Parenting is Tough

Some people seem to just have a knack for it. Some of us fake it well. And others of us find it as difficult as it looks to be a parent.

The world around us is changing. Some of us remember fondly the days when we didn’t have to wear helmets when we rode our bicycle around the neighborhood (and we were gone all day without checking in).

These are the funny things we mention when we talk about “the way it used to be.”  But there are other difficult things about parenting that we don’t laugh about as much. My parents didn’t have to teach me loving ways to understand homosexuality and still hold a Biblical viewpoint. Maybe they should have talked to me about Madonna, but now we must talk to our children about the choices many celebrities make to use their sexuality as a source of income and notoriety.

Please let me stress, we are not supposed to teach our children morality. We are not supposed to teach them to be condemning toward people like Anderson Cooper and Miley Cyrus. We should be teaching them that we live in a world that is not right. We should be teaching them about insecurities that ALL people share and the brokenness common to humanity and then pointing them to their own brokenness and to Jesus.

When we watch Miley Cyrus twerk on national television, we should be saying to our sons and daughters, “she is broken.”   There is so much more available to us in the gospel that Miley doesn’t understand. We should hurt for this world and teach our children to share that feeling.

The two things we must not do is teach them to be legalists who peer down their noses at immoral choices or to allow them to believe the myth that happiness can be discovered at the end of that rainbow.

But here is a promise. If we avoid those discussions and simply take them with us to church once in a while they will not pick up on these truths. Our children’s understanding of living in a broken world while holding on to the Gospel promises are our responsibility and we should take that seriously.

If we fulfill our responsibilities as parents we can trust that as they grow they will find their way. This song by Andrew Peterson has reminded me of the power of that truth. I encourage to take a moment and watch this video.

I am excited that Jim has created an online Parenting resource to equip us parents in dealing with these things as we shepherd our children. It is not terribly time consuming and it will help us to have intentional conversations that point our children toward the truth of the Gospel.

Please take the time to direct parents toward this resource. Again, it is easy and incredibly helpful. Check it out here right away.

And never hesitate to contact Ashlee, Jim or I if you need help our resources.