This a picture of Kira when she was 7 month olds..so sweet. This used to be a "no spanking page" as some may remember, but I have come far in my parenting journey and as God shapes and molds me, He also changes some stubborn views I have recently clung to. I HATED Spanking a few years ago..thought it was wrong, etc. As I have grown closer and closer to the Lord, my perceptions of Him have changed. He is not the ruthless taskmaster...He parents His children (us believers) with love, kindness and GRACE. Yes, He will discipline us and yes, it sometimes physically painful. He has become my model of how I want to parent my children. Sometimes that will include spanking, sometimes it won't. He has given us many tools to discipline our children but one thing is sure, discipline we must...God demands it!! And every child is different! God deals with each of us differently, not using the same methods for everyone, but tailoring them accordingly. So it is with our children. Elijah is NOT the same as Kira. I cannot or dare not treat him the same when it comes to tools of discipline. On the issue of the "S" word, spanking CAN be abused and misused..many times for the parent's own convenience. This is wrong and I will admit I have fallen into this trap during a weak moment and severely regretted it as the Holy Spirit has convicted me of my misuse of authority :(
Remember....other forms of discipline can be misused also!!
There is a WONDERFUL book I recommend to ALL parents who want to raise Godly, respectful children in this indulgent, free-for-all age we live in. It is entitled "Grace- based parenting" by Ted Kimmel. Unlike so many other parenting books, it is not a "what method works best" book in terms of spanking versus time outs versus whatever. It outlines how God deals with us believers (His children) and how we can effectively use this to parent our own children. I am reading it now and am so refreshed by it's words of wisdom. The funny thing is, it completely reaffirms what I have learned about God Himself!!! I will warn you, it is challenging and will probably make you uncomfortable (it did to me at times)..but that is ok. If hearing God's word preached to you doesn't challenge you and make you squirm in your seat every now and then, then perhaps you need to pay closer attention to what He is trying to say to you...or change churches!!
God is not interested in any one method of parenting..I am so tired of all the different parenting books out there saying you MUST do it this way or this is NOT to be done (will hurt your child psychologically, etc)...just ain't so. I LOVE this book! If you are the type where you want something "laid" out for you as a quick fix method or a "results guaranteed" method, then you will most likely NOT like this book. |
