You Can't always Please the People

One of the hardest things about parenting is being happy in the midst of unhappiness. when the kids are whining and crying about having to do chores or turning off the television, I hesitate and consider giving in. Life is so much more pleasant when everyone is happily occupied and entertained - on the surface anyway and in the short term. After all, the only thing I am teaching my children by letting them satisfy their impulsive desires is that waiting, working, hoping and praying are for naught. And in the long run, we grownups know that that is the only way to true happiness. It's hard to remember that by adhering to the time limits I set for media, sticking to chore schedules and setting a standard for results I am giving them the keys to long term happiness and satisfaction in their lives, and lighting up their path to heaven.

My husband, the veteran high school teacher, thrives off the whining and complaining. "If the troops are complaining, I'm doing my job!" he says. But as a people-pleaser, I struggle with it. If the people are not happy I assume I am not doing my job well. and if I am doing all that I can to please people, or at least take care of their basic needs, and they are STILL complaining, well then I get angry. And soon enough, I am complaining too - complaining about their complaining. It's a vicious cycle.

In my quieter moments I have reflected on this and the fact has occurred to me that this is often how God must feel. He gives us all we need, some of what we want, and still we are not happy. We complain. We cry. We gnash our teeth and beat our breasts. Does he ever just throw up His hands and head out the door to the library (or the chapel, the coffee shop, the open road, the bottom of the basement steps...) where he can find some peace, like I do? I know He must, because I often find Him there. Except I know instead of seeking His own solace, he is waiting there to comfort me, to refresh me, to encourage me, and then to send me home ready to face the troops again.