When my kids hear “Father” they will think of someone who commuted 10 hrs round trip to care for them while mom was sick. They think of a man who sets aside his pressing tasks to play ball, ride bikes, read books. When they talk to him he looks them in the eye and listens....
“Everyone tells you to guard your heart, but you can’t. Your heart WILL be broken. But every child you care for deserves your broken heart. All children deserve someone to love them enough to suffer for them.”
Lately, it seems I’ve been scolding my children a lot.
I scold when they’re sluggish. When they fight, whine or procrastinate. When they distract themselves. When they’re too boisterous. All this seems to require me giving a lecture. Yes, my kids need discipline, but what can I do to build them up in goodness? .....
Of the many challenges of parenting, seeing our kids struggle in ways we can’t fix is one of the more difficult.
As infants, they hurt without questioning it: the shock of getting born, the tummy aches, the fatigue-induced, inconsolable tears. Soon they grow old enough to start asking questions. As logical Dads, we try to explain suffering in a rational way...
