7 Occasions when it’s okay to have good feelings* about your child’s sadness**:
- When they are experiencing grief over their own sin.
- When a vacation is over.
- When a grandparent or another loved one has died.***
- When the child is experiencing empathy over someone else’s tragedy.
- When they are experiencing grief over someone else’s sin.
- When they lose something forever.
- When the child is sad about an unsaved person.
Am I missing any? I sure like to hear your suggestions.
* I struggled with what word to use. Happy is too strong, Peaceful is too weak.
** i.e. preferring it to the alternative (them not being saddened)
*** This was the first item on this list. I was surprised by the slight joy that I felt seeing how sad my kids were when they heard that my Dad died. I thought, “They must love him.”
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I mean, don’t tell me I’ve thought of them all.
The other day my 5 yr. old daughter was helping with the laundry by trying to ball the socks together. She got so frustrated she started crying. I told her she could stop if it was too difficult. She was determined and, through tears, said “But I want to.” She kept trying and kept crying. I was glad to see her keep going on her own volition even though she was so frustrated and sad. I had good feelings about her sadness because it made her perseverance admirable – and she did eventually find her sock-balling rhythm.
That’s a good one. I wasn’t thinking that direction at all. Thanks.
I am sometimes thankful for my boys visible sadness because it shows me that their hearts are still soft and they are okay with showing visible emotions. So many men have totally shut down their emotions because of the lack of control that they feel with visible emotion. This softness will come into play especially in how the Holy Spirit woos them. If the Holy Spirit has to break through a hardened heart, the process is usually much more painful.
Did you just recently loose your father? I’m sorry to hear that, I hope he is asleep in Jesus.