About two and a half weeks ago, we had a winter storm that was larger than the ones we usually get here. We had somewhere between 16 and 18 inches of snow with drifts up to 3 feet. Normally, my monster 2 stage, 33 hp, snow blower can handle these sorts of things but even that was a bit too much (or so I thought).

After struggling for about an hour with a sluggish snow blower, I finally began to wonder if this was God’s way of teaching me patience. I had to go really slow through the foot and a half of white stuff. It really got bad with the large drifts thanks to the blizzard force winds. Needless to say, I learned that I needed to be patience and not get upset. Finally, I gave up and ended up shoveling… even with the help of 4 other people, it still took 6 hours of straight shoveling and snow blowing to get the whole driveway done.

I thought that was what God wanted me to learn from that situation. It turns out that He was setting me up for the next snowstorm that happen yesterday. This time… knowing the storm was coming – I took some simple maintenance steps to get the snowblower running better. So yesterday when we got 6 inches of snow in 4 hours, I was ready to take on the driveway again.

The snow blower worked like a champ and cut right through the snow like there was nothing there. Granted there was about 10 inches less but it performed so much better that we could have easily taken on another foot and a half with no issues…

The moral of the story for me. When you take time to keep up on the maintenance, things just work better. As I continued to dwell on this point, my thoughts drifted towards relationships. Just like the snow blower, relationships work better when you work at them. This is something I know, but God needed to remind me again. I have been lacking across the board on this one.

From immediate and extended family, to friends both near and far, I have been horribly bad about the “maintenance” side of my relationships. I really need to work at that.

What are some tips or tricks that you use to keep in touch with those in your world?

The words you speak from NewSpring Church on Vimeo.

“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.”

As I read this scripture this morning, it struck me as a parent. As I work to grow kids into Godly adults, I wonder if I am doing a good enough job in this area of forgiving much.

I will be honest forgiving is not something I am strong at. But then if I am being really honest, I have struggled the last few months, dare I say years, at being the kind of Dad that my kids really need.

I have never really thought the two, forgiveness and much love, were connected though. On those days when I hold grudges against kids who don’t listen or are disrespectful, I do notice I get little love in return. But on those “shining moments” when I honest forgive them and express that to them, the response far exceeds what I would expect.

So what I am taking away seems to be that loving and forgiving does return far more love than holding grudge or hiding my feelings. Imagine that, God’s Word applying directly to a situation – duh! of course…

What are your thoughts about parenting and the extent one should forgive their kids even in the face of disrespect?