If I have to shrink to become small enough to squeeze through some kind of narrow passageway into eternal life, the heart of God … I think it’s ideal for my ego to be crushed between the needs of a chubby-cheeked toddler and a son whose muddy cleats need to be scraped free yet again, under the weight of laundry and patience and the rambling folly of tweenage lessons that haven’t sunk in yet … no matter how many times I’ve tried; not to mention how often they need to eat and eat, always hungry for so much more than food, relying on me for more than I have to give in a world that seems hell bent on taking every one of us down … If somehow, I have to discover my own futility and need for God … If my pride needs to be evaporated somehow, so the rest of me can fit through this secret skinny path into paradise, into heavenly communion, forever and ever filled with perfect grace and peace – I am grateful for the opportunity to shrink into this crazy love, this process of raising these children, these precious and glorious souls, doing my best to make sure we all rise together into the Light  

Matthew 7 13-14 ““Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

John 14 5-6 ” “Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Matthew 18 1-6:

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Jesus invited a little child to stand among them. “Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in My name welcomes Me.

But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.”

  Parenting is rich with opportunities for spiritual growth. How does parenthood help you let go of your ego and enter into deeper communion with the love of God? Comment below, and I’ll be delighted to keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Lord thank you for the blessing of our children! Help us to see parenthood as the opportunity for deep and profound spiritual growth that it really is. Give us the grace to see clearly all the opportunities to cultivate love and faith through the joys and trials of raising kids in our modern world. Bless our children in a special way today. In Jesus name, we pray.   written by Nicky Gant for http://www.uniteinprayer.org 10/16/2019