Wednesday, April 19, 2017

I Love You

As a parent, I remember when my children were young and discipline was necessary, I occasionally showed my disapproval to the offender with stern words or...wait for it....a spanking.  Yes, I was one of those kind of parents. 

That said, I want to go on record and say...discipline is a necessary part of proper development.  But come on...do grandchildren really need to be disciplined?  Is that really necessary?

Not so long ago, I watched as a grandchild was being corrected.  That little fella's face was downcast under the weight of his wrong doing.  He looked in the eyes of his mother while she spoke softly but firmly.  Then it happened...mid-way through the reprimand my grandson threw his arms around his mother's neck and in a broken voice said, "I love you."


I watched this play out from my seat across the room.  My heart melted into a pile of mush thinking it's all over now.  The corner of my mouth turned upward and I relaxed thinking...maybe...just maybe...my little guy would escape standing in the corner of shame or sitting in the seat of loneliness or the worst possible outcome...the one every grandmother in the world fears the most...the dreaded swat.

I thought, surly my daughter would fold like a cheap house of cards.  How could she keep it together with those chubby arms wrapped around her neck and that sweet face pressed against hers...but as we all know...moms are stronger than grandmas.

My daughter followed through with the necessary discipline.

Correction is never fun...not for the giver nor the receiver.  God's word is pretty clear on this subject.  He corrects those he loves.  That's what Proverbs 3:12 says.

"But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
    don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects..."

My grandson, right in the mist of his correction, said the words we should all whisper when corrected, "I love you."  If we could all learn that secret it would take the sting out of correction. 

I'm sixty years old and still under the loving correction of my Heavenly Father and I love Him for it!






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