The Patient Pursuit of Parenting

Charisse Tierney shares a lesson about parenting, learned in a most unlikely place.

Do not be impatient in prayer… (Sirach 7:10)

I have a few children who don’t open up easily. They like to have time alone to recharge, and I often find it difficult to know what they’re thinking. Even when I sense that something is bothering them, it usually takes a lot of effort and time for them to tell me what’s going on.

But it is this mystery that reminds me of the One who created them.

There is so much I don’t understand about God. Even when I am faithful to my daily prayers and I spend time in Adoration, I still find myself wondering what He’s thinking. There are long stretches of time when I don’t hear Him telling me anything.

Sometimes faithfulness is all about being patient.

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Maybe He just wants to sit with me in Adoration without feeling the need for conversation. Maybe He just likes knowing that I still think He’s worth rising early for so I can read His Word. Maybe He likes to be pursued as much as He loves to pursue me.

Maybe He’s just trying to teach me how to be a better parent.

When we pray, we invest in our relationship with God. Prayer is a gentle unfolding of the growth of love. Prayer provides insight into the mystery of relationship. Prayer teaches us to wait, to watch, and to never stop pursuing.

When I sit with a child who isn’t talking, the time is never wasted. When I sit in the Adoration chapel and only hear the emptiness of the wind outside the stained-glass windows, I can be assured that something is happening.