I remember begging my mom for a penny or even better, a nickel to buy a big gumball. That was the reward for going grocery shopping with her. Isles and isles of decisions and conversations with strangers. 😂 -sounds familiar.
Put the money in, twist the handle and out came the surprise every time. Unless the coin stuck… With parenting, I expected the same thing. If I followed the rules, worked the equation, the outcome would be predictable. Bah! Not so much.
It was quite a shock to me that corrections and warnings did not stick on some of our kids. Lessons I thought we had learned thoroughly were questioned repeatedly. Even strongly held family beliefs were met with doubt. Proverbs wasn’t playing out as I hoped.
If you have read my blog for a while, you may notice a common thread of concern for my children and their walk with God. Independent and strong-minded, they as a whole have been strong-willed in finding God for themselves. A great quality when yielded. A heart-ache otherwise.
But God… best phrase ever!… knew me and knew my babies and who they’d become. We have a deal: I love and pray like crazy and He does the rest. I promise not to lose hope and He promises to be my Hope always. I promise to lift high Truth and He promises to complete everything He started.
Oh why isn’t it as easy as coins for gumballs? Because, God is after real hearts of real people that will really love and follow Him of their own will. That’s a prize worth waiting for.
ForGlorySake! -Anna
