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| Mike Hosey, Elder |
I’ve had a
few jobs in my life. I’ve been a fast
food worker (twice). I’ve managed a grocery store deli crew (twice). I was once
a cashier’s booth manager in a small grocery store. I’ve been a student
(multiple times). I’ve been a psychology intern. I’ve been a soldier. I’ve been an opinions
columnist and a writer. I’ve been a
community mental health case manager (twice). I’ve managed and coordinated the
clinical care of a psychiatric residential treatment facility. I’ve been a
mental health emergency screener. These days, I supervise a mental health rehab
day treatment program. Finally, I’ve
served as a Sunday school teacher, a deacon, and now as an elder.
In some of
those jobs, I performed better than others. In fact, some I excelled at. One, I failed
at. They all had their difficulties. But the hardest job that I have
ever held has been that of father.
When I look
back on my history in this job, I can see many, many mistakes. There have been mistakes where I made
decisions in anger and mistakes where I made decisions out of a desire to
please. There were times when I was far
too strict, and other times when I was embarrassingly lenient. I’ve avoided
making decisions on what I knew. And in
other times I made decisions based on what I thought I knew.
I have not
always been a good father. My failures
as a father, in every significant event, have been because of my own human
selfishness. But there is one thing I
can say. I can say with all honesty and confidence that I never gave up.
I continue to parent, even through tough times, and even through moments of failure and selfishness.
I plod
forward with commitment and love for my children. And each time I fail, I get back up with the
notion that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians
4:13). I get back up with the firm belief
that God forgives, that He makes broken things new, and that He has given me a
mission to love and guide my children. In fact, they are my greatest mission.
I am not always up
to the task. But He is.
It is true that the greatest job many of us who are parents will ever be required to do is to simply be a parent. Unlike many jobs out there, parenting has no basic standard manual to base every choice on, only an ability gauge our efficiency based on the choices we have seen and the past experiences we have had ,good and bad. There is no Parenting es book or literature that I know of, at least not that can be applied to every child in every situation.
ReplyDeleteProverbs 3:6
As a mom I received many pieces of advice with our son Harley in the womb, some were good, many were not, all were well intended and helpful in the planning of decisions for discipline and choices many parents face even before the child takes the first breath these small choices seemed so big to first time parents, and everyone seems to be willing to share, whether you want to hear it or not. One of the best moments of advice came from a stranger, seeing the discouraged look on my face as someone tried to force onto me their choices as the ONLY WAY. The stranger said this, “Read all the books you can, listen to all the advice weighing the options and opinions, pray long and hard, talk with your partner and then make your own choice, because only you know your family as intimately as YOU and only you know what situations are happening when no one else can see it, remember every child is different and unique just as God intends them to be, the advice givers will not suffer or receive reward for your choices, only you will be held accountable for those choices, and in the end if you know you did the best you can, find comfort that the best you can was more then enough.”
Psalm 127:3
We are after-all only foster parents as God gives us temporary custody of his creations we call children. Our JOB , to care for them and teach them; love, trust, strength, faith, character, confidence, and set positive goals for their future, until such time as God takes them home to Heaven. In the earthly world, many of us gauge how well a parent did their job, by the ability to release a child into society having given enough training that the young adult can function as a useful mammal, a productive addition to the human race, able to thrive on their own and possibly to continue the cycle with the training up of another small humanoid into adulthood.
Joel 1:3
For the Believer, earthly rearing up a useful part of society is the worldly thinking, what about the spiritual aspect of the job, here is where we are truly employed to work, and the spiritual eternal goals of parenting start.
Proverbs 22:6
We want God's children trained up in the knowledge of the world, but more so in the ways of their LORD, to strive for saintly excellence, to do this this we must follow Gods word allowing prayer to guide us, but knowing that we as humans always fall short of this excellence is a complicated thought as a parent, it is only Jesus who fills the void for us, we must still do our best for the Lord, but we can never be perfect parents we must be willing to accept that.
Colossians 3:16-17
For me the hardest part of this job known as parenting, is the ability to accept the temporariness of my position, that our child is not simply ours to keep forever, try as hard as I may, I must faithfully relinquish my God given rights to this child, at a time known only by God. Having our son recently diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, a life shortening genetic disease, has forced a long deep thought into this truth, that one day, without our want or will, God may bring this child back home, and we as parents may be left to question, even doubt his reasoning, yet through our faith we must stand firm on the knowledge that everything happens for a reason ,life is but a vapor. Yet in all of this I still find a ray of joy, in knowing that God loves us and entrusted us even for a short, but prayerfully long, time, to care for and train up a unique and loving child, for his purpose not ours.
Thank you for helping Harley strive for saintly excellence!
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