their phone and their chocolate. Perhaps when they understand that I’m not being harsh and that I am lovingly trying to guide them to a better life, they will learn to find a better balance – and hopefully they'll even thank me for doing so.

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