More Hope for Weary Parents
I know that God is doing a work of grace in my life, and the evidence is that even hearing the reading of God's Word in corporate worship is food to my soul, rather than a meaningless excercise now.
To continue in the vein of nurture or nature or neither, we read 2 Chronicles 33 this past Lord's Day for our Old Testament reading.
Manasseh was the son of godly, reforming King Hezekiah who had done much to restore a right worship of God on all levels in the nation of Israel. Yet despite his upbringing in a godly home, he rebels and rebels grossly to the point of re-instituting worship that demanded the sacrificing of his infant sons, as well as witchcraft and sorcery. If you read of his story in II Kings 21, you think that the story ends there with this man dying in his wickedness. But behold the lovingkindness and mercy of God: after time in a prison in Assyria, Manasseh repents and God allows him to return to Jerusalem. He re-institutes the proper worship of God (though the people refused to follow him in repenting), and by all accounts dies reconciled to the Lord.
Here is our encouragement, and here is our rest: It is *God* who works in us to will and do his good pleasure. Left to ourselves, we will fall back into idolatry and all manner of gross sin unless the Lord restrains us. Let us rest in Christ alone for salvation.
Thursday, September 25, 2003
Thursday, September 11, 2003
The Payoffs of Diligence
One of the most aggravating aspects of child training is the sheer number of times one must call a child back to either complete a job they have started, or have them re-do a job that didn't get done correctly to the proper standard in the first place. I find it extremely trying at times to have to do this. Multiply this tendency with children times 11 and it makes for a lot of aggravation!
There are pay offs for the children in the end, however. I was working in the kitchen the other day and thinking of my three eldest children. My oldest daughter is now 21 and just before her 20th birthday, she was made manager of the shoe store she works at. My second daughter is married, has a two year old, owns her own car and home, and is now a supervisor on her shifts at work (done in the evening so that she is with my dear granddaughter all day) at the ripe old age of 19. My oldest son just turned 17 and he shares the responsibility of finishing off some products with one other man in his division at his workplace. It looks like all that training in diligence is going to stand them in good stead in life.
Last night my eldest girl called and told me some of her experiences in managing the shoe store. Sounds like she is learning quickly. She related how she can tell almost from the beginning what kind of employees she is dealing with based on their work habits. Those who slack off and want breaks in the beginning never change. They continue to slack off and want breaks and never improve. She has learned to cut her losses with these people quickly and let them go asap instead of investing what turns out to be wasted time in them. Man, I wish I knew that much when I was her age!
I relate this information as a source of encouragement to myself and to other parents who get weary with the day in day out aspects of child training. We do reap a reward if we don't faint or become weary in well doing.
One of the most aggravating aspects of child training is the sheer number of times one must call a child back to either complete a job they have started, or have them re-do a job that didn't get done correctly to the proper standard in the first place. I find it extremely trying at times to have to do this. Multiply this tendency with children times 11 and it makes for a lot of aggravation!
There are pay offs for the children in the end, however. I was working in the kitchen the other day and thinking of my three eldest children. My oldest daughter is now 21 and just before her 20th birthday, she was made manager of the shoe store she works at. My second daughter is married, has a two year old, owns her own car and home, and is now a supervisor on her shifts at work (done in the evening so that she is with my dear granddaughter all day) at the ripe old age of 19. My oldest son just turned 17 and he shares the responsibility of finishing off some products with one other man in his division at his workplace. It looks like all that training in diligence is going to stand them in good stead in life.
Last night my eldest girl called and told me some of her experiences in managing the shoe store. Sounds like she is learning quickly. She related how she can tell almost from the beginning what kind of employees she is dealing with based on their work habits. Those who slack off and want breaks in the beginning never change. They continue to slack off and want breaks and never improve. She has learned to cut her losses with these people quickly and let them go asap instead of investing what turns out to be wasted time in them. Man, I wish I knew that much when I was her age!
I relate this information as a source of encouragement to myself and to other parents who get weary with the day in day out aspects of child training. We do reap a reward if we don't faint or become weary in well doing.
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