Parents, love your children

Having a child would be the best thing in my life. Yet I see people around me, who have beautiful children, and still, are not happy with them. As I write this, I hear a woman screaming from a nearby house. And I hear her teenage son screaming back at her. Their rage is beyond my imagination. They seem terribly unhappy. I have heard that there are parents who send their children out to beg on the streets. I have also heard that some parents abuse and neglect their children. At times, I wonder why some parents are totally undeserving of the blessing of parenthood. In extreme moments, I think that the ones who truly deserve to be parents are without children, and those who don't deserve to be parents are given the blessing of children. I don't know what the truth is. But there is much unfairness, imbalance and injustice in this world. Life is a bag of riddles and inexplicable facts. But in all this mess, there are also wonderful examples of goodness and love. And indeed, this world does have exemplary parents and obedient children, who experience the joy and wholeness that God intended for them. And this keeps me hoping, even as I nurse the hope of having my own children.

Children are among the greatest blessings that God gives us. So, let us treasure our children as such, and love them with all our might. Let parents rejoice in their greatest gifts. May they ask God to show them how to love and care for their children. May they love their children enough to tell them about God, and his great love for humanity. May they also love them enough to let them decide what is best for themselves. May parents not clash with their children and inflict wounds that are hard to heal. But let them love like God, who allows us to live our lives, and make our choices, and not let his love be adversely affected or diminished by any disappointments that we may cause him.

A great act of love a parent can show his child is to let him live his life without the burden of expectations. Let the child be whoever he wants to be. For this is how God loves all of us. He lets us make our choices and live our lives, and even if we disappoint him by the way we live, we cannot be separated from his love, which is always waiting for us in Jesus Christ, his Son.

When I see parents walking along with their children, I see a great blessing that I do not have. And then I imagine how wonderful it would feel when I have a child of my own. How precious the child would be, and how I would guard him with all my might and love him with all my heart! And then, I would realize the enormity of the responsibility that belongs to a parent. Parenting is not something that human beings can do well without the help of God. As a parent, I would always seek God's guidance in all matters concerning my child. I hope and pray that all parents would seek the help of God and consult divine wisdom in their everyday lives, as they relate to their greatest blessings. 

Samuel Godfrey George