My Child, My Disciple

One of the greatest challenges of this and successive generations is to encourage parents to actively parent their children. All of us who have children and even some of us who have grandchildren have at some point been disappointed or let down by the choices made by our progeny. We don’t need government statistics to convince us of the fact that each successive generation grows more untoward in its attempt at parenting. Indeed, with each successive generation, we lose more and more of the lost art of parenting. This work is not an attempt to posit myself, my beliefs, or my family as being the gold standard on parenting; it is quite the contrary. I believe all the experts on raising children are no longer with us. Those of us who are living now may faintly remember someone who knew how to raise children long ago. I would argue that you would have to go a few generations back, to find such people. This belief does not mean that we were raised by those who did not love us, or that we didn’t love them; neither does it mean that they didn’t do a decent job in raising us; or even that we didn’t do a good job in raising our children. It simply means that we could have done better and there are others who lived before us who did do better. This work is dedicated to them. Pastoral Reflections on Parenting is both personal and pastoral in nature. Personal in the sense that my wife, Valerie, our two sons, David and Daniel, and I have all shared portions of our lives throughout these pages. Most of my personal remembrances and recollections are found in very detailed journals that I have kept since July of 1996. Most of my entries are humorous, some are painful, most of them are private, but they are all helpful in understanding parenting – and a few other things as well! Of necessity, this work is also pastoral because quite often the failures of yesterday’s parenting form the prayers proceeding from the pastor’s prayer closet. Hence, my many pastoral observations are grounded in the truth of Scripture as well as in the practicality of being a parent. Pastoral Reflections on Parenting is a good guide book. Its truths should be introduced as early as possible. Ideally, it is for those in their mid-to-late teens who may be considering dating. The late teens is the age range where the good choices that result in effective parenting first become evident. Pastoral Reflections on Parenting is also a wonderful reference book for those of any age who are attempting to raise children of faith. Most of us will be parents and grandparents longer than we will be anything else in life. It is my prayer that this work will prove helpful in this most important endeavor. This work focuses on the early years of a child’s development and the positive, pervasive impact provided by strong, godly parenting. It is not intended to be comprehensive; rather its purpose is to provide broad guidance and my own “Pastoral Reflections on Parenting.”