Calling the Cops?

I think time tends to blur out the hardest parts of life, thankfully, and parenting is not excluded from this numbing haze. I’m sure my three sons could be quite challenging at times, but I honestly don’t remember it being discouragingly difficult. Did we have some horribly embarrassing moments? Of course. And we had quite a few “I never thought they’d do that?”s. One memorable night we had a familial re-set that was intended to be serious but turned rather hilarious.

On that lovely spring afternoon all three boys were disobedient. They defiantly did what I’d asked them not to do. All three were pushing the boundaries in a way that felt unfamiliar to me as a fun-loving mom. But then Dad got home. When I conveyed how disrespectful and noncompliant the boys had been he sat them down on the couch to tell them how unacceptable their behavior had been. He told them they would all be spending the evening — a Friday night — in their rooms without any electronics and only sandwiches for dinner.

Our youngest was around six or seven. His eyes bugged out in shock and horror. “Are you going to call the cops?” he asked.

How Will and I kept from laughing I do not know. The boys went to their rooms, were delivered their dinner sandwiches (peanut butter and honey), and Will and I ordered carry-out. We had a lovely dinner in the dining room and that was it — we tried to follow God’s example of mercies being new every morning.

Do you think of boundaries as punishments, or as guardrails? Do boundaries keep us from calamity or fun? Are good boundaries the means of human flourishing or the cause of repressed desires? Our culture would have you believe that the elimination of boundaries is the path to freedom, but our experience as humans is just the opposite. The happiest, most fulfilled people are always the ones who live according to God’s design. His boundaries are not arbitrary or restrictive, they are the path to success given by a Creator full of love. What’s even better is that our failures are already atoned for by Our Savior, and the Holy Spirit has been given to guide us into all Truth.

Can you truly say that God’s Word is a lamp unto your feet? How are you helping to shepherd those around you to the feet of Jesus?

How can a young person stay on the path of purity?
    By living according to your word.
I seek you with all my heart;
    do not let me stray from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart
    that I might not sin against you.
Praise be to you, Lord;
    teach me your decrees.
With my lips I recount
    all the laws that come from your mouth.
I rejoice in following your statutes
    as one rejoices in great riches.
I meditate on your precepts
    and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees;
    I will not neglect your word. Psalm 119: 9-16

Digging Deeper:

1. If you are a parent, can you think of a time where a firm boundary has been a blessing to your child?

2. Where do you have the most trouble believing that God’s boundaries, as defined in Scripture, are loving?