Subscribe to this blog by EmailElephant in the Nursery (Part 2)
What a great weekend! Parent child dedication went well, Bob’s message was outstanding, and we finally got some nice weather. My wife and I spent the majority of the day after church working on our landscape. I started on the project first, ripping weeds and moving old wood chips. It was kind of tedious, but it gave my mind an opportunity to wander. I found myself reflecting on Bob’s message and how I did parenting during the first two years of Libby’s and Emma’s lives. Did I develop that connection Bob spoke about? Did I set limits consistently? I believe Mary and I did, but it wasn’t easy and we did make mistakes. I would venture that everyone finds parenting difficult at times. As Bob said, “The days are long but the years are short.”
The days can be particularly long when you have to enforce the limits that were set. It can be such a struggle when you are tired or have big plans. It really feels like you are the one who is being punished!
I guess the biggest piece of Bob’s message that resonated with me, was when Bob said, “What lifestyle changes might you have to make so that you can establish the connection that every child needs to thrive; what personal, financial and material dreams might you have to delay?”
Being a parent is about being willing to make sacrifices.
- What sacrifices are you making in order to enforce those limits and to create that connection?
- What secrets do you have for surviving?
- How has God blessed the sacrifices you have made?
Filed under: Week 6 - The Nursery
Bob mentioned that his interview with Dr.Walsh would be available on the website. Do you know where that is located or when it will be posted? Thank you!
I gave up my full-time job when our first child was born. I felt a need to stay home with him. I’m not sure if you’d call it a “calling”, but I just felt a strong need to be the main caregiver for him. After 9 years (and one more baby), I still haven’t gone back to work.
This weekend’s message felt very validating for us! I know we did the right thing for our boys.. and hearing the research to back it was so uplifting.
My son and I spend Sunday afternoon at his elementary school’s “clean up day” working outside. When we got in the car to leave, I found two dandelion flowers on the dash for me… No, my son didn’t hear Bob’s message. He did it ALL ON HIS OWN.
I am truly blessed.
Great quote from a upcoming book by John Piper.
“The most fundamental task of a mother and father is to show God to the children. Children know their parents before they know God. This is a huge responsibility and should cause every parent to be desperate for God-like transformation. The children will have years of exposure to what the universe is like before they know there is a universe. They will experience the kind of authority there is in the universe and the kind of justice there is in the universe and the kind of love there is in the universe before they meet the God of authority and justice and love who created and rules of the universe. Children are absorbing from dad his strength and leadership and protection and justice and love; and they are absorbing from mother her care and nurture and warmth and intimacy and justice and love—and, of course, all these overlap.
And all this is happening before the child knows anything about God, but it is profoundly all about God. Will the child be able to recognize God for who he really is in his authority and love and justice because mom and dad have together shown the child what God is like. The chief task of parenting is to know God for who he is in his many attributes, and then to live in such a way with our children that we help them see and know this multi-faceted God. And, of course, that will involve directing them always to the infallible portrait of God in the Bible.”
found at http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1202/