Could You Repeat That?


Sometimes I feel like a bird, a parrot to be specific. In order to keep all my people moving in the right direction, I repeat myself. I understand that this is a flaw in my own character, and if I were truly good at what I do, all my little people would obediently stay on task without me repeating every instruction and command. Either I have not obtained that level of respect yet, or all of my children struggle with sporadic deafness. Whichever is the case, I repeat myself. (Did I mention that?)

One day I looked at my teenage first-born and it appeared he was not doing what he was supposed to be doing, so I began to repeat myself.
“Mom, don’t repeat yourself!” Ethan said. “If you repeat yourself then I am not obeying you. If I am not obeying you, then I am displeasing the Lord,” he continued. “If I am displeasing the Lord then the world loves me, if the world loves me, then I am not a follower of Christ. If I am not a follower of Christ, I am an enemy of God.” He took a breath then finished.
“Mom, I don’t want to be an enemy of God, so PLEASE don’t repeat yourself.”
Needless to say, I have stopped repeating myself, so that he is not an enemy of God.  (And they wonder why I walk around the house mumbling to myself!) Who knew that the simple act of repeating oneself could lead to such destruction? KIDS!!

                         (Taken from Live, Love, Laugh and Laundry? by Terri Bonin)
Challenge: Have you trained your children to obey your voice the first time? Do you in turn obey and hear  the Lord's voice in your life as an example to your kids?