Looking Through Broken Glass

When we look out of a broken window, we often find that the picture is obscured.

It is not clear what we are looking at as the cracked glass distorts the scene and makes it difficult to make out. But when we replace the glass and restore it to its purpose, then the scene is clear, and we know what we are looking at. The more cracked the glass the more obscured the scene. What if the broken glass is us?

We are all broken in some way or form. Not always physical like you can see or touch, but spiritually and emotionally. We all have hurts that have changed the way we deal with certain topics and often we pass these hurts onto the ones around us because let's face it, we want the ones around us to hurt like we hurt so we know they understand and will accept us the way we are. But that is so wrong.

Raising children can be one of the most difficult tasks we are trusted with. When we ourselves are broken, it is hard to make sure that that brokenness is not passed on to the next generation. Often as they grow and learn, their challenges rub on our hurts and scars. Even as I pen this very concept, it reminds me of the time I was raising my boys. I worked so hard to not pass along my trauma to them. I still remember being so angry at times, not at them, but at the act they were trying to do because it had been done to me.

"Let's attack the problem not the people"

A simple example of this could be lying. I really don't like people to lie to me. Tell me the real deal and let me know what really is going on. Let's attack the problem, not the people, but that is not often what kids do. They let fear of being in trouble take over and then comes the lie.

To let our kids be who God made them to be is challenging. But we must never let our own hurts and dis-trust become theirs. We must never let the brokenness in us obscure the view that we have for our kids and kids we must never let our parents obscured view become ours. We have to stand on our own and be accountable for ourselves. Our response is our responsibility.

At some point in our lives, we have to stand upand take an account for ourselves. Even if our parents imposed their hurts onto us, we have to be able to pass it back to them and have an understanding that it was not ours to ever carry so, to lay it down, and then walk in the light that God has for you.