As I think I have mentioned before in Blogs or at least on FB....my son, Levi is raising a pig this year for FFA. He has worked super hard and shown great discipline during this time with the pig. I am very proud of him, his efforts and the maturity he shows in taking care of something. There have been SEVERAL occassions when we would take Levi to the barn, to care for his pig, and there would be parents there instead of kids tending to the pigs. I know that kids in general are pretty busy these days, but why let them take on a responsibility if they don't have time for it?! So seeing him work hard all by himself each day makes this Mom even MORE prouder. :)
Yesterday, Saturday, there was a Showmanship Event going on for all the kids in all the surrounding schools to come and practice what they will be experiencing in February at the Rodeo. This was in the cold drizzling rain....which could have been much more colder and drizzlier and thankfully wasn't. It was a situation where you hurry and get there early in the morning.....and wait. Wait we did. The pigs were the very last event and I have to say out of all the other catagories was the most disorganized. But who can really make a pig stand in one place and not move like the other animals could?! haha! The object was to keep crossing your pig in front of the judge so he would see yours the most often. Poor Levi did his best and everytime it was as if the judge would automatically look away .... frustrating to say the least.
A long story longer. . .
We had high hopes for Levi's pig, Bo Duke. Levi had done almost everything he had been told to do throughout the school year. I say "almost" b/c we didn't follow the de-wormer system exactly. But. . . in the judge's opinion this was NOT what the judges were going to be looking for this year. Instead of a fat pig now they decide they want LEAN pigs. Go figure!! With only 3 weeks away now they decide to let the poor boy know. I guess you just never know from year to year what exactly these judges are going to decide on. So you can imagine the disappointment he faced after being told this!!
But as in with all things in this sweet boy's life. . . he takes it, accepts it, and goes on making the best of what he can. I admire him greatly for his ability to do that in life. Now we do the best we can with what is left of our time and we trust in our faithful Father who cares about any and ALL details in our life. There is a reason this happened and God can reveal it to us in His timing or He can choose to simply just ask us to trust.
Now - I try and attempt to tie this in with other "things" in our life.
In raising my own little "pigs" . . . [teasing]. . . my children, I can see how this relates.
As a parent you invest all of your time, all of your love, all of your life to raising and nurturing these children God has blessed you with. You share with them God's love, His forgiveness, His salvation. You share with them how to live a life that lines up with God's standards and expectations. How to have convictions and stick to them. To hopefully understand that this WHOLE entire existance we have here on this earth is all about HIM and only HIM!
And then they become known as what we call - - TEENAGERS.
We don't stop with our teaching though. . . in most cases we press on even harder than before. And as we do we begin to see them make their OWN choices and decisions in life. This time in a parent's life can be difficult.... no let me say very difficult. . . for we see them sometimes choosing such wrong choices and making such wrong decisions! We face many many trials with them because of those wrong choices. The pain in our heart is O SO very real and we have felt NOTHING in this world like it before. I don't make this stuff up. . . it's real.
It is then that we can start to question "God, what happened . . . I did everything you told me to do. . .there isn't anything I could have left out is there?! Am I not the parent you called me to be? This isn't the way I thought it would be."
We must see right then and right there that it is NOT a reflection of our parenting skills, NOT because we have bad genes, NOT because we didn't get all the advice we needed to know how to, and most certainly NOT because God is punishing us because He didn't like how we raised His kids!! What it is however is
1. God shaping them into the person HE wants them to be. 2. God revealing to us that HE is in control - no matter what their life looks like. 3. God allowing them to go through "stuff" in life to use them later to reach out to others. Believe me I'm preaching to myself! :)
We know that we think it could be SO much easier had God just simply chose to give us perfectly perfect children and the world would become a better place. We wonder why He doesn't simply just use someone else down the road to help others who are hurting and needing God's love revealed - Instead of sending our children as well as us through so many heartaches. But God knows and God uses whom He will. . .and honestly we wouldn't want it any other way.
Now in relating back to Levi's situation. . .we don't exactly know what the judge will be so inclined to say at the Rodeo. As David, his dad, has said "This is one judge's opinion. You go on doing what you're doing and make the best of it." We do plan to take whatever advice we receive from his teacher IF any is given. . .but in the end. . . we simply trust God for the outcome. . . a win or no win. God knows what this boy needs regardless. I will say that in my symbolizing the two stories that God will in NO way whatsoever turn our children away like this judge may do with the pig. He loves them far too much even moreso than we possibly ever could!
We simply must TRUST God for the outcome of what and who our children will become. His plans are the absolute B E S T!
I will leave you with a verse that most know and as I have been encouraged along the way by other parents who "know" . . . it speaks great truth.
Proverbs 22:6 - "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
Have hope parents! God's not done yet! : )
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