Suffer the Children

~ The Jesus I know is so unlike many superspiritual teachers and preachers today... I remember when we were young parents and James was only a few months old.. we were invited to the big prophetic Bible Study thats still in town.. it was at a doctors house at that time but was led by a guy named Glenn.. a friend invited us and said we could bring the baby... my friend and I sat in the floor in a connected kitchen between an island and counter.. our husbands sat in the livingroom where they were having the study.. James cooed once or twice.. but most ppl there didnt even know he was there.. had he gotten upset there was a bedroom used as a coatroom I could have taken him... but after the study Glenn told my friend to tell me that we could come back but not.to bring the baby.. that babies were a "distaction"

We never went back.. will never go back tho they still meet here and there and consider themselves The Prophets over our city and are endorsed by many churches... I am sure they meant well and did it by mandate of God in their minds... but that wasnt the mandate my Jesus gave me. I wanted my child with me... had he become a distraction I was accountable to God and the ppl in that group to soothe him or remove him and myself... thats the call of motherhood... thats why many children lack discipline because they are never in an environment to use self control and parents never have to practice disciplining in love...

~ It is not cruel or mean or unreasonable to expect a child to use self control in a boring setting for an hour or two... time a bottle feeding for halfway through (beastmilk or formula), bring books or drawing pad, and let them be bored part of the time.. plan ahead, create a discipline of expectations for ur child and yourself... be ready to miss part of the service should it be a bad day and you have to excuse yourself and your child to sit in the nursing room where you are both bored... parenting is sacrifice... but the rewards of good parenting will be reaped by your child no matter how much they never fathom the depth of your sacrifice... they will see it in glimpses and phases of life... God lets no sacrifice of love go unrewarded... rewarded 10 times over in most cases... why 10 times you ask?... because numbers are significant to God and 10 symbolizes a time of testing in Scripture... we expect good behavior from our children tho their bad behavior ceaselessly shows itself... but we as parents are tested by God as well.. he expects us to parent well.. following his example of parenting us... 

It is Gods approval and mercy and reward we seek as parents... anything our children acknowledge that we did right is just icing on the cake, a bonus... but Dr. Dobson is right... that true appreciation of our children for us as parents doesnt fully kick in until betwn 23-26 years old... most children are thankful in some measure, but early/mid-20s is when the true depth of the sacrifices made is understood.

~ Dont think a baby can learn self control... just pick them up every time they whimper.. 

If it is so reasonable and easy to teach a spoiled mentality to a child.. why is it so unreasonable to teach a patient and self controlled mentality... how is training our children in positive behavior something seen as so negative?

Dont pick that baby up every time it whimpers... dont reward them with a snack or anything entertaining while you both have to sit out of service... dont take them outside to play when they refused to stop talking loudly or crawling under the pews during service... let them spend that time in time out until service becomes way more fun than a spat on the backside in the bathroom or sitting on the floor in the mothers room or a blank empty hallway for the last 30 mins of service...

It would be so much easier to throw our hands up and be sloppy, unconcerned parents who hand our children off to someone else every chance we have... but we curse our childrens futur in some measure when we do that.. and God will hold us accountable for bad parenting just as sure as he rewards good parenting. .. NO ONE SAID PERFECT PARENTING... IT JUST DOESNT EXIST.

and sometimes you do need to hand your children off to someone who will love and nurture them while you recharge... but if you are handing your children off more than 20% of the time... you may need to check yourself.

~ NO ONE CAN REPLACE MOM AND DAD IN A CHILDS LIFE... no matter how well meaning or loving or kind they are... its a spiritual thing.. a Godly assignment of authority and relationship that goes deeper than we realize... it is a model of our connection and family bond with God himself... he would never abandon us or hand us off as tho we are a chore... our model of parenting on every level must be the model God demonstrates toward us... what we measure ourselves to and what we sacrifice and reach for... the closer we can manage to get.. the more goodness is released for the glory of God and those who trust him.