teach your children well…

My daughter has recently gone out with a man a few times (a little more than hanging out, but not yet dating? I don’t know, but it’s not important for this particular blog entry.) She said to me “Mom, I have never been treated like this before, with such respect. He opens car doors for me, he seems to really listen when I talk, and he hasn’t put any moves on me.”  My first thought was why would she allow anyone to treat her any other way, but I kept that thought to myself… for now. But it did start me thinking and when something is on my mind, I discuss it with people whom I strive to live my life like… One friend, a man who is a strong “literal bible believing” man (and whose opinions I seek out and respect), had this comment when I told him what my daughter had said…

“Isn’t that sad… that someone who treats people with respect is the exception rather than the norm.”

And, as things often seem to happen, this little picture showed up in my email. It’s funny how those “random” things happen when you need some sort of reinforcement, encouragement, or direction… and by “random” I mean totally not random and totally God sent…

So… back to my first thought about why my daughter would let someone treat her any way other than with respect… I guess it comes down to I didn’t teach her that she deserved to be respected and probably didn’t teach my son “to be that kind of man” either. Parenting is so hard and we can only do our best at the time. It’s one of those ‘jobs’ that you REALLY need an owner’s manual, a study guide, and a procedure book complete with checklists. It’s a job that is given to people when they are way too young to handle a position with that much responsibility. I so wish I could do it again with the knowledge and wisdom I have now. But I can’t, all I can do now is pray that since she’s seen how a “real man” treats a woman that she will never settle for less. And I pray that my son becomes that kind of man. I pray daily for the people my children will eventually choose as life partners. I pray that those people know God and have a daily “working” relationship with Him. There is nothing harder than relationships and marriage, and even harder than marriage is a GOOD marriage. I know I have fallen short in the parenting category but with a humbled heart and with my face to the floor, I pray my son grows and becomes a “real man” and my daughter continues to grow into the treasure I know she is.