Oh God, Make Me a Better......

I received an email which was a prayer entitled "Oh God, Make Me a Better Parent. I got it about 2 weeks ago. I left it in my inbox and it has really caused me to ponder some things. I think the number one thing is, Oh God, Make me a more spirit filled or spirit led Christian. Our life has been so busy lately. It seems like something different almost everyday. While a lot of these things are good things, I find myself being exhausted. Exhausted to the point, that I know my spiritual life is suffering.

Why is it that when things get crazy, it seems to be our spiritual life that suffers the most. Our bible studying gets put on the back burner, we sometimes don't contemplate the spiritual things. At least that's how it seems in my life. It is something I am desperately trying to change. I go to church on Sunday and Wednesday and get charged up by the great lessons I am hearing and vow to myself right then and there to take note of things I am going to start working on. And then I leave and seem to get right back into the rat race and find trouble prioritizing things. Does this happen to anyone else??

I am so seeking to have my life completely and spiritually centered on Christ. I know if I can somehow start to get even close to that, some of the "stuff" will probably take care of itself. I will leave you with the prayer of "Oh God, Make Me Be a Better a Parent". I know that in reading it, I can replace parent with many other things. Wife, daughter, friend, teacher, etc. I'm praying I can continue to ponder these things and put them into action in my life.

Have a blessed weekend!

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OH GOD, MAKE ME A BETTER PARENT

Oh, God, make me a better parent.
Help me to understand my children,
to listen patiently to what they have to say
and to answer all their questions kindly.
Keep me from interrupting them,
talking back to them and contradicting them.
Make me as courteous to them
as I would have them be to me.

Give me the courage to confess my sins
against my children and to ask of them forgiveness,
when I know that I have done them wrong.

May I not vainly hurt the feelings of my children.
Forbid that I should laugh at their mistakes or
resort to shame and ridicule as punishment.

Let me not tempt a child to lie and steal.
So guide me hour by hour that I may demonstrate
by all I say and do that honesty produces happiness.

Reduce, I pray, the meanness in me.
May I cease to nag;
and when I am out of sorts,
help me, O Lord, to hold my tongue.

Blind me to the little errors of my children
and help me to see the good things that they do.
Give me a ready word for honest praise.

Help me to treat my children as those of their own age,
but let me not exact on them the judgments
and convictions of adults.
Allow me not to rob them of the opportunity
to wait upon themselves,
to think, to choose, and to make decisions.

Forbid that I should ever punish them
for my self satisfaction.
May I grant them all of their wishes
that are reasonable
and have the courage always to withhold
a privilege that I know will do them harm.

Amen

-- Author Unknown