They're Watching Us

I'm not a morning person. I mean, not even a little bit. Ask my family... they'll tell you. When my girls were babies, I thought I'd never ever sleep in again. Like never in the history of ever. It depressed me (literally,) and I just couldn't see the light at the end of the tunnel. I was so stinking tired all. the. time. There was a weekend that my parents agreed to take the girls so my husband and I could get away for a romantic weekend. It was the greatest weekend of my life. I slept like crazy. No outings, no restaurants, no movies. Just sleep. Fuzzy blanket and squishy pillows. And silence. It was amazing.

And then they grew. And they learned to sleep. And it was good. (Awesome, actually.) But then they learned to think for themselves. And to have opinions about stuff. And to choose their own outfits. I thought I was home-free with all the sleeping, but now there's all this "I want to think for myself" business. And my sweet little people take after me, which I love, but it's also super scary. There are some parts of me I'd like to change. I'm a work in progress. But they're watching me all the time. I want to holler, "STOP WATCHING! I'M WORKING ON SOME THINGS. GIMME A MINUTE!!!" But no, they just keep on looking and taking it all in. Everything I say, every joke I tell, every snarky remark I make, every reaction I have, every decision I make... they mimic it all, taking it in and reproducing it in their own little ways. It's the biggest compliment of my life, but it's also terrifying. I want my girls to be better than me. I mean, I love that they love Vanilla Ice. Who doesn't enjoy singing, "ice, ice baby, too cold, too cold," but how about also singing the worship songs, ladies?! Yes, I need to make some changes. We all do.

As parents and as a community, we've got to come together to be beautiful examples for our children. As evidenced by the comment section of a recent Lake Highlands Advocate article on school expansion, we all have some work to do. I have been appalled at some of the things that grown people in our Lake Highlands community  are saying to one another. It's disgraceful. And embarrassing. Many of the comments are divisive and destructive. There's lots of anger and name calling and disrespect. Sounds like the exact opposite of what we try to teach our children, doesn't it? I think many of these parents need a good old fashioned preschool lesson on manners. How can we expect our children to treat others respectfully when grown ups can't model that same behavior? Hate breeds hate, friends. Life is hard enough all on its own. We don't need our own neighbors slinging hate our way just because our opinions are different.

As it is written, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them." (Matthew 10:14) Parents, please don't let your actions or choices or words be the barrier that keeps your child from seeing the face and heart of Jesus in you. They're watching our every step and listening to our every word. Let's make them proud to call us Mommy and Daddy.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And we might also sing a little Vanilla Ice. And sleep in. But we're working on being better at everything we do, because God loves us just the way we are, but He loves us too much to let us stay this way.