Love No Matter What by Brenda Garrison

Author:Brenda Garrison
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2013-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

GOD IS AVAILABLE

God is always available to us. By putting into practice all you’re learning, you say to your child, “I’m here for you.” Be available. Your kids need to know they are your priority—over work, over your selfish distractions. Yes, your marriage comes first, but some parents spend more time on each other (and their friends) than is needed while the kids are left to fend for themselves. Kids can sense when they are not a priority.

Church is important, but be careful. Church is not our relationship to God. An evening spent as a family or time spent taking your children out for a movie or coffee is worth more than what any youth group leader can pour into them. Availability to your kids shouts love to your kids. Be home when they’re home. Be available to help when they need it. Be available to listen when they feel like talking.

I recently went back to college. I thought I would be invisible to the young students, and that would have been okay with me. Instead I was the “popular kid”—the one the other students wanted to talk to. I was amazed. I’m an old mom. Why would they talk to me? I shared my amazement with Katie. Her response: “Mom, they like you because you listen to them. Nobody listens to them and you do.” That’s heartbreaking.

Even when your kids give off the air of Don’t bother me, they want someone to care. Recently we were at a get-together at our friends’ home. Their fifteen-year-old daughter had a few of her friends over too. The kids hung out in the family room in the basement and the adults were in the living room on the main floor. I noticed that one cute girl followed my friend around and chatted with her nonstop. The girl was fresh-faced with a sweet personality. Later I was sad to learn that she had become sexually active following her dad’s death. Her stepdad is not nice to her, and no one spends time with her. She finds the attention she craves with an upperclassman boy. Is this what we want for our kids?

Being available for your child means making sacrifices on your part. Be there when they come home from school—even when they’re in high school and college. Have food. That especially speaks that you care. Take their calls and return their texts immediately. One way I keep in touch with Katie is taking time to talk to her when she calls. Katie doesn’t call for a quick chat. When she calls, it’s because she needs to verbally process whatever is going on and get advice or encouragement. If I can’t talk right then, I let her know and tell her when I will have time. I make this time as soon as possible.

Being available for your kids shows them God is always available to them. The scene in Luke 15:20 richly models how we can show God’s availability to our children. The father was ready for his son to come home.

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