Glad Parenting

The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

Proverbs 23:24 

 

My husband and I went for a walk in our neighborhood tonight.  We had also done that yesterday.  Warm weather has been  inviting us to get out of the house.  Apparently, that was true for lots of people.  We saw several people outside in their yards or out for a walk.  Our neighborhood is very different than the one we lived in for 25 years until about three years ago.  We have moved from the city into the suburbs.

In that old neighborhood it was not at all unusual to see very young mothers walking with small children in strollers or running alongside of them as the Moms talked on their cell phones.  It also wasn’t unusual to hear language we thought was inappropriate to be used around young children.  We expect that to be different in the new neighborhood, and for the most part it is. 

 

Yesterday and today though, what I noticed that isn’t different is Moms on their cell phones while  out with their children.  In several previous posts I’ve noted that my 21 month old grandson has already learned the habits of our routines within the family.  I can’t help but wonder what habits older children have already learned.  What patterns have we already started in them?  One of the first things both of our grandchildren did was get a play cell phone that they walked around with held to their ears.  I am not saying this is bad – just that they imitate what they see.   

Parents have a huge responsibility to their children.  They listen to every word we say.  They often repeat them at appropriate times  – sadly though it may be in an inappropriate place!  This is sometimes embarrassing and almost always awkward.  Moms and Dads need to use words that are edifying and helpful for the character development of our children.  This is also true of how we spend our time.  

Time-consumers and distractions are endless these days: computers, pornography, Facebook, Facebook games, internet networks, even pinterest, and good old fashioned books  that can be so helpful, can steal hours of time away from our family and our “domestic” responsibilities.   What example do we set for the next generation about what is important in this life?  

In the scriptures  our children are commanded to obey their parents (Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  Ephesians 1:6), they are encouraged by verses like Proverbs 23:24 that promise, “The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.”  They are admonished to listen to their parents and observe their ways (Proverbs 23:26).  God does not give us commands that are impossible to obey.  These verses make me think that children are actually “wired” by God to want to listen to, observe, and obey their parents.  This is scary when we think about some of the examples we are seeing today.  

One of the commands that every Christian parent needs to know (we should probably have it memorized) is from Deuteronomy 6:6-7.  It says, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”  

 If Mom is on her cell phone most of the day, is she talking to her child about the word of the Lord when she is walking by the way?  If parents turn on the TV and leave it on through dinner while they should be talking with their kids, are they diligently teaching the Word of God? 

Parenting needs to be a very conscious, deliberate, act – especially for the Christian.  We have a limited time to train children in the way of the Lord in order to send them into the world to be servants of Jesus Christ.  If we are – they will be too.  If we are not – then why would we expect them to be different?  They do what we do – not what we say.  

Real life is lived, enjoyed, enriched, and enhanced when we live it as God has prescribed.  If we want children who will love God, serve Him, and cause us to rejoice, then we need to do the hard work of diligently teaching them while they are young.  We can only teach them the Word of God if we know it.  How disciplined are most Christians about the time we spend in the Bible?  

Please go for walks with your children, take them outside to play, read to them, and teach them the scriptures.  Children need parents to do these things with them – not just in the same space while the Mom chats on the cell phone.  It is okay, especially while they are small, to leave the cell phone at home while you go for the walk, to turn off the radio while you ride in the car and listen to what they have to say, and to limit your computer time to times when they are napping or doing schoolwork independently.  “For everything there is a season,” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) – make your season to parent one that will make you glad when you are old.