NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

April 20

A series of collaborative works with my mother-in-law, who died three weeks ago…

Scripture focus: How can I stand up before God and show proper respect to the high God? Should I bring an armload of offerings topped off with yearling calves? Would God be impressed with thousands of rams, with buckets and barrels of olive oil? Would he be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child, my precious baby, to cancel my sin? But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don't take yourself too seriously— take God seriously. Micah 6:6-8 The Message

Proper respect isn’t cool anymore. It’s a lost art. When I was a kid (You know when you’re getting old? When you start saying things like, “When I was a kid…”) I believe my parents’ highest core value for me was that I show proper respect.

I’m not sure that my generation has kept it on the list of things we want our kids to do. We want our kids to feel happy, to excel, to achieve, to have all the advantages, to feel good about themselves, and to possess everything their heart’s desire. But respect? Hmmmm… Nana was an in-town grandparent to our three children. My parents are out-of-town grandparents. There are distinct differences. Out-of-towners miss a lot; in-towners miss the opportunity to live with the illusion that their grandkids are practically perfect. Our entire generation seems to have missed out on the value of collaborative parenting with multi-generations of family. (Not always a bad thing, I admit. I know there are some bad dude parental units who, given the opportunity, would be bad dude grandparents. I appreciate a parent who has the good sense to not expose their own children to the same traumas of childhood they experienced.) But I wonder if we’ve thrown the baby out with the bathwater as we have relegated our grandparents to good times and gifts, rather than giving them proper respect as sage advisors about parenting issues. How Nana helped us parent in tomorrow’s devotional.

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