|
For marriage help visit us at marriage101.us ">The role of a mother is a blessing, yet it comes with a high degree of responsibility. I don’t take that responsibility lightly. In that role as mother, we also function as a teacher, friend, mentor, etc., and we must know when to turn on and turn off each function. Our responsibility is to train up a child and give them direction. Our children are gifts from God (Psalm 127:3) who honors us with the awesome task of training our children so that He can use them for His glory (Malachi 2:15). Whether you are a stay-at-home mom or a career woman, don’t allow guilt to swallow you up about your decision. Whichever one you make, the decision must be what’s best for the family and for the child. Be at peace with your decision knowing that the season for raising them is just that – a season. We can still be great parents and providers but it takes work and time. It is inevitable that there will be challenges and difficulties along the road to raising godly children, which makes it even more imperative to give your children a strong foundation in God. This will help them to stand firm in the face of life’s adversities when they are out on their own. What exactly can you do to help your children stay on the right path as they travel through the journey of life? Here are 15 principles to help prepare your child(ren) for success: Principle One: Develop Your Child’s Relationship with God - “Allow the little children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the Kingdom of God” – Jesus, the son of God Principle Two: Teach Your Child Biblical Principles to Live By – “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” - Frederick Douglass Principle Three: Develop Your Child’s Character - “Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.”- H. Jackson Brown Principle Four: Pray for and Teach Your Child How to Pray - “The school will teach children how to read, but the environment of the home must teach them what to read. The school can teach them how to think, but the home must teach them what to believe.” - Charles A. Wells Principle Five: Create a Unified Front with Your Spouse - “Virtually every issue that we deal with, be it education…be it human services, gang problems or drugs, we find STRONG FAMILIES the ultimate solution.” - Roger Lewin Principle Six: Be a Good Example for Your Child - “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” – James Baldwin Principle Seven: Teach the Ups and Downs of Relationships - “Model for children how a well-put-together adult handles him/herself.” - Unknown Principle Eight: Have Fun with Your Children - “Your children need your presence more than your presents.” - Jesse Jackson Principle Nine: Monitor Your Child’s Friends & Entertainment Sources - “Parents are children’s first and most influential teachers. By reading to children or having them read to us, by making sure homework is done, by monitoring television use, by knowing how children spend their time, parents can have a powerfully positive effect on their children’s learning.” – U.S. Secretary of Education Principle Ten: Teach Your Children to Make Their Own Decisions - “Too often we give children answers to remember rather than problems to solve.” - Roger Lewin Principle Eleven: Encourage Your Child - “Affirming words from moms and dads are like light switches. Speak a word of affirmation at the right moment in a child’s life and it’s like lighting up a whole roomful of possibilities.” - Gary Smalley Principle Twelve: Discipline Your Children - “There should be a healthy balance between work and play in every child’s life. Dare to discipline.” – Unknown Principle Thirteen: Train “EACH” Child the Way “THEY” Should Go - “There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children. One of these is roots, the other, wings.” - Hodding Carter Principle Fourteen: Teach “Real” Life Lessons - “Empower your child by giving him/her a choice and a chance. Let them learn to make their own decisions, when appropriate, and learn to trust their feelings.” - Doc Childre and Sara Paddison Principle Fifteen: Preparing a Well-Rounded Child - “I looked on childrearing not only as a work of love and duty but as a profession that was fully interesting and challenging as any honorable profession in the world and one that demanded the best that I could bring to it.” - Rose Kennedy No one really knows if they are successful as parents until they come to the end of life. What is a successful parent? Are you a bad parent if your teenager gets pregnant? Are you a bad parent if your children are on drugs or become an alcoholic? I can’t answer that, only you can. However, I believe a successful parent is one who does what the Bible states, “trains up a child in the way they should go, and when they leave, they will not depart.” (Prov. 22:6). Our only responsibility is to take care of their needs, train them and love them. Our success is based on if we have done all we can to prepare them for this life and the one to come. Not only are we to train and prepare them for their time here on the earth, we are also responsible for preparing them spiritually. My children are still young but so far, from the accolades that I receive from their school, church, and other people, I must be off to a great start. Will I feel like a failure if they make bad decisions? Maybe. But as long as I know that I’ve done everything possible, according to the Word of God, I’ll be at peace. Because I have a promise from God that if I train them in the way they should go, they will not depart from it. © 2010 by Jewell R. Powell, excerpt from Marriage 101 mini series “Parenting” Visit us as www.marriage101.us For marriage help visit us at marriage101.us
Related Articles -
parenting help, parenting tips, marriage and parenting, marriage 101,
| 
