So I have been making a list of very important values to teach to my children when they get older. The list is getting quite long and I've been feeling overwhelmed as a parent even though I have a while to go! Welcome to the club right? Doesn't evey parent feel that way? We live in a very deceitful and sinful time where children don't stand a chance of living a life full of joy, selflessness and contentment if they aren't brought up with a concrete set of strong values. Parents have a huge job! As I have gotten older I've noticed, everything that the bible has told us is wrong has began to emerge as "the norm" or "the standard" in this world. Kids are taught the way to live and then they turn around and everyone around them is doing the opposite! That would be very confusing! As Christians we are told to be IN the world but not OF the world which is one of the concepts that I am going to add to my list to teach my kids. These are sometimes difficult even for adults to grasp!
Something I heard on 94.9 KLTY this week was really good. It had to do with ways to keep your child from rebelling. This is what they said,
Rules without Relationship = Rebellion
I dont' want my children to rebel! None of my brothers or sisters ever rebelled to which my parents are very thankful.
I have a lot more to write about on this subject but I am about to fall asleep. I will leave you with a great verse that God showed me this week randomly.
1 Peter 1:6-7
So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
I love that - rules without relationship = rebellion. I think that is SO true. I did rebel when I was in the 9th grade, partly out of the reason that I didn't feel like I could tell parents anything, especially in regards to liking boys and having boyfriends. I felt embarrassed about it, because at the time I did not have a close relationship with my parents, they made things awkward and weird. So I hid lots of things from them. My sins eventually found me out and I then went through a period of extreme growth in my walk with Christ. I am actually thankful for that time of rebellion because it really helped me to understand what it meant to TURN from sin and run to Christ. That is what I did and that time was a great mile-marker in my spiritual growth.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I say all that because as I have gotten older I believe that if I had had a better, more open, relationship with my parents, I probably wouldn't have done what I did.
Also, Katie, I think that your parents are AMAZING. The unashamed, bold, and constant way they show each other and their children affection is beautiful and something I have never forgotten. I want to be that way with my kids. My parents were not that way, and I think that hindered our relationship when I was a teenager. Maybe that's why you and your siblings never rebelled? Because you felt safe and loved (not just with words but with hugs and touch), and maybe that helped you be more open with them?
I too think about these things a lot too and get overwhelmed that my little boys will be teenage boys one day. S.C.A.R.Y.! We need to have bloodied knees from being on all them b/c we're praying for our kids!