Blame

"Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor shall children be put to death for their fathers; each one shall die for his own sin."
-2 Kings 14:6

You only have yourself to blame may be one of the tough-love lessons to take away from this verse. Too many children (and adults) blame their parents for everything. Parents are certainly influential. So if a parent is one who leaves the mother with the kid, there will be an effect on the kid. If the mother gets involved with another man, who fathers another child, and then also leaves, there will be an effect on the children. If that mother leaves the kids with the grandmother, only to come back into their lives periodically, raising their hopes, staying long enough to undermine the grandmother's authority, and leaves again, the children will have a lot to deal with. All of this may explain why the child is the way he is, but the real world isn't going to excuse him for being a jerk because of it. He needs help to overcome the obstacles that have been put in his way and avoid the path of his parents. There's no glory in being a failure and being able to blame your parents for it. It would be much better to become a success and be able to take credit for it (or give the credit to God).

Tonight marks the end of my summer. I return to school tomorrow to get ready for my junior high students on Wednesday. We were able to get kid number one through successfully last year. His brother starts the junior high this year. Hopefully, my prayers and others' will continue pay off for him and his family.