Are You an Octopus Parent?

A major pitfall facing all parents is the tendency to control and not guide our children.

When my family was still young, and I had only seven kids, ranging in age from twelve to newborn, I earnestly tried to raise them right. Yet all my effort was actually hindering their development—my anxiety and controlling nature acted as a barrier, a fortress around my children. I was actually a stumbling block to my kids’ inner, natural, and organic growth into well-balanced, gifted people.

Since I do not take subtle hints, my subconscious stepped in and produced a powerful vision that symbolized the harm I was doing by refusing to let go.

First I saw an ocean with a tiny black dot in the water. Slowly the dot grew larger until I was face to face with a huge octopus—with seven of its

tentacles wrapped around each of my children, and my husband in the eighth. Each person was grey, limp, almost lifeless.

Suddenly Jesus appeared in a blaze of light. Brandishing a sword, He severed each tentacle one by one. As soon as the children were set free, they began dancing and laughing in the sunshine.

But my husband still lay on the ground, wrapped tightly in the remaining tentacle. We all kneeled, weeping, desperately pulling and tugging at the massive appendage, but to no avail. Moments later, in a flash of Jesus’s sword, my husband was released and came back to life.

It was then I realized that I was the octopus.

lesson is relevant to:

Sometimes we just need to let go of our worry—about our children, loved ones, and family members—and put our total trust in God. As soon as we are able to do that, we and the people we care about can truly experience the freedom of living. I once read that the greatest sin you can commit, besides murder, is controlling and manipulating another human being, because you are stealing someone’s identity and molding that person into your own image.

Edited by <a href=”http://theimportanceofbeingedited.wordpress.com/about”>Timothy Pike, freelance editor for hire</a>