Beauty is not found in uniformity, nor value in conformity. It is in our colors and quirks and flaws and scars that true beauty and value unfold, bec… - L.R. Knost

Giving our children rest means being their safe harbor, their place to retreat when life hurts and the world looms large and people disappoint and mistakes are made. Becoming that safe harbor means being free ~ freely available, freely offered, freely welcoming.

The only way to heal from the pain
of the past is to walk through that pain
in the present. It's terrifying, I know.
It feels safer to just let the pain continue
to smolder in the darkest parts of yourself.
But the dark parts need tending, too, my friend.
Don't be afraid to breathe life back into those
embers of old pain, to rekindle the fires of
unhealed hurts. The flames aren't there to burn
you. They are there to light your way through
pain to healing. You can walk through courageous
and confident or shaking in your boots. It doesn't
matter. Just walk through it. Hurt will transform
into hope, wounds into wisdom, suffering into
scars that tell of battles won and lost and of a
human who survived it all.

Here’s the thing, effective parenting and, more specifically, effective discipline, don’t require punishment. Equating discipline with punishment is an unfortunate, but common misconception. The root word in discipline is actually disciple which in the verb form means to guide, lead, teach, model, and encourage. In the noun form disciple means one who embraces the teaching of, follows the example of, and models their life after.