Jamielyne, one of my best friends, did so much for my wedding. She also spent a lot of moolah, poor thing (in more sense than one!) lol I tell her I'll pay her back once I'll plan her wedding, but one of the gifts she gave me was a pair of books called "Shepherding a Child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp (plus the Parent's Handbook). I was really excited to read it, but also kinda scared. I was talking to my discipler Ate Rona (Ate "Ah-tehh" means 'older sister' in the Filipino language) and she was encouraging me to read a few parenting books a few months ago. My immediate answer was "No way! If I read more, then it will happen sooner than I want!" She told me I was being ridiculous, which I was, but it's kinda based off of experience. I kind of went haywire with this "Omg I wanna be a Proverbs 31 wife!!!" obsession and read a whole bunch of books (I wanna say anywhere between 10-20) but it could be less, it seems like an overload of information in my blob of a brain, but I kind of see it as...well, I need to read 20 books on being good godly parents, then I'll get pregnant. lol. WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!!!! But Ate Rona has a point. She was holding her crying baby as she said, "Leigh, read now. When it comes you won't have time to read anything." Point taken. So I began!
Anyways, I've been blessed reading this book. I'm on Chapter 4 which is about Parental Authority. But the last 3 chapters were pretty amazing, and it's crazy being in this transition from single person to wife, and kind of waiting for the transition from wife to wife AND mother. Sigh. It also forces you to think back on the ways that you were raised, and I was talking about it with Kevin last night. I told him, "Oh my gosh! I didn't hear the gospel until I was 17 years old! How could I live that long without it?" I lived my entire childhood without hope. No wonder I was an angry, sad child.
The first few chapters are about the heart of the behavior of the child, the shaping influences and the Godward orientation. Tripp mentions how when a child misbehaves, it is just an outward expression of a sinner's heart and a disobedience towards God. Most parents just want to control their child's actions and stop there. But it's important to go deeper, and not blame their children's disobedience on immaturity. It's because of sin! Children are innate worshippers as well, as seen in Romans 1. People in our culture especially like to take this "Oh I'm neutral and accept everything" stance, but humans either worship the Creator or created things. So it's important to tell your children the gospel, to live it out, and when your children make mistakes, to be gracious about it. The shaping influences can include: family history, friends, financial stability, disease, etc. A lot of people think that if a child is raised in a good home, with a mom and dad, and with financial stability, they should end up alright. And even in the Christian church, if the children are raised going to church on Sunday, going to Sunday school and memorizing verses, bible studies, and all that jazz, their children should become believers! Tripp asks this question at the end of a chapter: "How often do you and your spouse spend time in prayer asking the Lord to reveal Himself to your children?" It really is God the one who initiates and draws us close to Him. And as for the Godward orientation of a child, if he chooses to be angry and rebellious, that is his sinful nature. Not because of the way he was raised. Sure, some parents are going to mess up big time, but how a child reacts says a lot about his or her godward orientation! Joseph in Genesis was a great example, where it says in chapter 50: "What man meant for evil, God meant for good..." Joseph had it bad! But he was godly, and had a Godward orientation.
I couldn't help but reminisce and be heartbroken over my sinful heart as a child being angry when my parents divorced and let me down. It was my sin that made me angry, and also growing up that sin just engulfed so much of me. Thankfully God revealed Himself to me and saved me! But I can't help but ponder about the future, and think about Kevin and my future children (hopefully God blesses us with a few!) I hope our children come to love the Lord.
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
-Proverbs 22:6
I prayed for my future husband for years before Kevin was revealed to be that man! Now Kevin and me are praying for our future children too...whenever they come lol. It's still kind of weird to think any day we can die and go home to be with the Lord. But in the time being, we will pray for our marriage, our families and church, and our future together as well.
This rain and thunder is creepy! Have a blessed day :)
Anyways, I've been blessed reading this book. I'm on Chapter 4 which is about Parental Authority. But the last 3 chapters were pretty amazing, and it's crazy being in this transition from single person to wife, and kind of waiting for the transition from wife to wife AND mother. Sigh. It also forces you to think back on the ways that you were raised, and I was talking about it with Kevin last night. I told him, "Oh my gosh! I didn't hear the gospel until I was 17 years old! How could I live that long without it?" I lived my entire childhood without hope. No wonder I was an angry, sad child.
The first few chapters are about the heart of the behavior of the child, the shaping influences and the Godward orientation. Tripp mentions how when a child misbehaves, it is just an outward expression of a sinner's heart and a disobedience towards God. Most parents just want to control their child's actions and stop there. But it's important to go deeper, and not blame their children's disobedience on immaturity. It's because of sin! Children are innate worshippers as well, as seen in Romans 1. People in our culture especially like to take this "Oh I'm neutral and accept everything" stance, but humans either worship the Creator or created things. So it's important to tell your children the gospel, to live it out, and when your children make mistakes, to be gracious about it. The shaping influences can include: family history, friends, financial stability, disease, etc. A lot of people think that if a child is raised in a good home, with a mom and dad, and with financial stability, they should end up alright. And even in the Christian church, if the children are raised going to church on Sunday, going to Sunday school and memorizing verses, bible studies, and all that jazz, their children should become believers! Tripp asks this question at the end of a chapter: "How often do you and your spouse spend time in prayer asking the Lord to reveal Himself to your children?" It really is God the one who initiates and draws us close to Him. And as for the Godward orientation of a child, if he chooses to be angry and rebellious, that is his sinful nature. Not because of the way he was raised. Sure, some parents are going to mess up big time, but how a child reacts says a lot about his or her godward orientation! Joseph in Genesis was a great example, where it says in chapter 50: "What man meant for evil, God meant for good..." Joseph had it bad! But he was godly, and had a Godward orientation.
I couldn't help but reminisce and be heartbroken over my sinful heart as a child being angry when my parents divorced and let me down. It was my sin that made me angry, and also growing up that sin just engulfed so much of me. Thankfully God revealed Himself to me and saved me! But I can't help but ponder about the future, and think about Kevin and my future children (hopefully God blesses us with a few!) I hope our children come to love the Lord.
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it."
-Proverbs 22:6
I prayed for my future husband for years before Kevin was revealed to be that man! Now Kevin and me are praying for our future children too...whenever they come lol. It's still kind of weird to think any day we can die and go home to be with the Lord. But in the time being, we will pray for our marriage, our families and church, and our future together as well.
This rain and thunder is creepy! Have a blessed day :)
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