Not sure if that should be the title, but I am now considering writing a "book" of some sort here on the blog so I don't lose it if my computer dies on me.
It actually came to mind when I was thinking about how I have really enjoyed some smaller excerpts about parenting (i.e. Sacred Parenting Devotional by Gary Thomas) and the little bits of wisdom just fill me.
The book of Proverbs has been very instrumental, instructional and encouraging. I find myself just wanting to drink in the Proverbs b/c I am often feeling lost as a parent.
In some ways, it is good that I have felt lost. I have become more and more dependent on the Lord. In other ways, I think I have been swallowed up by the culture of pop psychology and the like. I have resisted, but I see how some basic things I believe are not from the Bible, but from this world. So when I read Proverbs, I feel refreshed, I feel like it all makes sense, I feel like I can do more than survive parenting... I can actually be a pretty good mom with God's help.
And so I can thrive... enjoying the gifts of my children. They are a true blessing from the Lord. They are not meant to be a hardship, but I can make parenting a hardship when I am not close to the Lord and following his wisdom.
As I have read the Proverbs again and again, I find the light going on like never before. It actually makes sense to me. I used to read the little sayings and move on rather bored. I did not get it at all. I don't think I had a clue until I became a parent, realized I wasn't all that, and I desperately need the wisdom of God.
It is a shame really. I look back and wish I had known some of the simple wisdom Proverbs brings... I could have really used it during those teenage crises. Maybe I wouldn't have understood if I had read it, but maybe if someone lived it and talked about it to me. That may have been a good thing.
For whatever reason, I find myself longing for a mentor in life. And I have been that way for some time. Particularly when marriage and family came along, I have zigzagged and gone all over looking for help. Of course the Lord is my strength and my wonderful Counselor, but I know the Lord uses people too.
So this "book" is a sermon to myself as I try to work out how I can live out the Proverbs to my kids. Teach them wisdom. Teach them to pursue wisdom with all their hearts. And this is also for my daughter Charlotte. I hope to mentor her somehow.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
parenting isn't rocket science
i read this today: "parenting isn't rocket science." it was funny to read b/c i recently posted on facebook how parenting seems even more complicated than rocket science... so i thought "really?"
it is a book called "parenting by the book" referring to the Bible by John Rosemond. his name caught my eye at the library today b/c i have read his newspaper column before.
so far he is making the case that parenting has never been that complicated until the 1960's and the whole world was shaken by that decade. the culture changed, everything changed. i should read more about this to understand better. so i was wondering if my parents were reared according to this "new" value system or if they raised me that way. it would make sense in a way... b/c i feel so clueless at times which is why i read a lot about parenting.
a while back people would go to their mom, their grandma, etc. for parenting help/tips. that is not the case now... hasn't been that way for some time. people go to books, to psychology. but the news now is that "child-centered" parenting and assuming the goodness of a child is not a good place to be--it doesn't work. it leads to destruction and chaos and even prison.
children (all people) are sinners. so i'm thinking about how to alert my children to this fact in an effective way and teach them character and being like Jesus. i think i have been too lenient with oliver but i think part of it has been just the lack of mentorship as a mom. he has not been a child you can just look at sternly or tell no once. he pushes, he begs, he screams... it has been hard to figure out.
i have often sought mentorship but have not found it. i suppose ideally it should be my mom first. why isn't it? she is a mentor in ways but i do not seek her out. i suppose it is b/c i don't see her active in her faith. so is she really in touch with the wisdom of the Creator? perhaps i shortchange her though. i love her much and enjoy being with her.
i have latched on to Carolyn Mahaney and her literature has been immensely helpful for my marriage and personally. so she is a mentor from afar. i wish i had "met" her sooner!
tonight i listened to FOTF and they had the Dugger family on (19 children!) it was very interesting. very positive and inspiring they way they are so calm and focused on being sanctified in Christ. lately, i have had some thoughts come to mind when i am frustrated with my children... some thoughts about how God must feel when i disrespect him, disobey him, make demands of him...my children are a blessing in more ways than one. i am seeing how they are here at least in part for God to do a work in my life. i don't want to just survive motherhood and be glad for them to be gone (like i have heard some moms say!) i want to look back with gratefulness for all the Lord taught me and molded me to be. i want to see how i have grown and changed for the better. i want to see children who model Christ.
i pray God you would help me to Grow. for that is how i will Thrive. and i pray you would work in the lives of my children as well. may they Grow and Thrive as well.
it is a book called "parenting by the book" referring to the Bible by John Rosemond. his name caught my eye at the library today b/c i have read his newspaper column before.
so far he is making the case that parenting has never been that complicated until the 1960's and the whole world was shaken by that decade. the culture changed, everything changed. i should read more about this to understand better. so i was wondering if my parents were reared according to this "new" value system or if they raised me that way. it would make sense in a way... b/c i feel so clueless at times which is why i read a lot about parenting.
a while back people would go to their mom, their grandma, etc. for parenting help/tips. that is not the case now... hasn't been that way for some time. people go to books, to psychology. but the news now is that "child-centered" parenting and assuming the goodness of a child is not a good place to be--it doesn't work. it leads to destruction and chaos and even prison.
children (all people) are sinners. so i'm thinking about how to alert my children to this fact in an effective way and teach them character and being like Jesus. i think i have been too lenient with oliver but i think part of it has been just the lack of mentorship as a mom. he has not been a child you can just look at sternly or tell no once. he pushes, he begs, he screams... it has been hard to figure out.
i have often sought mentorship but have not found it. i suppose ideally it should be my mom first. why isn't it? she is a mentor in ways but i do not seek her out. i suppose it is b/c i don't see her active in her faith. so is she really in touch with the wisdom of the Creator? perhaps i shortchange her though. i love her much and enjoy being with her.
i have latched on to Carolyn Mahaney and her literature has been immensely helpful for my marriage and personally. so she is a mentor from afar. i wish i had "met" her sooner!
tonight i listened to FOTF and they had the Dugger family on (19 children!) it was very interesting. very positive and inspiring they way they are so calm and focused on being sanctified in Christ. lately, i have had some thoughts come to mind when i am frustrated with my children... some thoughts about how God must feel when i disrespect him, disobey him, make demands of him...my children are a blessing in more ways than one. i am seeing how they are here at least in part for God to do a work in my life. i don't want to just survive motherhood and be glad for them to be gone (like i have heard some moms say!) i want to look back with gratefulness for all the Lord taught me and molded me to be. i want to see how i have grown and changed for the better. i want to see children who model Christ.
i pray God you would help me to Grow. for that is how i will Thrive. and i pray you would work in the lives of my children as well. may they Grow and Thrive as well.
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