Can't She Control Her Children?

I’ve been thinking about a question raised by a fellow shopper in a grocery store checkout line. While observing the behavior of a mother and her unruly young children, the shopper turned to me and asked, "Can’t she control her children?"

Good question. Not one to be figured out in the express line.

On second and third thought, this is THE question of all time. It first wriggled its way to the top with Adam and Eve, seized a firm hold with Cain and Abel and continues to demand full attention through the long thread of history. The answer to the question, "Can parents control their children?" appears to be . . . simply . . . "No." They can’t.

This is a difficult concept for parents. I know because as a parent, I’ve been trying to "get it" for 34 years and counting.

While they are young, we control our children’s environment and attempt to provide them with a foundation for temporal and spiritual safety, health, material needs, education and opportunities for development. But our children do not belong to us. They are not our property. We do not purchase them as if they are horses to "break" and to be used for our own purposes.

It is true that as parents, we have the opportunity to influence, teach, bless, direct, guide and lead our children. As we go along, we can learn valuable skills that will help us be more effective in this awesome task. We provide examples for them. We love them. We cherish them. We have faith in them. We pray for them. However, in the final analysis, their thoughts, words and actions are their own . . . not ours.

Look around. Even God doesn’t control His children. I guess that’s why we’re called human BEINGS. We are the masters of our own thoughts, words and actions. We get to BE what we choose to be. It’s the plan.