Good Morning,
May your day be blessed from above. I am up and out of the bed, ready to write. My Door County Bourbon Pecan Pie Coffee is steaming hot. Let's start this day.
Yesterday in my blog, I challenged the men to be teachers to their children or the children around them. Today I would like to talk about what it means to raise up a child in the way they should go. This is very often difficult for us to do.
Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go. And when he is old he will not depart from it.
The verse was written to be gender neutral and can read he or she. Back when it was written the options for girls were slim. So let's get beyond that debate and move on.
Back when this was written a bow and arrow were made by hand and were not all that accurate. Once you had acquired a bow and the arrows, it was important to know how the bow shot and how well matched your arrows were. Shooting the bow successfully often required a little compensation for the bow by the shooter. If the bow pulled to the left when the arrow was dispensed, the shooter would aim a little to the right to compensate for the left pull. Then he would be closer to the center mark of his target.
Obviously we are required by God to teach our kids or those kids you might have influence over, right from wrong, to revere God, and basically set their moral compass. This is the first step. The next step is a little more difficult. Like a bow and arrow, we need to discover just how they are bent and assist them with their giftedness.
For instance, let's say a child is very mechanically inclined and just loves to work at mechanical things. This child is not all fired up about the sciences like medicine or biology. Why on Earth would you buy this kid a child's doctor set instead of some tools? It would be your job to get busy and start embracing the way this child is bent, encouraging, not discouraging them.
This should be encouraged with the girls also. Many people have a hard time not placing their kids into what they desire for their children. For instance one of the best plumbers I know is a woman. I have worked with her many times. She is also a devoted mother and wife. She wears many hats. She is happy.
Again we should never train up a child to evade a moral compass. Just because your child desires to be a criminal, doesn't mean you should teach them a life of burglary.
I knew a kid when I was a teenager. We went to a trade school. When we would eat lunch, the discussion often turned to his grandfather and grandpa's farm. This kid would tell me how he was just going to trade school to get some welding training. He intended to be a farmer and use the welding skills to make repairs on the farm. His parents did not support this idea at all. They preferred for him to acquire a trade diploma and work mechanically. His father was an electrician and that was what they wanted for their son. His parents left the farm life because they did not like it. He left school, and went to the farm, which caused a rift in the family. He really did not see his parents much through the years. Last I heard He was a vey successful farmer with 7 kids, 16 grandchildren, he owned many many acres and was putting two kids through medical school. His parents missed out on seeing just how happy farming made this man. His grandfather accommodated the way he was bent. Just as he had accepted the thought of his son desiring to leave the farm and work at being an electrician. This man's parents missed the boat.
Friends, it is important to find out how the little bow and arrows in your life are bent and help to steer them in that direction. I know this one is difficult to do. We tend to profile our kids into a preset hole within our own minds.
Tomorrow, we will talk about how to accomplish this.
God bless,
Marty
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