Don’t forget to weed the garden of your children’s hearts DAILY. One day recently, I had so much resistance from one of my boys. I could literally feel his spirit rebelling and pushing me away. He was tapping, clicking, scribbling, sniffling every time I opened my mouth to talk. I don’t tolerate disrespect, but I also want to make sure I am getting to the root of the “why.”

What opens the door to rebellion in our children? Anger, hurt, frustration, disappointment, confusion. They don’t just simply wake up one day and take on a rebellious attitude.

What closes the door to rebellion? Repentance, forgiveness, communication, digging, identifying the source.

You see, I’ve been REALLY distracted lately. I’ve been short with the kids. Ok, more than short… I’ve been stretched thinner than I possibly ever have. And everyone here is feeling the strain. I stopped everything and prayed. I repented to my two oldest boys for being distracted and short, and asked their forgiveness. I explained to them that when I am distracted and it hurts their feelings, frustrates them or makes them angry, that gives an open door to the enemy to work in their hearts. The enemy can whisper lies that “Mommy is mad,” or “Mommy doesn’t care,” or “Daddy doesn’t like me.”

So, I spoke truth over them to replace those lies. I led them in a prayer and they filled in the blank: “Lord, I choose to forgive Mommy for ___________, and I release her from the prison of my heart.”

And that’s it. That’s weeding the garden. This isn’t prompting your kids to come up with ways to be mad at you. This is keeping a check on your own heart and realizing when you’ve hurt them. You see, they aren’t always able to tell us when they are hurt, so it comes out in different ways – anger, rowdiness, distractedness, rebellion, withdrawing, less affectionate or even overly affectionate.

Weed those gardens my friends!

Crystal Boggs Dillon

Crystal Dillon is daughter of Living Waters Ministry Co-founders, Lee and Denise Boggs. She is married to Jon Dillon, and homeschools their five boys. Crystal serves on our Support Staff as Creative Director and oversees social media, graphic design, and outreach. She also regularly writes on her Facebook Blog page, The Intentional Homemaker, to edify other mothers.

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