Parenting That Works

Parenting that Works!

Thesis: Parenting that works and transforms their immature children into mature Christian adults teach the three nonnegotiable laws of maturity. The three laws are the law of sowing and reaping, the law of respect, and the law of responsibility.

Introduction:

Parenting is the toughest job there is. It’s demanding 24 hours a day; it has good days and bad days. There are days when you wonder if you are really making an impact with your kids. But even though it can be exhausting it is the most rewarding job there is. This especially rings true when you see your children grow up to become mature adults who turn around and pass on what you have modeled and taught them throughout the years. The truth is parenting matters and it makes all the difference in the world.

In our society today I read a lot about how many parents are not parenting any more. They have kids but then they don’t want to raise them. I see it in my own extended family. I discovered this story this week. Listen to this:

Statistics

Students involved in a research project at the University of Illinois called 2000 homes at random between midnight and 2 A.M. on a Friday night in the city of Chicago to see if parents knew where their children were. In 75% of the homes called, a child answered and didn’t know where the parents were.

Contributed by: Norman Lawrence

While we where in Chicago this last week Kathy and I went with some friends to look at an area in the inner city of Chicago where this friend of ours is looking to plant a Youth church. While we where scoping out the area I saw this sign on the side of a building “Teens rebel take your parents to church!” I had to chuckle but the sad fact is many parents are failing to do their most important job in this world that is to raise their kids. The area we looked is an area with tremendous diversity right by the University of Chicago. I looked at all the different kind of people Asian, White, African American, and Hispanic, young and old and thought everyone of these individuals was impacted by their parents. The truth is the most influential people in these peoples lives is or was their parents.

Minirth, Meier wrote, “It’s not a matter of whether you teach your children spiritual values, but rather what you are teaching THEM. It’s not enough to “talk the talk.’ You must also ‘walk the walk.’ Kids can spot a phony a mile away. So our first spiritual duty is to be people of integrity. Are you the same on the inside as the outside? Are you the same at home as at church?”Not only we ourselves, but our entire household is affected by our faith in Christ.” I am constantly reminded that Parenting does make a difference!

As we continued on our journey through this area and through the hood I watched and observed. My heart spoke again to me as I gazed out the window and it said, “Everyone of these people matter to God and God desires a relationship with them.” But for many their parents failed them because they rejected God and His ways and choose their own selfish ways and their kids have been paying the price ever since. Their parents failed to protect them by teaching them the ways of the Lord.

Have you ever asked yourself, “What is the purpose of being a parent, what are we suppose to do?” This story answers that question.

Stories

[Daddy’s Protective Care, Citation: Steve Nickles]

About a month ago I bought my two-year-old daughter Sarah an aquarium.

We went together to the pet store to pick out four fish to put in the tank.

One of the fish died two weeks ago when Sara was at her grandparents’ house.

My wife flushed it down the toilet and didn’t tell my daughter about it.

This morning Sara found one of the other fish dead.

She found it caught up in one the fake plastic bushes.

My wife called me at the office and said that Sara had something to tell me.

In her two-year-old way, she explained to me the fish had died, she found it in the bushes, and she and Mommy were going to have a funeral for it in the back yard.

I realized that this was the first of many losses she would experience in life.

I broke into tears, however, when the last thing she said to me before she hung up the phone was, "Daddy, keep me from getting caught in the bushes."

Contributed by: A. Todd Coget

The Bible in many places emphasizes the crucial role parenting makes in the lives of our children. Listen to what it says!