Walk beside me.

“Lead me, guide me, walk beside me”

Do I have any reader’s that were raised in the church? I mean like, pretty much born in the church world? Anyone that understands what the church life was/is all about? Well, i was that church girl, born and raised. My mom raised me heavily in the church, everything from Sunday school to singing in the choir and being in church 6 days a week, my life revolved around church and ministry, i never had the option of making my own decisions, i lived a sheltered life and payed for it heavily when she passed away (god rest her soul), it was like having to do life all over again, i was nieve and knew nothing at all, I suspect that she felt like she was doing it for my own good, to keep me safe from the clutches of the world, to keep me from the possibility of messing my life up.

Now that I am a mom of two little girls, i understand the difficulty in letting our kids make their own decisions for fear that they may end up making the wrong choices. When it comes to my daughter’s I want nothing more for them than to be good girls, my desire is to raise them to listen, to be polite, kind, caring and respectful and let that carry over and be seen as they continue to grow up.

Sometimes as parents, the truth is, we get upset with the things our children do, we get frustrated with their decisions because we worry not so much about what they did but more about OURSELVES and how others will view us as parents (Some more than others)

Kids will be kids, we can’t stop every bump and bruise from happening, it is impossible to stop every choice and every decision they will make along the way, this is why we must lead, guide and walk beside, you see, when they are small it’s for us to lead, as they become older and get into school and activities and relationships it’s then time to guide them as they progress to adulthood, when we’ve done our best to raise them the best way we know how, that is when we have to walk beside them.

It’s not our job to force things on our kids it’s our job to love, mold, teach, nourish and raise them right as they grow from stage to stage in life. I admit, sometimes my 2 year old drives me nuts and I get upset with her but then I catch myself and come down to her level, she is 2, there is no stopping some things a 2-year-old does or will do no matter how hard you try.

Kids/children/teens/young adults. At each point in life they will make bad choices, it’s inevitable but it’s all about growing up, it’s the growing pains of life, so they can learn from those mistakes. Surely they can never re-do what was done, but they can try again, this is our job to guide them and help them to make the right choice, a better choice for next time.

So, to all moms and dads and caretakers, remember this, if/when your children fall be sure to lovingly lead them in the right direction, guide them along the way, embed in them right from wrong. Proverbs 22:6 says: Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it” and when they make mistakes which they will because they are human, be a system of support to them and walk beside them, it doesn’t matter what we as parents may think or feel, the truth is our children need us.

Lead them, guide them, walk beside them.