Parenting is not as easy as it looks. I have come to realize that I am not nearly as good at it as I'd hoped.
The other day our family was getting ready to leave to go somewhere, I don't even remember where, but somewhere. I asked Micah to put his shoes on, but he was too interested in his own agenda to hear me, so I asked him once again to put on his shoes. Again he did not acknowledge that I had spoken to him, and he continued to play with whatever little toy he had in his hand. Finally I was so angry with him that I yelled, "Micah! Get in there and get your shoes on right this minute before I give you a beating." He immediately breaks into a flood of tears as if I had broken his little spirit in half.
As parents we often love to quote Ephesians 6:1-3, "Children obey your parents, for this is right in the Lord." I thought I would reflect on these couple of verses some other time. That is why this blog is part 1.
The problem is we don't often finish Paul's thought in verse 4. "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."
I find that my anger and impatience often gets the best of me. I am learning that the best way to parent is with firm and clear expectations. I know that I need to discipline my children, but if I want them to become obedient, I need to do the hard work of training and instructing them before I lose my cool. As parents I know that we are on all this same road together.
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