Children and Pain

If pain is such an powerful tool in the hands of God, if it is so effective at shaping us and opening our eyes to the great truths of Who He is and what His presence means in our life, why, oh why(!) do we go to such great lengths to eliminate pain from our children's lives? Seriously.

For instance, I used to feel so guilty when my kids would come to me complaining of boredom. Like I was a total failure or something. So I'd do everything I could to keep them from getting bored, which usually meant giving them something. A new toy, a new game, a new movie, ideas, suggestions, whatever.

Then it occurred to me that every single great success story I've ever heard involves someone who has excelled and succeeded in spite of overwhelming odds against them, tragedy, or extraordinary challenges. We all know so many examples of people who have been given every advantage and spared every possible difficulty by their parents, and yet they grow up to rebel against everything they were taught to believe and to walk a path of suffering caused by the consequences of their own choices.

At the Contagious Joy Women of Faith Conference in 2006, the common denominator in every single story of how God had worked to bring joy into the lives of the speakers, was that before He brought the joy, there was a great deal of sorrow first.

I don't jump when my kids say their bored anymore. Instead I say something like, "You know, with your creative mind, I'm certain you'll be able to think of something to do."

Boredom can give birth to all kinds of wonders of creativity and productivity. Sorrow can give birth to humor and light-heartedness. Anger can give birth to energy, motivation and positive, influential, life-changing choices.

I've chosen to watch and wait and see what God will do as I stand back and let Him do His work in the lives of my children.