Attachment Parenting, meet Biblical Training
I have to admit I’ve become hugely addicted to 19 Kids and Counting. Michelle Duggar is the sweetest mom on the planet. Who doesn’t wish they could keep that pleasant tone of voice with their children at all times? I’m afraid mine are going to hear the smoke alarm and think it’s just me screeching. Michelle has quite a few more mothering years under her belt so I’m hoping her enviable character traits like patience, mercy and grace come over time. I made the biggest strides as a mother after connecting with a church and finding women of faith to help along the way. The biggest problem with most popular parenting advice is that it is not rooted in Biblical principles.
The Bible has been a source of wisdom for thousands of years, first in the Torah and later with the books of the Apostles. Unlike any parenting book written two years ago based on random studies with dubious backgrounds, the Bible has produced amazing people for the entirety of its existence. Dr. David Livingstone spent most of his life in Africa saving lives with medicine and with the good news of the Gospels. George Muller saved over 10,000 orphans by giving them a home in his orphanage in England. William Wilberforce worked tirelessly to end the slave trade in England and saw its collapse before he died. Each of these people had someone in their lives who shared the transforming message of the Bible with them that lit a fire under them to act in amazing and world-changing ways. The Bible has influenced people who dedicated their lives to improve the lives of whole nations, curing diseases and feeding the hungry, not because their government ordered it but because their convictions and deep faith led them to do so at great personal cost.
I compare these tremendous people to the ideas we have today about what raising successful people means: keeping them from getting pregnant until they finish college and off drugs for about the same amount of time. It’s depressing. Most people are so busy just trying to survive without a calamity there is no time left for kids to reach their full potential. There are so many societal pressures, mean girls and dating horrors, who could thrive in that kind of environment?
Add to that the early over-sexualization of girls and the expectation that teen boys will be Lotharios by the age of 13 and you have a parent’s worst nightmare. Where is the joy? Where is the room for true achievement outside of test scores? I have noticed that in our church, many of our young people have passion for something other than a hot date. They have a burning desire to go into missions work. They get on waiting lists, they go to Africa, something I never would have had the courage to do at their age. It seems that each month we are saying goodbye to someone’s son or daughter who is off on the adventure of a lifetime to bring the word of God and much needed help to a dark place in the world.
I’ve asked myself, how do I get one of those? One of those bright-eyed teens with sweet dispositions and a heart for serving others? They spend their money on plane tickets to third world countries instead of designer shoes. They are simply precious, important people who will make a difference to someone in need. I want one of those and I believe the answer is to make the wisdom of the Bible a huge part of their lives and mine.
The Bible is the original manual for Attachment Parenting. It has a plan for raising children that includes being highly involved, loving and kind parents who find joy in their children. Instead of looking to new fads for parenting advice, try a time-tested method that won’t disappoint.
Deuteronomy 6:7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Proverbs 29:17 Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.
Psalm 127:3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.
Collossians 3:21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
Proverbs 13:24 Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. (Sidenote: Many of the Proverbs were written by King Solomon, known by all during his life as the wisest man to have ever lived. It’s interesting to note that a few thousand years later, our culture now calls him a fool.)
Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
-Megan Fox, 'Five Problems with Gen-X Attachment Parenting.'
The Bible has been a source of wisdom for thousands of years, first in the Torah and later with the books of the Apostles. Unlike any parenting book written two years ago based on random studies with dubious backgrounds, the Bible has produced amazing people for the entirety of its existence. Dr. David Livingstone spent most of his life in Africa saving lives with medicine and with the good news of the Gospels. George Muller saved over 10,000 orphans by giving them a home in his orphanage in England. William Wilberforce worked tirelessly to end the slave trade in England and saw its collapse before he died. Each of these people had someone in their lives who shared the transforming message of the Bible with them that lit a fire under them to act in amazing and world-changing ways. The Bible has influenced people who dedicated their lives to improve the lives of whole nations, curing diseases and feeding the hungry, not because their government ordered it but because their convictions and deep faith led them to do so at great personal cost.
I compare these tremendous people to the ideas we have today about what raising successful people means: keeping them from getting pregnant until they finish college and off drugs for about the same amount of time. It’s depressing. Most people are so busy just trying to survive without a calamity there is no time left for kids to reach their full potential. There are so many societal pressures, mean girls and dating horrors, who could thrive in that kind of environment?
Add to that the early over-sexualization of girls and the expectation that teen boys will be Lotharios by the age of 13 and you have a parent’s worst nightmare. Where is the joy? Where is the room for true achievement outside of test scores? I have noticed that in our church, many of our young people have passion for something other than a hot date. They have a burning desire to go into missions work. They get on waiting lists, they go to Africa, something I never would have had the courage to do at their age. It seems that each month we are saying goodbye to someone’s son or daughter who is off on the adventure of a lifetime to bring the word of God and much needed help to a dark place in the world.
I’ve asked myself, how do I get one of those? One of those bright-eyed teens with sweet dispositions and a heart for serving others? They spend their money on plane tickets to third world countries instead of designer shoes. They are simply precious, important people who will make a difference to someone in need. I want one of those and I believe the answer is to make the wisdom of the Bible a huge part of their lives and mine.
The Bible is the original manual for Attachment Parenting. It has a plan for raising children that includes being highly involved, loving and kind parents who find joy in their children. Instead of looking to new fads for parenting advice, try a time-tested method that won’t disappoint.
Deuteronomy 6:7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Proverbs 29:17 Discipline your son, and he will give you rest; he will give delight to your heart.
Psalm 127:3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.
Collossians 3:21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.
Proverbs 13:24 Whoever spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is diligent to discipline him. (Sidenote: Many of the Proverbs were written by King Solomon, known by all during his life as the wisest man to have ever lived. It’s interesting to note that a few thousand years later, our culture now calls him a fool.)
Proverbs 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother.
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
-Megan Fox, 'Five Problems with Gen-X Attachment Parenting.'
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