Parenting Highlights

It was a great conference - information overload! It's strange being on the other end of the spectrum, children grown and starting families of their own. Sitting through this conference, I can't go back and do it over again to get it right. There were many things Dave and I, by God's grace, did well, but also many that we failed. I guess at the end of the day, I am so grateful for God's redeeming love. Because I am not perfect, He came to die for me. If I had been a perfect parent, what need would there be for a savior? I guess the gospel itself implies each of our deepest needs...and parents are not exempt. But, thanks be to God, we have His Spirit, His instruction and His power to change!

If you need some assistance in parenting (and who doesn't?) I highly recommend this DVD series - Getting to the Heart of Parenting by Paul David Tripp. It is five hours of well spent time. Buy it online and watch it with your spouse or small group. Or ask if you can show it at church - it's powerfully life changing!

Below are a few highlights from the series:

• Your job is to give awe of God to your child - they are hard-wired to give awe to something. But you cannot give away that which you do not have. You need to personally live in awe of God - a human who does not live in awe of God is profoundly disadvantaged
• As a parent, if you don't deal with your own heart first, you will tend to turn moments of ministry into moments of anger, you will personalize what is not personal (make it all about you), you'll be adversarial in your response (not "me-for-you" but "me-against-you"), and you'll settle with quick, situational solutions that don't get to the heart of the matter - no wisdom, no insight
• Children are never more creative than when they are in rebellion
• Lies found within a child's heart - autonomy - I have the right to be my own authority, and self-sufficiency - I have everything I need to be functional on my own - refusal to accept neediness and dependency
• Children find joy, not in what is right but in what they want
• You do not define character - God does
• Failure may be the necessary path to the development of character

As you can see, there were many, many thought provoking statements in the conference, and this is just a taste. Again, I highly recommend this to any parent of any aged child - even grown ones! Yes, my children are for the most part out of the home, but the relationship is still there - it is my desire to continue to love them as God would have me love, which includes occasional moments of parenting still. And in addition to my family, there are others in the church who need this encouragement and teaching. As believers, we need to know God's plan for our lives, live it out and encourage others with His Word.

What a day...