Skip to main content

Start Children Off

             Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

This is a word of wisdom, not a promise from God. We all know people who were raised in good homes who went bad and people who were raised in bad homes who went good. It’s a general encouragement. Years ago, a friend quoted this verse with an emphasis on the word they. Her idea was that not all children are alike. Raising one using the same rules and ideas as one raises another may harm one.

Of course, we must raise children to be good, but one child may be boisterous while another is a bookworm, or one child may love sports while another is a bookworm.  Even if two children are bookworms, one may like fantasy while the other reads history. Children should be encouraged to explore, but allowed to pursue (or to quit pursuits) their interests.

As a writer, one of the lessons I’ve tried to learn is to get ideas across a little at a time. Experts warn that “info dumps” tend to lose readers. Parents also need to avoid them. Long lectures lose the kids, but consistent teachable moments tend to be more kid-sized and kid-friendly.

Above even consistent and relevant wisdom, there’s the issue of example. Consciously live what you are trying to teach.

Now, in case you haven’t already leaped ahead, in addition to children who live around us, there are children who live within us who need to be taught how to live. We need to build into the lives of  our internal children the qualities he/she needs, according to his/her needs. I  suspect that most of us need to learn to love and to  discipline our internal children.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more