Sacred Parenting

I have been reading Sacred Parenting- How Raising Children Shapes Our Souls by Gary Thomas the last couple of weeks. One chapter a day so that I can really savor it and understand what he is trying to say. (short lessons, as Charlotte Mason would say!)

I love the perspective that Thomas gives in this book. It's not about me or my selfish desires! When we first decided to have kids, it was all about us. We wanted, we decided, we timed it, and so on. The focus was on what we wanted and even what we believed we were entitled to- kids. Many years late (14 to be exact), God spoke into our hearts His desire for us to have more kids. He spoke into our hearts to say, "Let me be in control of every part of your life. Not just the parts that you want me to be in, but all!" What a different perspective. 16 months later, along came Isaiah! What a wonderful and merciful gift! And again, our perspective has changed. This child was born out of a desire to bow to our sovereign Lord, to glorify Him, to use our lives to make a difference for Him. And God gave him to us to shape our soul.

In Sacred Parenting, Thomas sums it up really well. yes, God gives us these children to bring to the throne of grace, but he also gives us these children to bring US to the throne of grace. Through them, we are being sharpened and honed, matured, and made ready for His service. It's undoubtedly the hardest job we will ever have. It's also a job that lasts our lifetime. It's a job that requires us to order our lives in such a way as to do the very best that we can- from God's point of view. And that requires a different perspective- that this life is not our own and that we must sometimes sacrifice and give sometimes until it hurts.

Thomas says, "Sacred parenting calls us to focus our brief lives on what will create the most impact for the future generations. We will soon be forgotten on earth, but we'll be remembered in heaven. Let us humbly accept this fact, and them embrace the sacred trust of children that God bestows upon us. We must reprioritize our lives according to our own relative insignificance, finally learning to think as God thinks... generationally. We are born, we die, and then we get out of the way. But those who hold parenting as a sacred journey, and treat it accordingly, will leave behind something wonderful and lasting."