Provoked to change....

A pastor friend once said, "You will be the same as you are next year except for the people you meet and the books you read."  It's one of those quotes I have pondered and realized the truth of it over and over.  Take for example, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay's book, For the Children's Sake.  When I read it years ago, I was challenged and provoked in my role as parent and homeschooler.
She said things like, "Do not see him (a child) as something to prune, form, or mold.  This is an individual who thinks, acts, and feels.  He is a separate human being whose strength lies in who he is, not in who he will become." 
I need to be reminded of this regularly because I think there is a human tendency as a parent to "fix" our children when in fact, on my own I can't even fix myself! If that weren't enough, Macaulay nails it when she says, "We can only love and serve him and be his friend.  We cannot own him.  He is not ours."
For most parents, we want the best for our kids and often our years and experience has given us a leg up on our kids.  I would agree that when we are very young, we are led to share our parents' values and often their habits.
As my children mature, my role shifts to that of fellow traveler alongside them with a sense of wonder and respect for this human being that God created.  Wouldn't you agree that a struggle for a parent is to fear we will become obsolete in their life so we tend to push or pull them in our direction?   Or we try to fix our own poor choices by living through them?  It seems foreign then to invite them to walk next to us in this journey!
Just that little bit of truth in the first pages of that book changed my perspective on parenting and education yet, I need to be reminded.  Perhaps that is why I kept this book on the shelf.  Perhaps that is why I blog...for remembrance; to let that book and these words once again provoke me to change.