That was the question that one of my children asked. "Do you hate me?" It about breaks your heart. The child did not ask because I was mad, but because they knew that they had stepped outside of the boundaries. They were feeling bad, and since they have friends that throw people away at the drop of a hat, they wondered if their Dad would throw them away. This is how the discussion went....
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Frankly, this is an opportunity for us to have a good talk. There are usually consequences to stepping outside of the boundaries, but let us make one thing clear. Your father will never hate you.
In this life, everyone is worried about being thrown away, rejected. Friends do it to us, yes sometimes parents do throw their children away. But not here. Not in this house. This is one place that is going to be different. We will always be your parents and you will always be loved by us.
You will never have to worry, no matter what you do, about being thrown away or hated. Now, let's get back to the consequences of that boundaries violation.
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Friends, we have a chance with our families, and with one another, to bite our tongues, control our anger and to model unusual grace. Perseverance. God's unlimited grace as given to us sets the example of how we can treat one another. Grace is amazing. Life always goes better when we deliver it.
It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.
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2 comments:
We had a similar conversation here yesterday. When the boys get in trouble, I always make a big deal that Mommy and Daddy love you when you're good, when you're bad, when you're in time-out, even when you hit your brother or break a picture frame. Mommy and Daddy ALWAYS love you - and God always loves you.
Thank you as always for this blog!
Kara
That's funny - we had a similar discussion today. Mommy may not LIKE your action, but we will ALWAYS LOVE YOU - that's a hard concept to drill into their heads! Unconditional love!
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