I have had a couple of e-mails asking if it gets easier raising your children when they get older. That is a good question and it can be a little difficult to answer since families and the raising of children vary in house to house. I wish more families would rally around the spiritual issues as that gives children their best opportunity for solid footing in their personal lives, to be faithful to the Lord and end up saved in the end.
Children go through stages. First, there is that cuddle, innocent stage where you the parent are their world. Second, there is the innocent child stage of reaching out to others. As they become more trusting of certain ones, their world expands beyond the parents a little but there is still no place like home! Thirdly, there comes the first major change. They develop friendships with others and that world with just their parents slowly slips to sharing with others. Friends become more interesting and the desire to spend time with them becomes greater. Next comes the teens. They are wonderful years as they discover many things about themselves. I hear parents say, "Oh, that's just a teen thing!" whenever their children act in ways that are less than pleasing to the Lord. What a terrible attitude for parents to take! The Lord expects our children to be respectful and obedient and parents to teach and train them in that. (The early childhood years are really for training and preparing them for this!) You cannot allow a child just to do things on their own and allow them to make decisions when they want to make poor or ungodly decisions. They need to be trained in how to make wise and holy decisions, not left to follow everyone around. By this time in a child's life, many parents just shrug responsibility off and let the teen decide what they want on their own!
Finally, adulthood arrives. New challenges are faced. Mates are sought out and it can weigh on the soul of the parent that their child will pick a god fearing mate. The day arrives for marriage and the joy that is seen is wonderful, but too often, that joy is turned into sorrow as we watch the marriages of our children falter. Parents are left without words and what to do because they realize it is beyond their control. Marriages that are solid are built around the Lord. Your training will show up as your children watched your marriage in their growing up. It is their faith now and a lot of your teaching/training will reveal itself in ways you never thought.
The question was asked, does it get any easier in raising your children as they get older?Yes and no! Yes in regard to their personal independence and strength. No in regard that the concern for their spiritual well being is a constant in your heart. Much prayer is offered and more as they grow older because the temptations are more numerous. But all in all, just work on showing them the Lord Jesus and pointing them to God and the rest will be up to their personal faith! Remember, there are no 'do-overs' when it comes to your children! What you raise and how you teach them is what you will get!!!
2 comments:
Good post! Something all of us parents need to keep in mind as we raise our children...no do overs.
Two key points were made that should give all parents something to think about, and especially those who are just starting out and beginning a family.
1. The teaching and training must start as early as possible and continulaly be done throughout the all the years of a child's life. If we wait to long, as parents, we have failed in our esponsibilities to the Lord to raise up our children right and we have failed the children themselves.
2. We should never, as parents, stop teaching regardless of the child's age. While we may not be able to "train" the child any longer, we can and should always lead by example for our children regardless of their age. The Lord has given us the example we are to follow in all things and we should use that as the guidance for being the examples to our children even later in their lives.
Parents, far to often, worry and fret over the physical needs of children which is only natural. Many spend all their efforts on seeing to all those physical needs and "wants" thinking they are doing right by their children when in fact they have ignored the spiritual needs completely and ultimately failed. If we can't provide for the spiritual needs of our children, it's doubtful that we are taking care of our own.
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