Times Tables and Shoelaces: Living with Weaknesses

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weaknesses

“What is…4×12?” the app asked my daughter.

48….I will her to answer correctly.

“Absolutely brilliant! All your answers were correct!”

And my heart longs to hear those words. “Absolutely brilliant! All your answers were correct! You are the best mom with the best kids in the world.”

But, I wonder if I can even teach my kids their multiplication tables much less how to love God with their lives. I mean my seven-year-old still can’t tie his shoes!

And, how on God’s lovely green earth do I teach my kids that they are not entitled to data phones or days at the movies or allowance or even vacations? How do I give my kids fun things – things we can afford and want to give them – but at the same time teach them that these things are gifts, icing on the cake, surprises and not something they deserve simply by drawing breath?

How do I teach my kids to love others…even those who are not easy to love?

And service. How do I help them see the joy of serving without expecting anything in return?

Then there is responsibility….the truth of the day-to-day nature of caring for the things God has given us, be it our bodies, our pets, our home….

Somehow in eighteen short years I am to teach them all these things and I wonder at how it is possible.

How can I, the stumbling child that I am, teach my kids these things when I don’t love God…when I act entitled…when I don’t love others…when I want to be recognized for the work I do…when the day-to-day responsibilities of life stress me out?

And God pulls me close and whispers

“…My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

And I am able to say with Paul

“Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

So, I imperfectly point the way for my children. With God’s help I daily love Him and others well, I serve, I take care of my responsibilities with gratitude, and somewhere in there I teach them to tie their shoes…Knowing that when I am weak, He is strong…

How do you rely on God during weakness? Please share your thoughts…

Stephanie Shott
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