{"id":524,"date":"2014-10-12T11:45:58","date_gmt":"2014-10-12T11:45:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sjcmetheology.wpengine.com\/?p=524"},"modified":"2014-10-12T11:45:58","modified_gmt":"2014-10-12T11:45:58","slug":"being-teachable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/being-teachable\/","title":{"rendered":"Being Teachable"},"content":{"rendered":"

The baby (who is actually 15 months old, but will be \u201cthe baby\u201d for approximately forever, since she is probably the caboose on a train of six) uses a pacifier. Exactly half of my children have used a pacifier. Exactly half of my children need braces. They happen to be the same half. Okay, I don\u2019t know yet that the baby will need braces, but the odds aren\u2019t looking good.<\/p>\n

So I am trying to wean her from the pacifier. The other day, I put the pacifier on the table and the baby on the floor, and I went about my business. Shortly thereafter I hear the pathetic weeping begin. When I come into the dining room, there is the baby, gazing up through her tears at the pacifier out of reach and making her adorable language-like noises. I try to distract her. Nothing doing. Finally, I give in and give her the pacifier. The tears dry up, and\u2014this is the icing on the cake\u2014she toddles over to me and gives me one of her affectionate hugs.<\/p>\n

\"foot\"<\/a>Then it hits me: she is positively reinforcing me<\/em>. Is this how parenting is supposed to work?<\/p>\n

In fact, it probably is. A huge part of the spiritual journey for me as a parent has been becoming teachable\u2014allowing the experiences of motherhood to reveal to me where I need to grow and to mold me for the better.<\/p>\n

My kids might argue that I don\u2019t this particularly well, and they would probably be right. But motherhood has at least shown me, in glaring relief, how I need to grow (whether or not I accept the invitation). Being teachable is such a challenge, because I am<\/em> a teacher by profession\u2014and not a student. Both professionally and as a parent, I\u2019m the authority figure. And that is necessary. The spiritual danger comes in whenever I decide I\u2019m the authority figure in all aspects of life, including and especially my own.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019m not an authority on my own life, in fact. My plan for my life is pretty small and unadventurous. My plan doesn\u2019t send me far out of my comfort zone. It\u2019s a recipe for ease, not holiness.<\/p>\n

\"Franks<\/a>God the Father\u2019s plan for me, on the other hand: now there\u2019s an adventure. God the Father\u2019s plan involved six children for me, something I neeeever considered back in, say, high school or even undergraduate college. And if that plan can\u2019t make me holy, nothing can.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Angela Franks<\/strong> teaches theology for Saint Joseph\u2019s College Online.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The baby (who is actually 15 months old, but will be \u201cthe baby\u201d for approximately forever, since she is probably the caboose on a train of six) uses a pacifier. Exactly half of my children have used a pacifier. Exactly … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,23,1],"tags":[288],"class_list":["post-524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family","category-spirituality","category-uncategorized","tag-teaching"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/48"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/524\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sjcme.edu\/theology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}