Parenthesis (Building Character) 

For the past five weeks I’ve share some conversation subjects that shall start at home. In the current chapter of life we are guiding a teen and a pre-teen. This is a really nice chapter even when they can be moody, sluggish, hot tempered (at times). 

 My husband and I truly enjoy talking to our sons, getting to know the challenges they face as well as rejoicing with their victories. We also enjoy when their friends come over, when we engage in conversations. To you dear reader, maybe you are a mom, dad, aunt, uncle, cousin, grandpa, grandma, close friend, be willing to talk to them.

I am making a parenthesis about daring subjects to point at the character of the ones we are training, guiding, raising up. There will be more daring topics to come (intelligence, bullying, drugs and alcohol, dating, etc.) 

“Character is what you are in the dark.” D.L. Moody

Eeek! About that (building character) for the ones who play the parental role, we equipped, guide, and they will decide. Truly believe that comes an age in which they (kids, youth) start making choices about how they react to different situations. 

By now the majority of us know that life is a roller coaster. There are times of easy rides and times of wild rides. Low rides and high rides. There will be moments when each person will face peer pressure, times where others will have more or have less, etc. 

Are we equipping the ones around us and even ourselves to be ready for the roller coaster of life? Will their character be strong to stand up for what is right? Would they be able to understand that they are not more than or less than?

 Character: The mental and moral qualities of an individual. Would we and they be able to be the same everywhere, to avoid wearing masks to pretend that everything is good when inside there is a bomb ready to explode?

The ones who raise a child have a unique responsibility, so do the educators, and of course each individual. In my journey I am finding that there are a lot of fine lines as well as balance. Extremes are dangerous.

Example:

1. Parents don’t set boundaries, child grows and is disrespectful to every authority figure

– Can we just blame the parents for not setting boundaries?

– Should the now adult blame every single decision on their upbringing?

2. Parents set boundaries, child grows up and is still disrespectful to authority figures.

– Society nowadays would at times blame the parents for the decision of their child (even when the child that is now a grown up is responsible for his/her own actions)

 My examples above are very generic and do not express the different contexts and stories. In reality each person is a world in itself. As much as we would like to make blanket statements, we really can’t.

Newsflash

We are all broken, every single one of us. Have you check your heart? Your thoughts? Your ideas?

The only way that we will learn to be honest, transparent, even when it is hurtful and will leave our poop out is when we get to understand that we surely need guidance. Our character will be transform, our desires renewed. 

In my worldview if the above doesn’t happen, we will labor in vain. We will always try to find the responsible party instead of pointing at ourselves. 

Character is a matter of our heart and their hearts. Character reveals the desires of our hearts.

what do you think about character? What does character means to you?

At your service, for His Glory;

Mónica Evans