I have a Micah. So far, only one. He has been a challenge from day one. From his feedings, to bedtimes... everything was HARD. I remember praying to God, "can we have one day of peace with him? just one?" and then "WILL we ever have one day of peace with him God?" So much selfishness/sin in my parenting is right in front of my face with Micah. It was not fulfilling to me to parent a child that was always angry or that I was afraid to take out in public. He woke up angry. Went to bed angry. Micah's angry eyes were well known to friends and family. His explosive rage was always present. I even called him Mount Micah to Andy many days because you just never knew when he was going to explode.
You are now probably wondering what I mean about the joy and passion? Yes, the rare moments when he was happy truly were precious. He has always had a sense of humor beyond his years. And passionate is my word for him. Whatever he does, it is with great passion. I LOVE this about him and pray consistently that this passion will one day be focused on Christ.
I write all of this to say, don't give up on your "Micah". I remember holding Micah one night in the rocking chair. He had fallen asleep after a long battle over bed-time and I just sat in the quiet living room and cried. Andy thought I had lost it. I had finally gone over the edge because of this boy. (trust me there were many moments I thought I would go crazy) But I was just crying because it was one of the only moments of peace with him I had had in a lonnng time. I loved sitting there with my huge, sweaty 4 year old just rocking him quietly. God showed me that this is HIS child. That He loves him more than I ever will. And God told me to keep parenting Micah with love, grace, consistency, discipline, PRAYER and that the fruit would come... I don't mean to sound like I parented him alone. Andy was right there beside me for this battle for our son. We were not going to give in and ignore the heart condition of this precious boy that God had placed in our lives. We prayed over him after he was asleep in bed. We prayed together, alone, we asked family and friends for prayer (and advice)... I love the power of God in prayer!!!
God is changing Micah. He still has his angry Micah eyes sometimes but is mostly so happy.. He still has that passion that we LOVE. But, this one HUGE prayer we have been praying for him, we are now seeing the fruit. SELF CONTROL. When Micah would hear a song or a Bible verse with self control in it he recognized it immediately. With excitement he would say, "MOM! That's what I need!" Don't we all? God is showing His grace in this area to Micah. On Sunday he was very upset that he was not going to be playing a video game that day. We talked about how maybe he needs to have a break from this for a while. On his own, he came up to me hours later and declared that he was not going to play for 7 days to help him have self control over this issue. And, yes, I cried. because this is God working in my little man's life. Do not give up or give in to your child's heart issues! God will give you strength and provide all the grace needed to get through these tough, tough days. I know we have so much ahead with all of our children. May Christ be our ever present help with all that is in store for us..
Micah james
