Making Pancakes Is a Lot Like Raising Kids

This morning I was making pancakes for Derek's birthday breakfast.  These were the easy pancakes that you just add water to the mix.  A friend brought them over as part of some breakfast meals for us!  But as I was making them, I realized that making pancakes was a lot like raising kids... it requires PATIENCE!!  

Dano is normally the pancake maker in our house.  I know why, too... HE'S MORE PATIENT than I am.  I know you've heard this before.  

When you make pancakes you have to kind of stand there and wait and wait and wait (which seems like an eternity) for the pancake to look just right... dry around the edges and the bubbles in the middle... then you can flip it.  If you walk away to pass the time, you will probably end up being gone too long and burn them (I didn't do that today, thankfully).  So, you have to be disciplined and be patient and wait.  

So, how is this like raising kids?  

Well, before you even get the pancakes to the pan... you have to make sure the batter is just right.  Not too thick... not too thin.  You also have to make sure the pan is just the right temperature... not too hot... not too cool.  

With our children, we have to be sure and get the "batter" just right.  We have to make sure we add the right stuff in... keep the bad stuff out.  Sometimes it is hard to determine how much is "enough" and what can be bad.  The world around us has a lot of bad influences.  Maybe some are harmful enough to really spoil the batter.  This is where a lot of prayer comes in asking for wisdom and guidance from our Heavenly Father.  

Also, the pan has to be just right... we have to make sure WHERE we put our children, where we allow them to go is just right for their formation, too.  I don't want to burn them in the process of forming them.  But I don't want them to not be formed by too cool of a pan either.  

Lastly, patience... oh boy, parenting takes that!  Waiting, waiting, waiting... not flipping too soon, but not walking away and letting them burn.  We have to know when to intervene and when to wait.  

I realize this is a pretty simple analogy, but it was something the Lord was whispering to me this morning as I was WAITING on the pancakes.  

I love how the Lord can speak in the little things in life.  Lord give me ears to hear.  Help me to heed your advice on patience.  I surely know you are always whispering this lesson to me.  Forgive me for being a slow learner.  

May you each have a blessed day and weekend.

Love,

Melinda  =0)