Planning, Sense and Facts

I have often heard parents say they wish that children came with a book of instructions. Well, guess what? There is a parenting instruction manual. It is called the Bible! Remember, we recently went over the pattern for discipline found in the book of Jonah. There are also many Scriptures that give overall instructions for Christian parenting as well as Christian living.

When we were raising our children, we adopted a theme verse. It is found in Proverbs 24:3-4. I especially like the Living Bible Translation: "Any enterprise is built by wise planning, common sense, and keeping abreast of the facts." There it is. A three point outline for a well balanced family. Wise planning; common sense; keeping abreast of the facts. The best time to start the Wise Planning is, of course, before you have children. If you are in the middle of child rearing, there is still time to make some plans. What are your goals for your children? College? Technical school? Dating age? Dating rules? Receiving Christ? Christian education? Sit down with your partner and start to make a list. Before they were in school, our children knew they would not be allowed to date until they were sixteen because Glen and I had talked about it and planned ahead.

A Christian psychologist once told me that most parents have an instinct about how to solve problems, but they are afraid to trust their own instincts, so they go to a counselor instead. That instinct is called common sense. I prayed for godly common sense. Sometimes we need to seek a professional's help to confirm what we knew all along.

It is possible to keep abreast of the facts by being involved with your children. Get to know their friends and their teachers. If at all possible, invite their friends to your house frequently rather than always letting your children go to their friends' homes. Get involved in school activities. Do you know the names of your children's five closest friends? What are their teachers' names? If your child ran away from home, where would he or she go? If you don't know the answer to these questions, you have an assignment for this week.

Do I know all of these things because I always did it right? Of course not! I have learned these things both by success and failure. After each new venture, it is important to spend some time with your partner in debriefing, figuring out what worked and what didn't. Determine to learn from your failures as well as your successes.

MWH