Owners Manual

Have you heard the joke about raising children, that they don't come with an operating or owners manual? The awkwardness of holding a baby for the first time can feel like extreme overwhelm when coupled with the knowledge that this adorable creature squirming or even peacefully sleeping in your arms isn't going anywhere, it is yours to keep. Over time you learn by experience and physical needs are met for the child with regular care, the kind you provide for yourself. Food, clothing, shelter. What about emotional, psychological, pyschosocial and spiritual needs, Dear Reader? What about those burning questions of how to raise a growing child who will one day become an adult? Will they be a contributor to this world or a lost and wandering mission less soul? Who will they become?  Where do you find the answers for the big stuff about guiding and shaping these vulnerable little ones? What is available as a resource and guiding light for you, as parent for the child/children you have been entrusted with? I ask this question as a lead in to my idea that there is, of course, an operating manual available for every question you have ever had and more. Perhaps you own one already? Perhaps it is sitting dusty, unopened on your book shelf or in a drawer somewhere? Or, perhaps you have never had your hands on this amazing manual because no one ever gave you one or taught you that all the answers are finger tip available, that you need not wonder or struggle? What if all the wisdom of the universe, which is larger than imaginable, you would agree, was contained in one volume, a teachers guide to educating those who are in their loving care? Would you want this tome, Dear One? Would you seek high and low to get your hands on a copy? Look at your children or child-are they struggling, in need of something you cannot name? How about you, do you know how to serve them, lead them, guide them to a wholesomeness that allows them, and you, to enjoy this life you are living? Lets take the child/children out of the equation and look directly at you. Where do you go for your answers, your wholeness, your understanding of who and how to be you in this life, in this world, in the family and society you are a part of? You are shaping and being shaped by the world-what are your instructions on the how to part? Are you a DIYer (Do it yourself'er) and how is that working out for you? Back to the Owners Manual. There is a book and knowing how clever you are, Dear Reader, I am guessing you have figured me out and that I don't have to label the book because you already know which one I refer to. Just in case you and I are not on the same page, it is of course, The Bible. Gods Owners Manual for the humans He created in His image. You see, Dear One, we are like Him, except when we choose not to be. We can have all that He has imbued in us, except when we reject His offering. Our children, they can have the life He designed for them, except when they don't know how, and this is the painful piece, except when they haven't been taught Who He Is and what HE wants for them. Forgive yourself if you are just discovering God, His Word, His love for you. You didn't know and now you are learning and He understands all of this and He loves your child/children way more than you ever will or can. If you are new to The Bible, savour the learning and trust that God has the rest covered. Go be His kid and let Him teach you His ways and with His Operating Manual in hand, lead the way for the ones He has entrusted to your care. It is never too late, not for anyone. God is always ready to welcome His children into His embrace.