Hi everyone,

Yesterday I met up with an old friend (well, she isn’t “old” as much as I’ve known her for a long time… she is almost 10 years my junior), and she was talking about the woes of parenting. Her kid is pretty young still, I would easily classify him as a toddler. And those of you who have kids, have had kids around them, and even seen kids in public that were around this age probably understand the difficulties that my friend was facing and relaying to me.

All I could do was sympathize.

Because truth be told, I’m not expert in the matter. I’m not sure if anyone is. But as parents (and humans in general), we do our best for the best of these kids, and hope that maybe they’ll see the good in what we’re trying to do.

As with the case with my own kids and even myself as a kid, a parent’s efforts are not always recognised, understood, or appreciated. But that doesn’t change the fact that we do what we do out of love and care for them.

Maybe one day they’ll see. Or maybe they won’t. But we still do what we do because it’s not about being appreciated or loved back, it’s about showing them love first.

Here are the readings for next week:
Genesis 18:20-32
Psalm 138
Colossians 2:6-15
Luke 11:1-13
And a video of these readings being read:

You know, as much as we try to be good parents and/or responsible adults in the world, Jesus tells us that God does even more. That isn’t to belittle what we do by any means, but it is to explain and describe just how loving God’s actions for us are.

And truth be told, we don’t always get it.

We don’t always see it, we don’t always recognise it, and we most certainly don’t always appreciate it. But God will continue to give, to protect, and to love out of the goodness and grace of God’s own heart. And in that, we are then empowered to more faithfully be God’s people in the world.

It isn’t that we have to, but we get to. It’s is God’s gift to us. In that even if we don’t change and reciprocate, God’s love for us will still remain and be present as a driving force in our lives.

So just as we have the sense not to give snakes to our kids, so God does infinitely more than we could ask or imagine in inviting us, welcoming us, and showing us all an endless and eternal love.

Thanks be to God! Have a great week, everyone!