THE UNPAVED ROAD

Parenting is a long journey, a very long journey to a place you have never been, most often than not, the road is not paved and can be weary. The milestones and markers thereof include, welcome to parenting a baby, a toddler, a teenager and an adult.

It’s clearly a learning on the job assignment, mainly because each of your children is intricately woven by God and you need to study God’s pattern in God’s weave. The complication though is that the pattern emerges slowly and gradually. And the pattern can change at each stage of their growth, making you a learner who must unlearn and learn again.

When on this journey you meet crossroads, and it can get complicated, I find that inquiring from God and people God has put in our lives is very important. It’s important to discern situations you cannot control and find peace on the fact that God is fully in charge, and you are simply an earthly steward, who only understands in part. The temptation is for you and me to act sovereign.

The rugged paths of this journey require fastening your seat belts, find biblical anchors, God’s promises in his word and navigate carefully and gently so that you do not make a parenting accident, hurt your children, and yourself in the process.

Parenting is perhaps the greatest faith trip I have taken; it has roadside stop overs for celebration, reflections and refreshments. It’s a blessing, ‘every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord, in him there is no shadow of turning’.

Every family is unique, and this uniqueness is measured externally by community. The challenge though is the community will never know God’s intricacy; this leads to making the community judgmental. In the process of passing the community rating, it’s easy to fail the unique working of God as we conform and require our children to conform forgetting that culture is ever changing. God’s desire has never been conforming but rather transforming, whereas the former is curving inwardly to please society (outside-in). Taking in the pressure, ignoring who you are to abide by external noise.  The latter is exploding outwardly to honor God (inside -out), listening to your heart, mind and emotions, risking being misunderstood, but staying true to self.

Oh, how I wish God does not lead us to pave new roads that have not existed before as that assignment is heavy. It’s an attempt to abide and challenge norms at the same time. It looks though, God rarely answers that wish, as he calls us deeper where our faith has never wandered. God wants parents to represent him, as the Father of all, model his attributes especially be relentless in love.

When you are headed to a great place, it really does not matter to endure moments of flight delays, waiting at gates, bumpy skies. God created your baby fearfully and wonderfully, you are delegated, your fallback position is trust, surrender and communication with the owner of your child. Let’s go, enjoy the journey, fasten your seat belts, bon voyage! He is waiting for you, to say, well done faithful servant.