"I'm not speaking to you."
"No, I'm the one that's not speaking to you!"
I remember when my kids were young I would get red flag signals, I would take action, discipline and train out of them the things that made them hard to live with. The red flag was I didn’t want to be around them anymore. I wasn’t very consistent in my training but my hatred for whiney, bratty kids worked. Now, however, it is not just disobedience, being mean to your brother or even disrespect. In fact compared to other teenagers mine aren’t near as bad as they could be. Now, however I found that my son is lying, leading girls on, and using them, talking dirty to them and all the while he is dating another girl whom he says that they have agreed to break up secretly so it’s just a joke that his status still says they are together. I KNEW having a girl friend at the age of 14 was the most foolish thing I have ever allowed without protest, I wish now we had left the church, even left town but no, that would not have built character or changed hearts but still my husband and I should have done something because we knew from experience it would not be healthy to him or to our family. It is a terrible blow when you find out your sweet little home school child isn’t so sweet. They are now “officially” broke up because I forced him to tell the truth to the young lady at least about some of the girls. I didn’t know about the others.
I’m really having a tough time trying to figure out my feelings in this whole situation and the actions that should be taken. It is difficult to have a “Christian” attitude. But God is showing me signs. Today was house cleaning day; it started out with me saying his name to ask a question. “Joshua?” “What?” Now you may be thinking so what is the big deal? It wasn’t a normal “what?”, it was a “You are like a pesky fly, why don’t you just leave me alone, what.” I reacted with anger, knowing if one word is going to start me up so fast I must not be done forgiving the last incident before the next one incites me! They are coming so fast! So after cleaning one room, Joshua disappears. I find out he has a headache and has gone to lay down. With absolutely no compassion I resort to if/then consequences. “If you don’t feel well enough to clean the other room before basketball practice, than you won’t feel well enough to go to basket ball practice.”
Sign #1: While I was busy cleaning I ran outside for something and stepped in dog poop! Unbeknownst to me until it was too late I tracked it all the way through the house adding more work and clean up time. Message: Your evil, harsh, angry words without grace are like dog poop and you are throwing them all over the house and they are getting on everyone. The more you do this the more difficult you will make it for him and the longer it will take to get him back where he needs to be. Close to God. Proverbs 21:23 Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.
Sign #2 I got out the carpet shampooer to clean up the mess…. It had old nasty water from the last time. I couldn’t believe that I had left that in there. I was in a hurry so I just left it for the moment and used the left over clean water in the top. Before long the whole house permeated with what smelled like the sewer. Message: You hang onto the old stuff it’s just going to grow and stink up your whole life. Let it go, let God clean it up. Otherwise you will just have to start all over again. 2 Corinthians 2:7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
Sign #3 After cleaning out the old water and even changing out the good water I went over the carpet again.
It had a short cord so I was plugging it into different wall outlets, one outlet had no power. Message: Plug into the right power source, not you, not your words, God. Anger does not bring about the righteousness of God. Words hold the power of life and death and you are simply spewing death. Only God can give you the power to forgive and the power to love the unlovely. Mark 10:27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
Sign #4 Once I had finished with the poop cleanup detail I went back to finishing the vacuuming. As I vacuumed I noticed the carpet was still dirty. The hose that I had taken out to go around the edges had slipped back out of its place so the vacuum cleaner was rendered useless with no suction. Message: Without God, without love, you are nothing but a clanging gong. 1 Corinthians 13:1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. Let God’s love flow through you. Be a vessel, let Him cleanse you to be useful for the masters work. 2 Timothy 2:21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
Please pray for my husband and I for wisdom and God's will for our son. Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
No comments:
Post a Comment