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Dr. Henry Cloud and John Townsend teach that, ?as a rule, children don?t know what they are doing. They have little idea how to handle life so that it works right. That?s why God gave them parents ? to love them, give them structure and guide them into maturity. [From Focus on the Family website: Adapted from Boundaries With Kids by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend. in the May/June 1999 issue of Physicianmagazine. Copyright © 1999, Focus on the Family.]
“Insanity is an inherited disease. You get it from your kids.”
"How often have we prayed something like, ’O Lord, be with cousin Billy now in a special way’? Have we stopped to consider what it is we’re requesting? Imagine that you are a parent who is preparing to leave your children with a babysitter. Would you dream of saying, ’O Betsy, I ask you now that you would be with my children in a special way?’ No way. You would say, ’Betsy, the kids need to be in bed by 9 pm. They can have one snack before their baths, and please make sure they finish their homework. You can reach us at this number if there’s any problem. Any questions before we go?’ We are very specific with our requests and instructions for our babysitters. We want them to know specifics. It should be no different with prayer."
David Jeremiah, Prayer: The Great Adventure, p. 58.
. “The 1989 Armenian earthquake needed only four minutes to flatten the nation and kill thirty thousand people. Moments after that deadly tremor ceased, a father raced to an elementary school to save his son. When he arrived, he saw that the building had been leveled. Looking at the mass of stones and rubble, he remembered a promise he had made to his child: “No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you.” Driven by his own promise, he found the area closest to his son’s room and began to pull back the rocks. Other parents arrived and began sobbing for their children. “It’s too late,” they told the man. “You know they are dead. You can’t help.” Even a police officer encouraged him to give up.
But the father refused. For eight hours, then sixteen, then thirty-two, thirty-six hours he dug. His hands were raw and his energy gone, but he refused to quit. Finally, after thirty-eight wrenching hours, he pulled back a boulder and heard his son’s voice. He c...
And yet James Dobson asked hundreds of teens what they would like to tell their parents. Their answers might surprise you:
* Teach us about God and spiritual things.
* Guide us towards good marriages by modeling a good one.
* Don’t curse and smoke, if you don’t want us too.
* Be consistent and follow through on things.
* Play with your kids.
* Tell us that you love us often.
* Look for good things in kids and not just the bad.
* Don’t pressure us too much to excel.
* Believe us and believe in us.
* Talk to us straight about sensitive subjects.
Why can’t we build orphanages next to homes for the aged? If someone’s sitting in a rocker, it won’t be long before a kid will be in his lap.
— Cloris Leachman
“Serving daily in the monotonous details of life uncovers the deep roots of selfishness in my soul. Feeding, sheltering and clothing my family translates into cooking, cleaning, and laundry EVERY day for years with no end in sight. This is no short term mission trip. The constant demands of two your children on my time and energy sap the strength from me. This daily serving can make me downright cranky. This is when I wonder how God’s idea could possibly be true. Rick Warren has led the free world to pursue their purpose in life and is feeding Africa. I reorganized the toys today to fool the kids into thinking their new. (Free parent tip: This Works!!) How am I great in God’s kingdom? One day I was having lunch with a friend who is currently in full time ministry. Somewhere in the middle of a lengthy conversation, she said, “I want to tell you what an example it is for me that you are obeying God by staying home with your children right now. I know it is difficult for you but you still choose obedience. Your life encourages me to obey God.” That’s when it hit me. Well-known leaders often inspire and challenge us but it is “daily life” leaders who deeply influence us.”
Joanna DeWolf
WHAT KIDS NEED
Today’s kids desperately need Dads who:
. . . play catch, enjoy tea parties or wrestle because the heart of a child is there and they set out to capture it.
. . . laugh till their belly hurts and tears fall from their eyes while secretly creating deep friendships and memories that last a lifetime.
. . . place an out of tune preschool concert or a ten-year-old’s baseball game on life’s agenda because of the infinite worth of those playing.
. . . love at all times, because live is a gift freely given and not a reward for service well done.
. . . listen eye to eye and with both ears even if it means getting on one knee.
. . . admit when they are wrong and work to make things right.
. . . hear about those in need and say, "Let’s do something to help right now!" and set off an uncontrollable wildfire of generosity and kindness.
. . . give the credit to others and empower those they touch to succeed...
Erma Bombeck:
Sometimes we forget how important stability is to a child. I’ve always told mine, "The easiest part of being a mother is giving birth.... the hardest part is showing up for it each day..."
Mother’s day is traditionally the day when children give something back to their mothers for all the spit they produce to wash dirty faces, all the old gum they held in their hands, all the noses they wipe, and all the bloody knees they "made well" with a kiss.
This is the day mothers are rewarded for washing all those sheets in the middle of the night, driving kids to school when they missed the bus, and enduring all the football games in the rain.
It’s appreciation day for making your children finish something they said they couldn’t do, not believing them when they said, "I hate you," and sharing their good times and their bad times.
Their cards probably won’t reflect it, but what they are trying to say is, "Thank you for showing up." And, I will add – thank you for not giving up.
Craig Shirley in his sermon “That’s not fair” tells this story from one of Bill Cosby’s books:
You know, comedian Bill Cosby says that you aren’t really a parent until you have at least two children. When you have only one child and you walk into the room and find the lamp broken, it’s difficult for an only child to say, “It wasn’t me!” The father found himself in the uncomfortable position of having to arbitrate a dispute between his two young sons. The argument was about to boil over into a fight when he decided to step in, hoping to call upon the Wisdom of Solomon. Back and forth the accusations went, accompanied by finger pointing and name-calling. “He started it.” “No, he did.” “Did not!” “Did too!” After a while the father realized that no matter how much “active listening” he did, there was no way this was going to end in a win-win situation, so he made his decision. “Okay,” he said with all the authority he could muster, “both of you – up to your rooms and stay there until you can act as brothers should.” Just as he was feeling pleased with himself he became the target of his son’s anger. “No fair!” the youngest one protested. “He started it. I didn’t. He gets away with everything!” The older one protests “Why should I get punished? It was his fault. He’s such a baby about everything! You’re not fair.” It had turned into a lose/lose situation. Finally, totally at wits end, Dad summed it all up in a very fatherly way. “Hey kids, life’s not fair. Live with it and get to your rooms – now!”
