Train UP

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.  —Proverbs 22:6

I would say this verse is one of the most challenging verses that a parent could read.  

My two girls are as different as night and day.  The oldest is Type A, perfectionistic, head strong, a rule follower, and stubborn.  She’s very rooted, sentimental, and resistant to change.  In other words, she’s a lot like her mother.  The youngest is Type B, laid-back, a rule-bender, an adventurer, has wings instead of roots, and is sentimental about nothing.  Because she & I are so different, I struggle with understanding her and, therefore, with correcting her.  Because the two are opposites, the same discipline doesn’t work on both of them.  What finds the hurt, so to speak, in one doesn’t even phase the other.  

How, then, do we accomplish the difficult job of successful parenting?  I think the key can be found in the second word of the verse—up.  It’s my prayer that my girls will leave our home someday not just with the knowledge of how to be a good adult, but with the knowledge of how to be a follower of Jesus—to focus their eyes ‘up’ on His ways, His leading, and His mission for their lives.  That means Jamie & I have to exhibit the same behavior, showing them what it looks like to submit to God’s leading.  If we can accomplish that, the rest will fall into place as a result.  Not an easy task as we are far from perfect, but one for which we must strive.