Mom Heart Moments #99

Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.

THERE IS A MYSTERIOUS POINT when a child no longer wants to be “mommy-ed,” but will turn away toward the process of becoming an adult. (All of mine have.) No amount of seeking to retrieve the innocent years will make this new phase go away. Suddenly, it is God’s time for your children to begin growing up! Until that time, there is a window of opportunity to pour in foundations of morality, truth, values, habits, and character, but then, suddenly, your whole relationship with your children will hit a roadblock, and you know that there will be a detour ahead —a different route to go!

So if you find yourself in the stages of new hormones and feelings expressed through your children, now, for a moment, ask yourself the question, “When I am having a bout with hormones and anger or rage or emotions come upon me with no warning, how do I want others to behave toward me?”

When I’m grouchy, I want people to treat me gently and to give me grace, understanding that this is not my real self or my usual behavior! And so my teens want this from me, that I would take seriously Jesus’ admonition to “do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31, NIV).

During this phase, it is important to gently hold their hearts in respect, rather than treating them as small children and focusing on their failures.

Do you remember what it felt like to be a young child, with everyone else making your decisions? Or a teen bandied about by wild emotions you couldn’t control? How can you ease the way for your own children today?