Once again, with the Mean Mom stuff. I mean "mean," "selfish," and "clueless."

"'For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways,' declares the LORD. 'As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.'"  Isaiah 55:8-9

Within a 24 hour period, three of my children were mad at me.  Disappointed in me.  Feeling let down by, overlooked by, uncared for and not considered by me.  

One child was upset because I wouldn't let him do something which would cause him great harm.  Harm which he is still too young to foresee.  So "wah wah wah," came the complaints, "I want to do this thing and I need to explore and my mom wont let me WAAAAAAAH."

A different child was upset because I would not let her do something which would cause possible harm to someone else.  And because she was asking me for something that she already had, and did not realize it.  And because, well, it's complicated.  

And the third child was upset because I wasn't handling a situation in the way she wished I would have, which is the way she is sure she would have handled it if she were me, and so her conclusion was "My mom is selfish, selfish, selfish."

In each instance, what my children did not see that I was both perfectly cable of understanding why they thought the way they thought about the situation, but my wisdom and experience told me that my way of handling it was wiser and safer.  

In each case, all they could see was the "no." They could not see that on the backside of the "no" was an even greater "yes" than their young minds could yet imagine.  

I don't expect my kids to understand why I do the things I do.  I don't expect them to be happy about all of my choices.  But I want them to understand that when they willingly and humbly come under my authority, even when they do not understand my reasoning, life goes more smoothly than when they resist.  Often, their arrogance of not understanding leads the child to disobey my word, and do what they wanted to do anyway, and therefore I am forced to take a disciplinary action that I never wanted to have to take in the first place.  If my child had only trusted me.

It's not that I desire to keep information hidden; it's often simply that even if I explain, they still would not understand.  When a child is humble enough to submit, and say, “I trust you, Mom. I know you would never willingly allow anguish into my life, and that you understand something I do not.  So I will not complain; I will trust you," I know I have that child's heart.  

And that is a heart to which I can begin to explain my own.

"As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth; It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

Isaiah 55:10-11