New parents…yes us.

‘There is a human in our home’…’and he is ours’…’and we have to raise him’…’and I have no idea what I’m doing’… This may have been some of my thoughts I had a few months ago for at least the first three months of our son’s life. Well, he is seven months old now and yes at times these thoughts still come but we have learnt the beauty of Gods grace in our marriage and yes most certainly in parenting too.

There’s the ideal family that we all aspire towards and then there’s reality. Reality does not dictate but boy does it want to sometimes. For example, arrive late for everything for the next few years or start your day earlier. You’ll become a pro at planning and yet, still sometimes life happens. Breathe…pray and know it will be okay -(Poetry)

We have fallen short or will fall short when it comes to following biblical teachings on family. The question is, are we willing to embrace falling short, or do we rather choose to pursue Gods reality and standards. The opposite would be to abandon ship, lower the standard and live out the fruit of our choices.

So, if our son only has us to learn from and be guided by in his life and especially his early years, what are we teaching him or more importantly, what is he seeing and observing in our lives? I can ask the question like this too, Who is he seeing in our lives?

While Jesus taught and pointed toward an ideal, he refused to condemn those who fell short. This is the beauty of his grace. There is a tension,  between the high standard or the ideal and reality. But that tension should never be resolved.

Jesus is inviting you to follow him in the beauty of family life and carry the tensions between what’s real and what’s ideal. Yes, we fall short; no, we don’t always get it right … but I’m not going to change the rules so I feel better. I’m willing to live with the tension between reality and this ideal that Jesus gave us. He is the standard. I love my wife and son enough to choose this life, the life, His life.

It is possible… why else would Jesus say so or give us these guide lines? It comes down to getting into the Bible. Let those words of life become the life in our world. It is a prayerful lifestyle. We can surround ourselves with Spiritual family as we are not alone.

What a gift, a privilege. Kate and I remain thankful beyond words.

 

First blog post

This is your very first post. Click the Edit link to modify or delete it, or start a new post. If you like, use this post to tell readers why you started this blog and what you plan to do with it.