Clarity of thought...

Ok, so now everyone is teasing me about how neat my car console was. In my defense, I took that picture right after the car was bought, and I was messing with settings on my camera. I was not flaunting my neatness by any stretch of the imagination! I think I might post a current pic of my car just to satisfy a certain naysayer... *laughs*

I wrote Shuffle:Play right before I started reading Raising Children to Adore God: Instilling a Lifelong Passion for Worship by Patrick Kavanaugh. This book was interesting- it jumped of the shelf at the library at me, and I was curious. So much of what he talks about is actual acts of worship (music, prayer, etc.) but nearly all of it could be applied to the act of parenting. I've truly enjoyed reading his perspective. As I finished the book, a section in his last chapter explained what I was thinking regarding shuffle:play so much better. He says:

Built to Last, an excellent book on business management by Jim Collins, studies a number of large corporations that have endured for many decades. In his careful analysis, Collins discovered two principles that each of those successful companies possessed. These points, in my own words, are (1) Each company had a mission statement that was utterly unchangeable and would never be neglected, yet (2) The manner in which this mission was accomplished was completely flexible,  changing freely from one idea to another.

We see the parallels between Collins' fascinating findings and Christian parenting. Like those successful corporations, we parents need to have certain biblical principles that we hold onto without exception. But we also need to be flexible and creative as to their practical implementation. In other words, there are two categories of parenting concepts. The first is absolutely unchangeable, and the second is absolutely flexible.

Jesus said that the Father commanded Him "what to say and how to say it" (John 12:49). When raising children, the basic "what to say" category remains constant. But "how you say it", that is, how these key principles are implemented, will change as your children move from infancy to young adulthood.  (158-159)

Comments

[RichardD]

Outstanding thoughts. I need to find that book and read it.

I would recommend the book "Parenting With Love and Logic" by Foster and Cline. It discusses the need to find creative ways to train our children based on their own personal ways of learning. It is an outstanding book.

[Amy R.]

The last comments in particular, so very true.

In my experience, the "what" matters the most to the littlest children; a Mama can even fake patience and tenderness as she reinforces her words and they are satisfied.

With my 10 and 11 year olds, the "how" is absolutely everything. They are never surprised by the "what" but they are always watching to see who I really am. It is a huge responsibility to disciple someone.

I can discipline them to obey me and follow me, by methods either good or evil. I have that power, if their obeying me is my main goal. The bigger and better part is to win them as disciples of His, and it can never happen if the parents are not humble and good conveyors of His grace.