Prepared Spontaneity in Parenting
I hung on every word Paul Tripp spoke at the parenting conference our church hosted last month. I was convicted and encouraged and humbled and equipped. An overarching theme I’ve sought to apply is purposefully but naturally incorporating God and His involvement in the world and with us personally into conversations throughout the day. Another challenge has been to not think I get to take my parenting hat off and on as it’s convenient for me. When Dr. Tripp called us out on wanting to be done for the day (“It’s 10pm! I’m off duty!”) he was talkin’ to me! Especially with a newborn who invades “my” schedule ’round the clock, it is easy to get possessive of my time and attention. But Dr. Tripp reminds us -
Parenting is all about living by the principle of prepared spontaneity. You don’t really know what’s going to happen next. You don’t really know when you’ll have enforce a command, intervene in an argument, confront a wrong, holdout for a better way, remind someone of a truth, call for forgiveness, lead someone to confession, point to Jesus, restore peace, hold someone accountable, explain a wisdom principle, give a hug of love, laugh in the face of adversity, help someone complete a task, mediate an argument, stop with someone and pray, assist someone to see their heart, or talk once again about what it means to live together in a community of love.
What you do know is that Scripture gives you the wisdom that you need and your always-present Messiah gives you the grace that you need to be ready to respond to the moments of opportunity he will give you. Along with this, you and I must remember that our Lord loves our children more than we ever could and his commitment to their growth and change is more faithful and persevering than ours could ever be. Because of this, in his grace and love, he will manufacture moments that expose the needy hearts of our children to us. He will faithfully employ the little moments of everyday life to expose to us and our children their need of rescuing and forgiving grace. And he will not do this only at the moments which you feel are appropriate and when you feel most prepared.
Read the rest here: Parenting: It’s Never an Interruption and consider those interruptions as opportunities to redeem for the Kingdom’s sake!
P.S. Providentially, I had the same concepts on my mind exactly a year ago! (Prioritizing Your Priorities) I am obviously a work in progress!
thank you for sharing this. i needed to hear it.
You’re a wise lady, Lindsay – Jason too. Well, you know what I mean.
at 1:08 the dog gets so scared and fsrttuared that it bumps into the boundary, knocking it down, leaving the dog free to do access all the things which it previously couldn’t.I can see how that could happen with people too. If the only thing standing between a child and evil is physical/verbal/blackmail authority, then what is to stop them when they get fsrttuared and accidentally knock the barrier down? They realize there is nothing stopping them, and since the parents relied on punishment, the teen or adult child will have a large moral deficit. They grew up doing what was in their best interest, they avoided consequences.When they are adults, why would their philosophy be any different? They will lie, steal, cheat and commit whatever sins and atrocities they want to in order to get what they want, as long as there is a low chance of consequence. Meanwhile, the parents wonder where they went wrong.Not everyone knocked down the cans . Many go to their graves still held by the invisible forcefield created by their parents. The cursed few, however, that DO realize they are no longer in chains, wreak havoc on the earth. The ones that are caught live in shame and exile, and the ones that aren’t will struggle with the guilt of the numbness of their conscience for the rest of their lives.Great video, so symbolic, thanks for sharing!