Relational God, Relational Parenting: A Five Day DevotionalSample

Does the chaos of life ever totally stress you out?

Ever feel like you’re stuck on a roller coaster and have completely lost control of where you’re going? How about when your voice seems stuck on “yell” because nobody is listening to you?

A toddler tantrum, a defiant child, a disrespectful teenager: parenting is never easy no matter the age or stage of life. Sometimes we feel we have lost control, and we try to regain it any way we can. Often that doesn’t end up solving anything, only creating more issues.

We all love our children. We have dreams for them. We want them to be successful, happy, responsible, contributing members of society who love God and share that love with others. But how do we get there when our present chaotic reality and the future we dream of for our family seem miles apart?

We need to start by remembering that God is the Creator of our brains, and every part is good and has a function.

When we look at the defiant teenager or screaming toddler, it may be hard to believe that every part of the brain is good. Is it really functioning the way God intended? Science says yes. Even in those difficult moments, the brain is sending signals that function like alarms. Those signals are designed to protect us, so it is important not to ignore them.

But we can’t respond correctly if we do not understand the signals. For instance, if our brain is flashing red, but we don’t know or recognize it as an alarm, we may proceed at full speed when we should have stopped. We need to recognize and understand the signals that our brains, and our children’s brains, are transmitting so that we can respond appropriately.

An easy way to understand these signals is to imagine the brain as a stoplight.

By using the colors red, yellow, and green for these different signals, parents and children have a simple way to understand and communicate emotions and needs. We all need to learn to stop on red, use caution with yellow, and then figure out how to get a green light to move forward.

So, how do you get your home from red to green, from chaotic to peaceful, from aggressive to calm? Join this daily journey to learn and understand what each of the signals looks like, what they mean, and how this relates to the Bible. It is a journey that many can say has changed their lives, marriages, families, homes, and, most of all, their relationship with God.

Today's challenge is to take a moment to reflect on how you and your family are fearfully and wonderfully made. God chose you to be the parent for your kid, and He will help you understand your child and help them grow!