I cannot believe this little girl is two today. It's so cliche to say that it has flown by but it has, ok?
We have actually been parenting a two year old for a few months now. I didn't know she knew how to kick and scream like that. I certainly never taught her to yell at the top of her lungs when she's frustrated and I'm fairly certain she's never seen me throw my things on the floor when they don't work or smack people's faces when I am unhappy with their responses. Now, don't get me wrong, I love this child more than air. She is also many wonderful, sweet and happy things as well.
It's just, you start to feel lost as a parent when you actually have to start, you know, parenting your children and not just well, keeping them alive. I was reading this blog and she was talking about her family's motto. She painted it (had it painted? I don't remember) over her front door with the idea that she and her family would see it every day as they entered the world. I've been thinking a lot about what our family motto would be. This question has morphed into a few different questions, what do I want my children to become? What do I want them to take into the world? What are the huge things that all the little wishes and hopes fall into? And this is what I feel is truth: Love Jesus, Love People. That's it. If you go into the world with those two things what else is there?
I think as parents we worry so much about every disciplinary decision we make. No elbows on the table, not touching breakable things, making sure our children follow our directions the instant they hear them, which shirt they wear to church. And then we lay in bed at night and feel like we've failed because we didn't fight the I'm-wearing-my-tutu-to-the-grocery-store-so-there battle like maybe we should have.
But here's the deal: If you raise a child who loves Jesus and loves people, you've given your child (and really society) an unimaginable blessing.
And here's the other thing. It's not just about you having this secret goal for your kids that you quietly work on. Kids need to know why they are doing things to have it stick with them. "We don't hit Julie" is nice and true, but isn't it so much more meaningful to say "We love Jesus and we love people. When you hit Julie that's not loving Jesus or loving people. Here is how we could have done it differently..."
There are some things that my Mom and Dad said to me over and over from childhood to adulthood, and you know what? These phrases are not just something I remember fondly about my parents. They are burned into my conscious. That little voice in my head often sounds a whole lot like my dad saying "do what's right, don't be stupid, trust in Jesus and you'll be fine." Or it's my mom saying "the only person you can change is you. You have to let everyone else go. It's God's job to change them, not yours." Wouldn't it be amazing if the voice my children hear quietly says to them: "Is this choice you are making loving Jesus? Is this action or thought loving people?"
That is my prayer for my little girl today. I don't care of she's a wealthy doctor or a starving artist. I don't care if she gets A's in school or D's. I don't care is she's married with seven kids, single with none or living under a bridge. Well, ok, I care if she lives under bridge but that's not the point. Does she love Jesus? Does she love people? Then God's used all we had in us as parents and she'll be just fine, terrible twos and all.
