sun through clouds, cropped

In my last blog I described how I decided to use boundaries and consequences to deal with the poor behavior of a family member. My husband and I had our plan in place, and were almost ready to implement it when God intervened. We had signed up for a parenting conference at our church months ago. I was so distressed and depressed, I didn’t even want to go. However, I knew it was no “accident” I was having trouble with one of our kids, and God planned a parenting conference for that weekend. I call those types of things Godincidences (instead of coincidences).

During this conference, the leaders encouraged us to work towards changing our kids’ hearts, not just their behavior. Through many hands-on games and thoughtful activities, they gave us tools designed to help us do this. We left the conference realizing we had many changes to make in our parenting style. (Honestly, we felt like we were deficient parents!) We spent some time searching our hearts; then we altered our plan for changing the behavior of our child. We added some of the ideas from the conference, to aim for changing her heart.

When we presented our plan with the new focus, we were amazed at the results. Instead of a hostility and anger, we saw her resistance melt in front of our eyes! This was nothing short of a miracle. Our plan might have changed her behavior, but God’s plan immediately changed her heart. Yes, God’s ways are always the best.

Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever seen God intervene in your life in such a miraculous way?