Tracy Grant, who wrote of chaos last week, also speaks of inertia... We usually think intertia as the reasom things don't get done, but Tracy says inertia gets a bad rap. She says, "inertia is the tendancy of an object to stay at rest or an object in motion to stay in motion unless an outside force changes that."
"Let's be honest, kids tend to be in motion a lot more than they tend to be at rest. And if they are on a good trajectory - if they are basically nice kids, if they are doing well in school, if they seem largely happy - we, as parents need to acknowledge that Isaac Newton was right. By the principles of intertia, they will continue to be nice kids, do well in school and be happy in life unless some outside force, some really big outside force, changes that."
"Yes, bad things can and do happen to kids, and sometimes we, as parents, need to be that outside force. We need to give a swift kick to help them acelerate or put out a restraining arm to slow them down. But we also need to respect the trajectory. We need to stop waiting for our kids to go off a cliff..."
(Washing Post, 1/31/13)
I believe that God has a lot to do with our children's trajectory. Sometimes we just need to trust that he's keeping them safe under his wing - and pray for God to calm our fears.
My cousin was a high spirited child, and her mother says she prayed to God, "God, I can feed her, clean her, and love her... but you have got to do the rest." And he did - my cousins is a wonderful and happy adult, with two lovely energetic boys of her own! I have borrowed my aunt's prayer regularly and invite you to do the same.
Blessings, my friends-
Meredith
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