In his recent post on 5 Ways we Grow, Tim Challies gave me a good picture of the patience that is required when we’re looking for growth (in our own lives, or in the lives of our children). We are an impatient people accustomed to instant gratification. But fruit grows slowly. A fruit tree grows gradually and over many years of careful and deliberate cultivation. If you purchase a sapling […]
Read More →Category: Raising daughters
We’re Just a Part of Their Stories
The topic of courtship has been on my mind a lot lately. One reason is this: Our “baby” is getting married! And we praise God for the man who will be her husband! God continues to write stories that we could never think up on our own. (More on that in another post. 🙂 ) So if posts are a bit more sporadic over the next two or three months, […]
Read More →A Perfect Father Whose Children Rebelled
God is the perfect Father. But His children still rebel. They rebelled in a perfect environment while they had perfect fellowship with Him. They rebelled in the wilderness, even after He opened up the Red Sea for them to walk through. Even after He gave them water out of the rock. Even after He gave them food every day. Even after He demolished city walls and conquered nations before them. […]
Read More →Yes, Daddy!
I love watching our adult children do a better job of training their children than we did! I have watched and learned as they train our grandchildren. For instance, I really wish we had trained our children to always respond when we instructed or directed them. I have watched little minds struggling with their own wills and not wanting to obey their daddy or mama. Then, when they respond with a […]
Read More →Thank you, Mrs. Schaeffer!
“The older women…are to teach what is good…” (Titus 2:3) Two “older women” have greatly influenced my life over the past forty-something years. One is Elisabeth Elliot. The other is Edith Schaeffer. It’s too bad we’re all done having children 🙂 , because we really should have named some girls after these two godly ladies who have so deeply influenced my life. Edith Schaeffer, at age 98, finally met her […]
Read More →The Law as a Door to the Gospel: The Sixth Commandment
The Westminster Larger Catechism can be a helpful tool when teaching our children the Ten Commandments. This catechism (which is simply a teaching tool in a question-and-answer format) was written by godly men and church leaders in the 17th century as an aid to teaching congregants the basic doctrines and beliefs of the faith. The language is a bit difficult, but taking the time to unravel the older English will […]
Read More →The Law as a Door to the Gospel: The Fifth Commandment
“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). Honor your parents. The first four of the Ten Commandments address our duty to God. The last six outline our duty to man. The first relationship considered is the parent-child relationship, which in principle also applies to any other authority relationships. This is the first […]
Read More →Teach Like Jesus
I love these observations that Daniel came up with after reading the book of Mark. I think his last point about Jesus sharing His authority with His disciples is an especially good point to consider. How should Jesus’ example affect our parenting? I just read the Gospel of Mark. My goal was to note every action of Jesus. During this study, I kept noticing details about how Jesus teaches […]
Read More →A Goal-for-the-Day
Goals are good. They help us make progress. We’re much more likely to accomplish the things that are important when we set goals. Last January I published a post about helping children with long-term goals. You can read that post here. At the beginning of this new year, let’s think about short-term goals — goals we can help our children set for just one day. These will be simple goals that […]
Read More →It Will Hurt, but It Will Heal
I’ve been being hammered by teaching on all sides on the topic of forgiveness and confession. I’m not sure I fully understand God’s forgiveness. It’s something God is still gently teaching me. How we see God’s forgiveness certainly will show in how we apologize to and forgive others. Most of us can see another’s glaring sin, but we seem to think if we simply plunge ahead and try really hard […]
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