As a parent of older children parenting is filled with more joy as you
watch all the lessons you taught your children manifest as they apply it
in their adult life and in their families. The Bible encourages us that our
children will rise up and call us blessed. Proverbs 31:28 states, “Her chil-
dren arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth
her.”(KJV)
Parenting is one of those areas that we did not get a handbook to
show us how to do it. “Even though you can't control outcomes for
your child, you can parent unconditionally with all your heart.” Lisa
Coyne, The Joy of Parenting: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Guide to Effective Parenting in the Early Years
You do the best you can and pray that it was good enough. You assist
your children with homework and when they come home and say they
received a good grade you are excited because on the inside it is as if
you made the good grade too! It is a joy to see them overcome in an
area where you know they struggled all year when you prayed they
would get through it. God answered your prayer.
Many times as parents you look at the failures in your children as fail-
ures of your own so, you try to prevent them from failing but in doing
so you will never experience the joy of watching them overcome those
failures.
“Allow yourself to think that the possibility of failure is a necessary part
of parenting well... Avoiding the possibility of failure means avoiding
the possibility of being an extraordinary parent-and avoiding what you
want for your child.” Lisa Coyne, The Joy of Parenting: An Acceptance
and Commitment Therapy Guide to Effective Parenting in the Early
Years
So I end with one of my favorite scriptures, “Train up a child in the way
he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs
22:6 (KLV)
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