Confession time. Recently, I was sitting on the couch, watching TV, and this ad came on:
I looked over at Mary Kate (my wife); and said, “OK, this commercial makes no sense to me. I don’t get it.”
Then she explained that it was all about the movie “The Black Swan.” I didn’t even realize the girl was wearing a ballerina outfit. The commercial went from being kind of lame to pretty genius. I just didn’t get it in the first place.
I was thinking about that experience, about finally admitting that I might not know everything and chancing that my wife might know what was going on; and I realized that this is not normal for me.
If I don’t know something, I don’t like asking people. I don’t want to ask for help. I’ll keep quiet and Google it later. I’ll pretend like I know what people are talking about.
For some reason, I equate my coolness with being able to know everything about everything.
Here’s the problem with that: I can’t be an expert on everything.
I’m not an expert on parenting. That’s for sure. When Evie came into this world about five months ago, it was less of a “OK, you’ve crammed and know everything, right?” than a “Ready or not, here I come!”
I feel more “not” than “ready.”
Ready or not, this is what God calls His people to do when it comes to being a parent (extracted from Deuteronomy 6:5-7):
- Love God with all your intentions
- Love God with your deepest passions
- Love God with the most commitment you can possibly muster
- Internalize God’s Word
- Impress God’s Word on the hearts of your kids
- Talk about His Word all the time
Pretty intimidating, huh? But the stakes of not admitting that we need help are so much greater than if we fail to mention that we don’t understand a Mustang commercial. For one, this is a command from God. It’s the way things are supposed to be. Also, we’re talking about something so precious– our kids.
Which is more important to you, though, preserving your pride or taking help?
This is why I love Orange. At New Harvest, we’re walking with you, offering up ways to do what God is commanding us to do.
If you’ve got a baby, listen to Parent Link Live.
If you’ve got a toddler, those monthly Parent Cues that you can pick up at registration are vital (also…stay tuned for a pre-school parent blog!).
If you’ve got elementary kids, there are myriad ways, between the Parent Cues, Family Life Live, and (my favorite) the Parent Cue App.
If you’ve got middle school or high school kids, our parent cues are now taking video form and are available on our blog and our Facebook fan page.
Look, I had to ask what was going on with that commercial. Maybe we need to take the small steps to get us to start realizing the potential that we have as parents to impress God’s Word on our kids’ hearts.
It all starts with a question, “Hey, um, I’ve got a kid whose _______. What can I be doing to help her grow in her faith?”
