December 31st

Wrapping Up

               Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8

            If you get a chance, look this passage up and read the next several verses.  They are filled with amazing words of encouragement and exhortation in how we are to live this life together.  I went back and forth on whether to include them and finally decided that for this final devotional of the year, I wanted to be as clear and focused as I could be.

            “Above all else,”  Above the appointments and the strategies.  Above the diets and the therapies.  Above the sleepless nights and the turbulent days.  Above everything else that screams for attention in our day to day lives.

            “Maintain constant love for one another,”  Underneath it all is love.  That is what drives us.  That is what sustains us.  That is what makes this parenting life worth living.  We love these boys and girls with a love that is fierce and passionate and creative and all-consuming.  Do they share those feelings?  Some days it is hard to tell…but that has never been the core of why we do this.  These are our children and they carry our hearts with them wherever they go.  We pour ourselves out for them so that their lives can be better.

            If you are finding yourself in a place where it is hard to find that love for your kids, be active in changing that reality.  You are likely overwhelmed and under-rested and beyond running on fumes and need to find some more resource in your life to make it sustainable.  We must be in touch with the love that we have for our children otherwise we burn out quick and our kids become a duty that we resent and this entire operation crashes and burns.

            “For Love covers a multitude of sins.”  It is cliché to say that we are not perfect in our parenting…but we do not have to be.  For love fills in the places where effort and good intentions were just not enough.  It covers the places where we did not know enough or have enough money.  It smooths out the rough edges of our characters that have been revealed by the pressure of this life.  Our love for our kids and God’s love for us make it so that limited and broken people (us) can be stewards of limited and broken people (our kids) for the glory of God.  Find ways to love your child.  Find ways to remind yourself that you love your child.  Find ways to tell your child that you love your child. 

            A brand new year starts tomorrow.  Will it be easy and free of drama?  Probably not.  But it can be Good.  It can be filled with new life and new hope and new progress from both you and your kiddo.  It can be filled with creativity as you work through new strategies.  It can be filled with joy as you spend time with your family.  It can be filled with hope as God speaks new dreams into your heart.  It can be filled with love as you are free to pour yourself out, knowing that God will fill you back up.

            You are not alone.

            Your Child is not a mistake.

            May this new year bring you closer to your child and closer to your Heavenly Father.

Peace, my friends

James