Through the Lens of a Dad

I was reading Luke 4:38-44 tonight because I couldn’t sleep. As I was reading it, I immediately placed myself in the position of the Healer, as Jesus was healing. I thought that was the application God had for me. But seconds later, I was gently nudged to think a different thought – what if Jesus stayed the “Healer,” instead of me, and I was one of those He healed? When placed in that positioned, I thought of the different ways my life needed healing.

My sister and her family were visiting us the last week or so. One night my wife, my sister and my brother-in-law were reminiscing about our childhoods and the way we were disciplined. I began realizing that some of my bad habits and the negative ways in which I discipline my daughter are as a result of my lack of healing in areas of my life. Mind you, my mom did as good of a job as she could raising my siblings and I, and she tried to explain the reasons we were being punished as best she could also. But those times of correction were almost always accompanied by raised voices. And those voices often drowned out the explanations, not to mention caused me some hurt and set in motion a pattern of behavior from which I need to be healed.

Today, as a parent, I am wrestling with myself and my own “raised voice” at my daughter. I am realizing that I yell too much, which is often times the wrong approach to correcting her. Both my sister and my wife suggested I calmly and gently talk to my daughter and explain to her what she’s doing and what kind of effect it will have on her and everyone around her. This, they told me, will go a lot further than immediately hitting the internal “YELL” button when my daughter does something wrong.

But this is no easy task for me. And it will take the true “Healer” to correct this part of my life. I hope to someday change but I know it will take some time, many miles of mistakes, and tons of conversations with Jesus, but I do hope to get there. I want some day to have a strong line of communication between me and my daughter. And that line of communication is only strengthened when the “raised voices” are quieted.

Thanks for reading.

Joe

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