More Than One Way

Many years ago my friend, Joy Moore, founder of Daughters4God Ministries stated that there is “more than one way to raise a Godly child.” If you are anything like me, you are more comfortable with step-by-step formulas and recipes with exact measurements over the “taste testing” methods that grandmother probably used! You may prefer an entire curriculum under the same label and authors over the potpourri of  “a la cart” schooling researching and digging through books, thus coming up with your own curriculum. You like “how-to” books that tell you how to raise your children the way God would raise them in hopes of a sure fire guarantee they will turn out the way you hope.

Tried and true recipes, formulas, completed curriculums, and “how to”  books rule the day for you …and for me!  The “plug and play” methods take out all the guess work and should guarantee the results you desire because 2×2 always equals 4!  This works in the world of math and science, but to the raising of children who each hold a unique set of fingerprints…all six billion of them on the planet, with personalities, giftings, and talents as individual as each individual snowflake!

The recipes, set curriculums, and “how to” books leave parents disillusioned when the “formula” doesn’t add up or worse yet, not work at all.

Even the Word of God gives many verses about the importance of parenting children.  “Train up a child in the way he/she should go….” leaves a parent perplexed when the child chooses a life wayward of the “training” received for eighteen years in a Godly home.

Schooling options along with multiple church options every week also add to the mix of confusion as to how to train them “best for success!”

Jesus chose twelve very ordinary men to do the extraordinary.  When he chose Matthew, the tax collector, he did not try to make him be a doctor like Luke! Each disciple, just like the disciples in your home, is knitted together stitch by stitch uniquely for God’s purposes and His Kingdom advancements…not really ours!  As they grow up and their “uniqueness” comes through we are reminded of the promises we made to God at their baptisms and dedications to raise them for His glory and not our own…the rubber has met the road!  When our hearts are settled upon the remembrance that they were given to us to steward for a short season, then the letting go and lifting to God’s purposes become a much lighter burden to bear…even if they seem miles away from what we think God would want for them.

Be encouraged today that ultimately God loves your sons and daughters even more than you do and He has a plan that is still on His radar!

So what do we do during these seasons of decisions and change?

Pray, pray, pray over “Put together Practices”

Relationship building over “Recipes”

Fuel them with love over “Formulas”

These three thoughts will not provide the comfort zone we typically like and will require intense amounts of time but the long term fruit and enjoyment of knowing that you managed what was given to you for the ultimate purpose of God’s Kingdom will give you peace in your hearts.