Inspire not require is a scary concept as a parent raising my kid’s. I’ll give you an example. Yesterday we went bowling at our local bowling alley who has a home school bowling day once a month. Emily, my sister and I usually meet up and we bowl together. Yesterday was the first day I was able to join them since getting pregnant with Timmy and they were thrilled! We noticed that the first few times I bowled the kid’s watched me and cheered for me. Then, they began trying to bowl like I was bowling. Their stance was beginning to get better, they were trying to throw the ball harder, and they were be
ginning to ask questions about how they were throwing the ball. All this because I chose to bowl along with them.
I have talked in other posts about The Ultimate Journey, a class Mark and I are taking through our church. The class requires reading a chapter a week, answering content questions, and then answering thought provoking questions. I have been trying to do my home work at the dinning room table and this has been so powerful for my kid’s as they watch me study and learn new ways to process life around me. More often than not they will grab something from our home school cupboard and they will begin learning right beside me. Not because I demanded it, but because they are seeing it lived out before them.
One of the things we have been battling in our house is learning to hear and speak truth into our own lives. Taking responsibility for our thoughts about ourselves and going to God to get the truth and right perspective of how Jesus views us. Yesterday while bowling my kid’s would loose it over not getting EVERY. SINGLE. PIN. DOWN. They were sure they would never get better at it. For the life of them they could not see the pins they had knocked down only the pins that were still up. Sometimes it was only one or two pins left up and still it was not enough for them. I began listening to myself and sure enough I too was focusing only on the pins I hadn’t gotten down. I began changing how I viewed my bowling. I began saying bummer I didn’t get them down, but look at what I did get down. After all it is frustrating to not get all the pins down, but I need to not stop at that place, I need to acknowledge the positive what is before me. Learning to be content, choosing peace and joy, instead of having a tantrum at what I’m not getting.
I have the ability to speak life and truth or I can speak lies and death. When I speak lies and death my thinking quickly plummets to a sad and depressing place. Truth and life speak joy and peace and becomes a well spring that can give out to others. I will end up inspiring my kid’s one way or another, even if I have no intention of doing so. The saying, “more is caught than taught” is true and if I am not actively seeking to be peaceful and joyful than that will overflow to my kid’s. I have noticed that when I get up in the morning I am grumpy because I’m tired and I’d rather be sleeping. This attitude is being caught by my kid’s and is overflowing into the rest of our day. I am inspiring grumpiness not joyfulness.
So, Lord change me, change the way I view the world around me. I want to inspire and point my kid’s towards you. Fill my heart with joy and peace, help me to believe your truth and to live it out in my life. I want my kid’s to see you! I know I’m not perfect, I won’t ever be perfect, but you are and you are able to live it out through me. Thank you for being to my kid’s what I cannot never be. I am so thankful that while I will never be perfect, you are perfect and I can point my kids to the one who is able to inspire my kid’s in all truth, filling their tanks to overflowing, and producing fruit in their lives. I am thankful Jesus is the one who inspires me and he does not require me, but asks me, loves me, and accepts me as I am! But, knowing he will continue to work on me and complete me! He will not give up on me and that, that is inspiring!