The Well

ACCEPT CRITICISM

Often, there are things going on in our lives that are simply too hard to talk about. Yet, these are the things we need to confront and confess. It happened quite often when our children were home. The best example was an incident with our son.

One summer we began to notice a change in his behavior. The first thing he did was paint a large black circle with a white cross in the middle of it on his bedroom wall. Although there was a cross, there was something sinister about the whole thing. When we confronted him about it he was adamant that it was "his" room and he could do whatever he wanted. Later we discovered that he had painted it while talking to his mother on the phone and that he thought it was funny.

Within two weeks he decided to move to the basement bedroom and we asked him to repair the wall. He said he would when he got ready to move from the house. Around this time he began staying out late, hanging out with a friend we knew was outside of God's will, and ignoring his household responsibilities. Then he became very abusive in his attitude toward me and the only thing I knew to do was remove his name from our internet account. He moved out that day.

This young man went down a path that shocked everyone. Based on his "appearance" at school and church everyone outside the family just knew he was headed for a successful life. However, we knew Scott up close and personal. He eventually walked away from a full music scholarship for college.

Now, three years later, Scott is trying to get his life back in line with God. He is married and settled down. Finally, he has even learned to accept loving criticism! God can change people - when we get out of His way!