Am I just making noise?

_Love like Esther. 

Most often times 1 Corinthians 13 is referencing a marital relationship. I absolutely loved this prayer devotional as it relates to me as a Mom/parent. 

Love is thinking about the words that I use. Am I doing more than just "making noise?". Love is admitting when you have messed up. Showing a genuine sense of regret and repentance. Only then can we begin to try and explain what forgiveness really means. 

Love is patient. Not just thinking I am patient...but actually being patient. Like the kind of patience you need when your child takes 11.5 minutes longer to climb into their car seat than it should. 

Love rejoices in good choices. As I parent a 3 year old- I realize how many hundreds of choices kids have each day. As an adult, our choices don't turn into battles. But as a  parent, all of these choices get magnified so that we are forced to not only  make our own choices, but also help our little "disciples in training" understand what the right choice is AND pick it! Oh and Lord, let me give the freedom to my child for her to make the choice. It is so easy to want to control EVERYTHING. God help me be an influencer and not a controller. You have given each child a beautiful mind and soul. They are smart and capable of working "their-sized" problems themselves. Make me a lighthouse, not the captain. God may your spirit be the captain of each child's ship. 

Living out our faith THROUGH love is worth rejoicing and striving for. Sure, we mess up and aren't perfect- but God's love doesn't require us to be. [That's worth raising a hallelujah!] He is already embracing us- the question is, will we choose to love even when we don't understand how? Will we choose to love when our feelings pull us so strongly in the other direction? Will we choose to trust that his embrace is there even if we can't feel his arms? Will you teach your child about this kind of love today?

I am going to try. Let's raise a hallelujah through our actions and heart attitudes of love. 

This excerpt is snapped from "Praying through the Bible for your kids" by Nancy Guthrie. HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!

_Love like Esther.