The Parental Units

Taking on the task of parenting begins in many ways -- Some planned, some unplanned; some with insight, some with no clue about what to do next. Parents come in all shapes, sizes, intellects and occupations. The remarkable thing about parents is that they always become smarter over time and always remain unpredictable on some measure of the spectrum…at least in the eyes of their children.

Responsible parents wish to provide their children with safety, support, encouragement, opportunities to grow and learn and explore their unique abilities, along with needed education and guidance to live long enough to be responsible enough to make their own decisions with wisdom and integrity.

While parents are not only concerned with these important aims for their children’s lives, they are also conscious of the challenges that are presented in light of those who might exploit their children, who could influence their children to become isolated and socially disengaged from those who care about them, or who could give misinformation that would be shared with their children in many unmonitored contexts. Parents could be concerned about the loss of communication and conversation with their children, the frequency of addiction among the larger population that influences behaviors in many families and communities, and the reality of family disintegration causing many levels of emotional and economic and social dis-ease. Parents often worry too much about things they can’t control and too little about things that can give their children the strongest foundations for daily life.

No child should be left without a comprehension of God’s love for him or her.
No child should be left without an awareness that they were created to be in a relationship with their Creator who loves them and made them for a divine and holy purpose. No child should be left without the awareness of God’s intention for a family to be built upon a relationship of love and care and mutual concern for one another shared in an understanding of God’s guidance for life. No child should be left without an awareness of God’s provision for his or her future. No child should be left without a sense of wonder and awe and mystery at the thought of all that God is and has done for them. No child should be left without the blessing of sharing in worship, in prayer, in singing and praising God together with a family of faith that loves him or her.

When these things are a part of a child’s life, the multitude of matters like sexuality, relationships, popularity, novelty, and the testing of limits and abilities, all become secondary to the understanding that we live in relationship to God and His love for us. That enables life to take on meaning and focus and direction. It enables an abundant life in the provision and knowledge of God.

Parents, together let us pray that we can help our children to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ…. we and they will be the better for it. That relationship allows us to grow in favor “with God and man.”