Ephesians 6:4 continues to ring loudly in my heart: "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." Someone may say, "Well that's easy for you to say." I would say it's easy for you to do.
Allow me to share a few tips based upon some areas where I have blown it as a parent. Listen...nobody gave me a manual with these kids. Therefore, we all had to learn together through trial and error. And believe it or not - most of the error was on me.
1) Let Your Kid Be A Kid
There's no telling how many times I have expected my children to act older than they really were. I'm not condoning bad behavior but what I am saying is that we need to be realistic. Every age along with every stage of life has its own unique challenges. Babies cry
Infants need a lot of attention
Toddlers make messes
Older children do and say childish things
Teenagers are trying to discover who they are
Etc.
The point is that it's the parents job to parent the children through each of these stages.
2) Enjoy Every Stage Of Life
This is one of the greatest difficulties of parenting. We act as though it is our job to continually push them to the next level. We can't wait for them to crawl, walk, talk, potty, and feed themselves. Then we can't wait for them to sit down, shut-up, hold it, and stop being messy. I want to encourage every parent but especially those with babies: ENJOY EVERY MOMENT and take none of them for granted. I often wish that I would have let my kids get dirty more often. I wish that I wouldn't have been so concerned over things that didn't matter. I think I enjoyed every stage but I doubt that I enjoyed them as much as I could.
3) Teach Your Children To Control Themselves By Controlling Yourself
One of the greatest lessons that I have learned is the necessity of teaching my children how to control themselves. However, this is difficult if I'm the one that is out of control. This is where we get to lead by example (Woo-Hoo!!!). I know that most people think that I just need to get my kids to listen, obey, and comply with all of our authority. The only problem is that we can lose sight of what it means to teach our kids how to honor one another and control themselves in every situation.
4) Show Them What Love Looks Like
If we are going to raise our children in the training and instruction of the Lord then our lives must be do what I do rather than just do what I say. If we want our children to follow the Lord then we must follow Him as well. Show your child what it means to love like the Father and what it means to live according to His leadership. Pray with them, share with them, involve them in ministry, teach them, hug them, etc. Do whatever is necessary for them to have a good view of their Heavenly Father.
Well...these are just SOME of the areas that we could cover. If I could encourage you with one more thing it would be this: Let Love and Peace rule in your home. These are natural fruits of the Spirit in our lives. Lets make them a priority in our parenting. And Parents...discipline yourself first. They really do learn from us.
HAPPY 12TH BIRTHDAY HAYDEN!!!
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