{"id":1091,"date":"2010-09-11T01:45:00","date_gmt":"2010-09-11T01:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-235-keeping-motivated-part-v-of-v-trusting-god\/"},"modified":"2015-03-12T02:36:55","modified_gmt":"2015-03-12T02:36:55","slug":"day-235-keeping-motivated-part-v-of-v-trusting-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-235-keeping-motivated-part-v-of-v-trusting-god\/","title":{"rendered":"day 235: keeping motivated part v of v\u2014trusting god"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/span>
Lastly, to stay motivated, trust God. Maybe this should have been first, but it is probably right where I often put it. We as parents sometimes have such a difficult time trusting God, especially when things do not turn out as we anticipated.<\/span>

<\/span>
Ray and I were recently talking about two couples who had huge impacts on our parenting and family life. We have found out lately that both couples have \u201cgiven up\u201d\u2014in their own ways\u2014on this idea of Christian parenting. Oh, they haven\u2019t necessarily turned from the faith; they just gave up on many of the things they taught us about passing this faith on to our children.<\/span>

<\/span>
The first one basically saw that this parenting thing wasn\u2019t working, got disillusioned with things, and started taking the easy way out on everything. It was easier to join the kids than it was to train them. <\/span>

<\/span>
The second one became angry at God when their kids were not turning out like they thought they would. They are angry, bitter, and cynical. We\u2019ve been told that they are not the same people at all anymore\u2014that we would hardly recognize them.<\/span>

<\/span>
What made these two couples decide that this wasn\u2019t worth it if it didn\u2019t turn out the way they always dreamed it would? The same thing that makes us give in to a child and just give him his own way rather than sticking to our guns on a discipline issue. The same thing that forces us to extend the curfew a little longer when the sixteen year old gives us a hard time\u2014it\u2019s not like it\u2019s going to make any difference. They aren\u2019t catching anything we\u2019re trying to give them here anyway, we think.<\/span>

<\/span>
Sure, those couples made big, long-term decisions to skip the teaching in one case and be bitter in the other. But we make those same types of decisions all the time when the going gets rough. Little ones, yes, but similar anyway.<\/span>

<\/span>
I pondered these two families whom I had nearly idolized for a long time and came to the conclusion that I, too, often find myself heading down the same path when I parent in an outcome-based way only. In other words, if I dig in and do what I know I should do only if things are going the way I planned for them to, I, too, could become lackadaisical and\/or bitter.<\/span>

<\/span>
I can\u2019t parent out of fear\u2014or out of demands that God do what I want when I want it. I have to parent in faith. I have to trust God regardless of how things look. I lose my motivation quickly when I base my efforts on how things are going on a daily basis. I am working hard at this Christian parenting not because if I do everything will go how I want it to, but because it is what I am called to do\u2014and I will trust God for the outcome\u2014and the motivation to stick with it.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lastly, to stay motivated, trust God. Maybe this should have been first, but it is probably right where I often put it. We as parents sometimes have such a difficult time trusting God, especially when things do not turn out as we anticipated.Ray and I were recently talking about two couples who had huge impacts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[267,317,283,96,368],"yoast_head":"\nday 235: keeping motivated part v of v\u2014trusting god - Character Ink<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/characterinkblog.com\/day-235-keeping-motivated-part-v-of-v-trusting-god\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"day 235: keeping motivated part v of v\u2014trusting god - Character Ink\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lastly, to stay motivated, trust God. 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