Some facts are blinding statements of the obvious. One of them, “kids who last out against their parents are an embarrassment and disgrace,” (Proverbs 19.27) replays itself in virtually every restaurant or public gathering place that I have been recently. And it isn’t always the parents or kids fault!
My top ten lists of situations that inevitably show that kids are an embarrassment and disgrace include the following:
Restaurant chefs and servers who are extremely slow.
People in a hurry to get on with life while a toddler insist that on walking across the street on their own power.
People who insist in talking with a shy child when every possible word of the child’s body screams “leave me alone”.
Parents who insist on taking their children out in public after nine at night.
Parents who insist on showering teenagers with public attention when the teenager happens to be related; meanwhile, the teenager is trying to demonstrate that they are an adult.
Parents who forget that they are parents while their children signal that they are looking for their parents.
Kids anywhere, anytime during the day when they have missed a meal.
Kids anywhere when it is time to have a meal and the chances of getting anything in their stomachs is low.
Kids who have extended themselves past their normal resting hours and now face a “deep meaningful conversation” with a parent.
People often forget, or never understood what it is like to be a parent or a child and yet expect things to change. It is easy conclude that the child is an embarrassment and a disgrace. When I put myself in the place of the child then I can find unlimited examples of where I ably demonstrate embarrassment and disgrace to my parents and to God. The question is not if I cause the embarrassment, but just how much.
God’s conclusion and response is unique; Unlimited love, grace, mercy, understanding, and acceptance. Maybe I can be like God so others will know that there is an alternative to the world’s conclusion.
