Today let's talk about the best way to do something. What is the best way to do anything? Why it's my way of course. Don't we all feel that way sometimes? My mom's side of the family is a great family and I love them dearly. We are a really funny group. As a matter of fact, the last time I was in Tennessee with several of us at my aunt and uncle's house, we laughed so hard and so long that my jaws were sore the next day. It was a lot of fun. One of the funniest times for me with my family is when someone is going from point A to point B. For some reason, this always sparks a debate.
The issue is how to get from point A to B and everyone in the whole family has a different idea of the best way to get there. Some prefer to avoid stop lights, some prefer to avoid the freeway and some simply know the best back way. But one thing is certain, we all know the best way and most of the time we think our way is better than everyone else. Now this is all in good fun and no one ever gets mad but it does illustrate a good point. My way is always the best way to me. Of all those different routes, one might be better than the others and guess what, mine might be the worst suggestion of the whole group. So what should the person who is going from point A to B do with all these suggestions? Take the best one - even if that person's isn't the best.
Obviously this type of thing isn't a big deal. If I chose to take my directions instead of my cousin's or brother's or some one's the worst thing that will probably happen is it will take me a little longer to get where I am going. But let's take this same philosophy and apply it to something more serious. How about being a good parent? As I have stated many times, my parent's are both good parent's and good people. But one of the things I wanted most for my children was to raise them according to God's way. My dad has only started attending church regularly in the last several years and growing up, God's word was not as central to our lives as it should have been. Mom and Dad, I love you both and I am not throwing rocks at your parenting.
My oldest child is twelve years old and my youngest is almost eight. I have always thought that I was a good day. After all, I took them to church, provided a nice house and good clothes. I even play with them although I should do that more. So I thought I was doing the right thing as a father. Have I made mistakes along the way? Sure. I am not married to their mom anymore and it took both of us to ruin a marriage.
However, last summer I went to see a movie called "Courageous" and it made me realize that I needed to make sure I was being the best dad I could so I bought several Christian books on the subject. Here is one thing that I noticed I wasn't doing as well as I should. One of the things that attracted God to Abraham was that Abraham would teach his children the ways of God. I thought about it and decided that I needed to do more of that. I needed to help my children understand God's ways so that they would be farther along in their walk with the Lord than I was at their age. I also realized that my way of raising them needed help.
Let me give you a couple of other examples that I learned about my parenting skills. I hate to call this person my girlfriend because at 40 years old that sounds strange but I don't know any better words. Her name begins with D. Now D is a really good mom. I have watched her around her kids and realized that there were several things I needed to change about the way I was raising mine. First of all I pretty much let my kids eat whatever they want. Neither their mom nor I have ever consistently forced them to eat healthy and that is wrong on both of our parts. I think we both gave in to them because we didn't want to hear all the complaining that the kids did when they didn't get their way so we let them have it. That was not the best way to do things. When people approached me to tell me they were concerned, I always rationalized the situation away. But after listening to and watching D, it made me realize that I needed to change my ways of parenting.
On another front, I always let my kids drink whatever they wanted. That wasn't good either. Sometimes I would rationalize things again by saying I was too tired to deal with all the complaining. But again, I listened to D and she helped me realize that my way wasn't the best way. D, let me publicly say thank you for all you have taught me. I needed every bit of it.
Let me close by saying this. While the mistakes I pointed out in my own life may seem obvious to you, there are probably areas of your life that I can do the same thing in return. See, we all have areas of our lives where we think our ways are the best and they aren't. Be open to learning a new way and becoming a better you!
That's another Opinion of the Minion
The issue is how to get from point A to B and everyone in the whole family has a different idea of the best way to get there. Some prefer to avoid stop lights, some prefer to avoid the freeway and some simply know the best back way. But one thing is certain, we all know the best way and most of the time we think our way is better than everyone else. Now this is all in good fun and no one ever gets mad but it does illustrate a good point. My way is always the best way to me. Of all those different routes, one might be better than the others and guess what, mine might be the worst suggestion of the whole group. So what should the person who is going from point A to B do with all these suggestions? Take the best one - even if that person's isn't the best.
Obviously this type of thing isn't a big deal. If I chose to take my directions instead of my cousin's or brother's or some one's the worst thing that will probably happen is it will take me a little longer to get where I am going. But let's take this same philosophy and apply it to something more serious. How about being a good parent? As I have stated many times, my parent's are both good parent's and good people. But one of the things I wanted most for my children was to raise them according to God's way. My dad has only started attending church regularly in the last several years and growing up, God's word was not as central to our lives as it should have been. Mom and Dad, I love you both and I am not throwing rocks at your parenting.
My oldest child is twelve years old and my youngest is almost eight. I have always thought that I was a good day. After all, I took them to church, provided a nice house and good clothes. I even play with them although I should do that more. So I thought I was doing the right thing as a father. Have I made mistakes along the way? Sure. I am not married to their mom anymore and it took both of us to ruin a marriage.
However, last summer I went to see a movie called "Courageous" and it made me realize that I needed to make sure I was being the best dad I could so I bought several Christian books on the subject. Here is one thing that I noticed I wasn't doing as well as I should. One of the things that attracted God to Abraham was that Abraham would teach his children the ways of God. I thought about it and decided that I needed to do more of that. I needed to help my children understand God's ways so that they would be farther along in their walk with the Lord than I was at their age. I also realized that my way of raising them needed help.
Let me give you a couple of other examples that I learned about my parenting skills. I hate to call this person my girlfriend because at 40 years old that sounds strange but I don't know any better words. Her name begins with D. Now D is a really good mom. I have watched her around her kids and realized that there were several things I needed to change about the way I was raising mine. First of all I pretty much let my kids eat whatever they want. Neither their mom nor I have ever consistently forced them to eat healthy and that is wrong on both of our parts. I think we both gave in to them because we didn't want to hear all the complaining that the kids did when they didn't get their way so we let them have it. That was not the best way to do things. When people approached me to tell me they were concerned, I always rationalized the situation away. But after listening to and watching D, it made me realize that I needed to change my ways of parenting.
On another front, I always let my kids drink whatever they wanted. That wasn't good either. Sometimes I would rationalize things again by saying I was too tired to deal with all the complaining. But again, I listened to D and she helped me realize that my way wasn't the best way. D, let me publicly say thank you for all you have taught me. I needed every bit of it.
Let me close by saying this. While the mistakes I pointed out in my own life may seem obvious to you, there are probably areas of your life that I can do the same thing in return. See, we all have areas of our lives where we think our ways are the best and they aren't. Be open to learning a new way and becoming a better you!
That's another Opinion of the Minion
