Dear Christian parents,
There is a lot of information being put out by various groups about how to raise “good, godly” children. There are various methods promoted, some even will imply or say outright that their method is the best and will absolutely give the desired results “if followed correctly.” Some go so far as to form cult-like groups to keep their children “safe” from not only the world, but also from the real or imagined problems with other Christian groups and people - and I do mean real Christians, just to clarify.
I'm a married Christian woman who has no children. But, I watched my parents raise two much-younger siblings, and I have observed a lot of friends and other people with their children, and I'd like to share some thoughts with you. I know some people get all uptight about single or childless people having opinions about raising kids. I understand that because I know how intrusive some people are with their uninformed opinions. However, I also know that some of us see real problems and, because we know our thoughts are not welcome, we are afraid to say anything. Sometimes they are things that would actually be helpful to you if you would stop to consider our perspective. So, I'm writing this with the hope of helping someone who may be feeling overwhelmed with some aspects of raising children in this day we live in. I doubt any honest parent would say they haven't been overwhelmed!
1. There is no foolproof plan.
The Pearls, Bill Gothard (ATI, IBLP), your pastor, Voddie Baucham, the Duggars, James Dobson, S.M. Davis, Tedd Tripp, Scott Brown, and dozens of others, do not have a perfect plan. They are not experts on your children. Even you don't know everything about your children. Only your children’s Creator can claim that role. Only their Creator should claim that role. In fact, when parents become obsessed with knowing everything and controlling everything about their children very bad things can happen. Just sayin'...
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