Preparing For An Empty Nest

Empty-nest syndrome has established itself as a real dimension of mid-life crisis. Life after children is now recognized as another threat to marriages that have survived earlier tests. Parents who have lived all their lives for their children suddenly find themselves rattling around in an empty house. They become restless, unsatisfied, and irritable. Anxiety, anger, and depression can come in…

Dying A Thousand Deaths

The most effective parents die a thousand deaths. Sometimes it is the result of being embarrassed by the actions of their children. Sometimes it is the result of utter frustration and fatigue. Sometimes it is over the deep concern of a son or daughter’s shortsighted and self-destructive choices. But often these parents voluntarily die to their own desires just because…

Looking For Teachable Moments

In the Old Testament, God taught His people to build rock piles so that their children would one day ask why the stones were there. When the children asked, the parents were to be ready to tell the story of how the Lord of Israel had wonderfully met their needs in that place. The secret was in being ready for…

Growing Like Grapes On A Vine

The secret of the fruit is in the branch and root. Good parenting is the fruit of good character that is rooted and growing in God Himself. The Bible calls this character the fruit of the Spirit. That is to say that it comes from the Holy Spirit of God rather than from our own natural ability or energy. Listen…

Accepting The Role Of A Priest

The Old Testament priest Eli raised a child who was not his own (1 Sam. 1:24–2:21). For several years, Eli acted as a parent to a young boy named Samuel. But Samuel was only a trust placed in Eli’s care. In a sense, we have a similar relationship to our children. They are like everything else we have in our…

Working Like A Farmer

Parenting is more like farming than cooking. Good meals can be prepared in a couple of hours. And by following a recipe, you can be fairly certain of the outcome. But formulas don’t work very well with children.

To get a model for childrearing, you need to track the bread and beef all the way back to the farm where…

Bringing Our Children To Tears

We live in a day of rampant child abuse. So we have been rightly sensitized to the dangers of hitting a child in anger or using any instrument, including the hand, which might cause serious physical injury. It’s just as important to realize that as a child grows older, he can be corrected by the use of previously stated consequences…

Living By A Contract

Wise parents try not to make their children behave. They realize that they cannot force their children to be good any more than a horse can be forced to drink water. You can lead the child to be good, but you can’t make him. That’s the power of the human spirit. Children who are sitting down on the outside can still be…

Learning From The Family Pet

Before resenting the comparison, think about it. What does it take to teach a dog to sit up and beg? How many times would you have to swat a dog with a rolled-up newspaper, yell, argue, or tear him down with insults? Chances are that while you might be able to keep your dog off the couch with a few…

Going Back To School

Just about the time we think we have our education behind us, along comes a strong-willed, 25-pounds-and-growing toddler who quickly pushes us to our wits’ end. Suddenly we find ourselves “back in school” again. We begin to realize that parenting isn’t just a matter of slowly dumping our accumulated knowledge into fresh, receptive, moldable, hungry minds. Once again we begin…

Learning How To Play The Game

Tennis can be played two ways. It can be played with the kind of sportsmanship that is gracious in winning and gracious in losing. Or tennis can be played merely for the win and money. The latter is the legacy of some of the young pros who have marred the dignity of the game with their center-court tantrums, profanity, officials…

Accepting A Limited Guarantee

Good parenting doesn’t guarantee good children. It only assures that our children will have the tremendous advantage of having had a good parent. Think about the God of the Bible. He was a perfect parent. But look at His children. Adam and Eve were raised in the best of environments. Yet they threw it all away, went the way of…

A Wonderful But Difficult Challenge

Looking back, few grandparents will say that being a parent was easy. Many, however, will say that parenting has been and continues to be one of the most rewarding experiences of their life.

Others have said that knowing what they know now, they wouldn’t have children again. Some well-known surveys have shown that parental disillusionment is fairly widespread. Newspaper columns…

The Hope that Endures

Pearl Buck wrote: “To eat bread without hope is still slowly to starve to death.”

But no one needs to starve. When people come to Christ, they receive forgiveness, life, and a relationship with God.

Paul put it this way: “To whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,…

The Foundation of Hope

The Power of Christ’s Resurrection. The significance of Christ’s resurrection is found in the first letter written by Peter: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).

Here,…