Imperfect Parents; Perfect God

On 20th February, our boys graduated kindergarten! Well, technically they still have a month of school and a round of assessments left. But they did “officially” graduate – complete with cap and gown! 🙂

Before the graduation ceremony, well performing students were given awards for various academic and extra-curricular achievements. As kids walked up the stage to collect their awards, I kept my eyes peeled for my trio.

They weren’t there. And my heart sank.

I comforted myself with the thought that although the school might not recognize their achievements, each of my sons were achievers in their own right. To me they too deserved awards. {Typical Mama mentality, right?! 🙂 }

I then started berating myself for not being more intentional in getting them to participate in competitions at school. True, I made sure they did their allocated reading, writing and arithmetic… but I had not been intentional in preparing them for the non-curricular activities that had been organized in school.

I gazed back at the line on stage, as each child walked up to collect his/her award, and parents proudly cheered on.

If only I had more time… If only I had more patience… If only I was more talented… If only I had taken more interest in their extra-curricular activities…

And then I got a glimpse of a tiny, spike-haired boy dressed in black.

He was one of mine! 🙂

My heart soared. Tears threatened to spill over. I clenched my husband tight and whispered, “It’s one of ours!” I clapped with all my might, tears in my eyes, and gratitude in my heart as my son received his award.

In that short duration, I saw all the areas I had neglected as a parent.

I never do crafts with the kids.
I rarely sit down on the floor and play with them.
I get frustrated when they don’t understand a particular concept.
I don’t spend one-on-one time with each of them.
I am impatient with them.

My weaknesses and imperfections do not make me a likely candidate to parent 3 boys. But God… He more than makes up for the areas where I falter.

I acknowledged that the award our son received, was not by his effort or my coaching. Neither his nominal effort nor my halfhearted coaching was enough.

But God was enough. He is enough. In my weaknesses, His strength shines through. He fills the cracks and takes over.

If you are wondering whether you’re good enough to parent your kids, here’s some encouragement for you. We are all imperfect parents, doing this parenting gig the best way we know how. But stay tuned to the perfect God, and He will more than make up for your inadequacies as a parent.

Isaiah 54:13 is one promise I cling on to when it comes to my kids. I pray it is a blessing to you as well.

“And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD;
and great shall be the peace of thy children.”

—————————————————————————————————————————

Sign up here to have new blog posts delivered directly to your email inbox.
You can also follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

—————————————————————————————————————————