Parenting is the most important job many of us will ever do, yet we lack formal education for such. At some point, looking back, we’ll usually zero in on where we may have lacked while neglecting to congratulate ourselves for what we did right. For instance, I’ve not been very good at teaching my kids the value of hard work (as in manual labor). I mean, they do chores but have probably not been entrusted with as much as some other families do. On the other hand, developing creativity and talents is a big deal in our family. I have sometimes cut some slack on chores, and even occasionally homeschool work when I saw a big creative project, or even good reading going on. The point is, no parent is good at teaching everything, but all parents are good at teaching something. So here’s my theory, and it’s just a theory: Perhaps God sends his spirits where he knows they will get particularly things they need most. Maybe he says, “This spirit needs to learn the value of hard work, so I’ll send him to XYZ home. And this spirit is particularly creative so I will send him to a home where that will be top priority.” Rather than feel guilt, which is useless and serves no purpose, I think we should trust that God sent us the kids we have because, while he knew we wouldn’t be perfect, we’d be up to the task. Accept it–you were just the right person for the job!
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