Parenting the Proverbs

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.