I deal in expectations and roles. I’m not big on lists of rules. That is a personal orientation that I’ve had all my life as far as I can remember. I also don’t believe in ordering people around, although there are times, hopefully rare, when you need to exercise command.
Now that our kids are grown, I seldom have much contact with families with young children. I spent last week with my grandkids–living in a hotel. Those experiences always heighten my awareness of young people and their parents. All of a sudden, I see these families everywhere. So I observe and reflect.
Then I remember how as a young parent myself, I was amazed at how some people had a long list of hard and fast rules about bringing up kids. I was actually learning on the job. I just had expectations and defined roles. I expected that my children would further their education in a field that interested them. I didn’t say it every day, but they felt it. And today they are doing just that. Otherwise, I tried to be consistent in discipline (with my wife) and consistent in love (although I’m not a very expressive person verbally).
Jesus had two simple rules of life–boiled down to love God and love your neighbor. That’s simple. Should be easy to understand. Should be simple to do–right? But humans like to apply brain power to define the terms and then figure out ways to get around them.
Parenting has just a few simple rules. Consistent discipline is one. Kids know the limits and can operate within them. Failure to consistently apply the limits confuses kids, and they wind up constantly trying to find them.
I observe a lot. I reflect on what I did wrong. I’m amazed–how easy it is to state a simple rule of life and how hard it is to follow it. How are you doing?
Faith Venture 
Leave a comment