Successful Parents: 4 Things They Believe & Do

Parenting . . . it’s a full-time job with lots of overtime, even if you have only one child!

When our first came along, we’d fall exhausted into bed at night wondering how people with two kids managed.

Then we had two.

Okay, we’ve got this. Divide and conquer. It’s two-on-two. (Single Mom, wow, how do you do it?!)

Then #3 arrived and we were out numbered!

Are we going to make it?

Having kids is like going skiing for the first time. How am I going to do this? The first moment you face the Bunny Slope, it’s overwhelming and a face-plant seems all but certain. But then you master it and move on. You get better. Your skill increases. You learn. You grow and, before too long, you’re shredding the Black Diamond runs.

Okay, so maybe we’re not “shredding” our way through parenting but what once seemed daunting before too long becomes “everyday”. And it’s right here, in that familiar place of “day in and day out” that we parents need to take stock.

Life’s demands have a way of getting us to focus on the functionality of our families. Are we keeping the wheels on the wagon? But, there’s something so much more important than making sure dinner is on the table at the right time, landing that next business deal, or that the music and sports lessons are attended punctually.

Parenting Perspective #1

My Relationship With My Child is What Matters

Parenting – strip it down and what do you really have? A relationship with a unique little person God entrusted to you to nurture, love, and raise. As a parent, you are building a relationship you will have for life with another person. What is the quality of what you are building? Does that “other person” feel truly valued by you?

On any given day, your relationship with your child should trump all the busyness life throws at you.

Is your relationship with your children marked by gentleness, love, and genuine interest? Do your children respect you? I’m not asking if they fear you and give way to your power, but do they respect your character and yield to you from a willing, open heart?

How can we build strong, loving, secure relationships with our children?

Parenting Perspective #2

I must Understand and embrace the Unique Personhood of My Child

As simple and straight-forward as it is, when it comes to their kids, many parents miss the most basic element of building trust with another person – respecting and valuing a child as a unique, distinct expression of God’s creativity.

For many parents they’re just, “the kids,” not separate, interesting, unique individuals to get to know well on a personal level. We’re raising little people, not herding sheep.

It’s an easy (and common) mistake to make, but it causes kids to feel they are not valued for who they are. Do you want the deep relationship God desires that you have with your children? I encourage you to remind yourself often: Each one of my children is a distinct person with his/her own personality, gifts, abilities, and interests – a unique creation of God.

Here are some suggestions for communicating your understanding of your children’s innate value as individual people:

I like the person you are becoming
I think you have interesting ideas
You are a very special person
I love your personality

These are just a few ideas but, the point is to embrace the separate, wonderful personhood of each child – to see them as people – and to communicate that you see them in this way.

Parenting Perspective #3

I Must Not Exasperate My Child

The Scriptures tell fathers, “don’t provoke your children to anger” Ephesians 6:4. This admonition applies equally to mothers. Essentially, this Scripture is talking about our approach to discipline and correction.

Have you ever considered why parents need to be told not to anger their children? It’s because the Holy Spirit knows the inclination of our flesh. Anger and discipline too often go together in the Christian home.

If disciplined with injustice or harshness, hardness in the heart of a child is the result. Godly discipline doesn’t include harshness and shouldn’t be administered for punishment’s sake, which provokes kids to anger. Discipline, while never pleasant, should be administered in the spirit of gentleness (how gentle is God with us, Dad & Mom?) and for the sake of training in righteousness – for God’s purposes in the child’s character development.

Parenting Perspective #4

I Must Be the Encourager My Child Needs in a Negative World

Thinking positive thoughts about your kids isn’t the same as taking the time to speak positively into their lives. Did you stop in the busyness of your day and say something positive, encouraging, and uplifting to your child . . . with no strings attached?

You’re a parent. That means you’re tired, busy, stressed, behind, etc.

It also means there is someone in your life hungry to know:

he/she’s okay
is doing a good job
will make it
is valued just because he/she’s present
is approved of
is a joy to be around
that you like him/her

What could be easier than saying something encouraging? So, again, have you encouraged your kid today? (Here’s a Great List of encouraging phrases to help you get thinking about how to build up your child, CLICK HERE)

In the early years, the results of our neglect of the personhood of our child, our anger in correction, and our lack of encouragement are masked, but the Law of the Harvest will eventually prevail: Whatever you plant grows. Parents who neglect cultivating a genuine, open, loving relationship with their young children typically discover that they, themselves, are neglected later in life.

God bless you as you endeavor to understand and respect the unique personhood of each of your children, discipline in gentleness, and seek to be the Encourager In Chief in your children’s lives. You’ll enjoy the love of your children now and the richness of seasoned friendship later in life that God has for every parent who loved well the children He entrusted to them.

~Matthew