Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of correction will drive it far from him.
The first part is of this proverb is perhaps harder for me to hear than the second. All my life I've heard about Jesus saying, "unless you become like a child..." and how wonderful children are. I have been taught and still believe that children are in a "safe", unaccountable position with God. Yet this Proverb tells me that, even though they aren't accountable yet to God for their foolishness, it is there "bound up" in their heart.
A much younger single friend quoted this Proverb to me about a year ago when we were discussing children spending time with their peers. I suppose I had read or heard this proverb before, but at the time she mentioned it, it seemed a new thing to me. This younger friend has a very wise mother who has raised her extremely well and the daughter has benefitted from her mother's wisdom.
So are we born good or bad? I don't know the answer to that, but I do know what Solomon (?) in the wisdom that God gave him said. I'm very glad to know this proverb as I raise my son. It helps me to recognize what he's dealing with and how I need to deal with it. Popular opinion seems to be that children need to spend time with their peers, but I certainly would put a limit on it. People constantly tells us how amazed they are at the behavior and vocabulary of our 3 year old son. (We heard it at least 3 times tonight as we were out shopping.) It is because we understand the truth of Proverbs 22:15. We are following the advice of the 2nd half and striving to drive foolishness far from him. And we recognize that the influence of others who have foolishness bound up in their heart would only hurt his progress.
He is a precious gift from God. I look forward to see him grow into maturity as God blesses the attention his parents have given to wise counsel.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Learning that's not found in books
We love to read and learn in this house. We also love good character and learning to instill that in our son comes from more than reading parenting manuals. Being older parents, we have had plenty of time to read and learn from others experiences; but there's nothing like having your own to realize you don't have the perfect solution to every needed behavior modification. But what compels us to continue and to adjust our methods is the strong desire that our son will be a boy of good character. We are convinced that training of honest habits began at birth. We do not lie to our son --- ever! We do not allow him to tell partial truths. He must be in the habit of telling the truth and eventually as he matures he will develop a love for truth.
That's one thing I have learned in these 3+ years with my son. He must be trained in the habits of doing right. The heart and desire for it will come later for him. That doesn't stop me from talking to him about loving the truth. But I know he won't really have that heart desire and be compelled by it until later. So we find other means of compelling to instill the good habits.
He is quite an excellent boy. I love him very much. He is beautiful and healthy. He is very smart. He is very loving. Every night he gives me a hug and a kiss and says "good night." Often throughout the day he gives me a hug and says, "mmm, I love you."
He is also starting to drop the "mommy" and "daddy" in favor of a more grown up "mom" and "dad". I like that. I like that he's growing up. People have said so often, "oh, they grow up so fast, don't they?" Maybe I'll feel that way down the road, but right now I love every growing up stage. I love being able to talk with him. I love seeing him get better and better at reading and writing. I love hearing him learn to use speech to express his feelings. I love to hear him adding words to his vocabulary --- words that he hasn't had to have taught and defined to him, but words that he has heard us use and understands their meaning because of context. I hope that God will allow us to have many more years together.
Proverbs 1:8, 9. My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother; for they will be graceful ornaments on your head, and chains about your neck.
That's one thing I have learned in these 3+ years with my son. He must be trained in the habits of doing right. The heart and desire for it will come later for him. That doesn't stop me from talking to him about loving the truth. But I know he won't really have that heart desire and be compelled by it until later. So we find other means of compelling to instill the good habits.
He is quite an excellent boy. I love him very much. He is beautiful and healthy. He is very smart. He is very loving. Every night he gives me a hug and a kiss and says "good night." Often throughout the day he gives me a hug and says, "mmm, I love you."
He is also starting to drop the "mommy" and "daddy" in favor of a more grown up "mom" and "dad". I like that. I like that he's growing up. People have said so often, "oh, they grow up so fast, don't they?" Maybe I'll feel that way down the road, but right now I love every growing up stage. I love being able to talk with him. I love seeing him get better and better at reading and writing. I love hearing him learn to use speech to express his feelings. I love to hear him adding words to his vocabulary --- words that he hasn't had to have taught and defined to him, but words that he has heard us use and understands their meaning because of context. I hope that God will allow us to have many more years together.
Proverbs 1:8, 9. My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother; for they will be graceful ornaments on your head, and chains about your neck.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Getting started
Getting started on this blog --- which will be a lot about getting started. My husband and I are late (in the view of some) to many things in life. We married in our late 30s (okay, I had just turned 40). We have a 3 year old son and are occasionally mistaken for his grandparents. After stumbling around through our 20s and 30s in different educational and career and spiritual pursuits, we have found a career for both of us. Our prayer is that the husband's main bread-winning occupation will allow him time to pursue the writing that is burning on his heart. My "career" as wife, mother and educator is everything I could ever want. As we continue to throw off the shackles of many years of religious traditional teaching (and unnecessary and ungodly religious oppression) we are enjoying the freedom of really getting to know our Father and creator. Life is good and God has been faithful to us in answering our continual prayer to "give us what we need."
We are strong believers in home education and home fellowship of believers (for lack of a better description at this point). We are grateful that God gave us our son and entrusted us with his spiritual and intellectual education. Of course He gave us a head start by blessing us with a very sharp little fellow. I'm constantly learning things about my own character through my interaction with him and am challenged to change things lest I spoil his chances to have a heart and character pleasing to God.
My husband and I are constantly reading and challenging our previous views of God and the Scriptures. The greatest thing that we wish to pass on to our son is to not just believe what Mom and Dad taught him about God, but for him to examine it for himself. We are grateful that we won't have to pass along much of the religious baggage that we were given, but also know that we may never have it all figured out and want our son to not just rely on what we know and have taught him.
We love studying history. We would probably be described as being conservative politically --- maybe libertarian in some categories. My husband often tells people that he is more conservative than the "Conservatives". We believe very much that this country was founded on some very good and sound principles and that people have forgotten that. We hope to be a part of educating whoever we can about this. We recognize tremendously the very poor education we got in the government schools about our own government. That won't happen to our son. We will be writing much on this blog about our thoughts and beliefs on this topic.
So, this is the Pelham House of Learning. It is a continual, to the end of our life here on earth, pursuit. It didn't end at 18 with our high school diplomas or with the receipt of our college degrees.
Proverbs 1:5-7 A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
We are strong believers in home education and home fellowship of believers (for lack of a better description at this point). We are grateful that God gave us our son and entrusted us with his spiritual and intellectual education. Of course He gave us a head start by blessing us with a very sharp little fellow. I'm constantly learning things about my own character through my interaction with him and am challenged to change things lest I spoil his chances to have a heart and character pleasing to God.
My husband and I are constantly reading and challenging our previous views of God and the Scriptures. The greatest thing that we wish to pass on to our son is to not just believe what Mom and Dad taught him about God, but for him to examine it for himself. We are grateful that we won't have to pass along much of the religious baggage that we were given, but also know that we may never have it all figured out and want our son to not just rely on what we know and have taught him.
We love studying history. We would probably be described as being conservative politically --- maybe libertarian in some categories. My husband often tells people that he is more conservative than the "Conservatives". We believe very much that this country was founded on some very good and sound principles and that people have forgotten that. We hope to be a part of educating whoever we can about this. We recognize tremendously the very poor education we got in the government schools about our own government. That won't happen to our son. We will be writing much on this blog about our thoughts and beliefs on this topic.
So, this is the Pelham House of Learning. It is a continual, to the end of our life here on earth, pursuit. It didn't end at 18 with our high school diplomas or with the receipt of our college degrees.
Proverbs 1:5-7 A wise man will hear and increase learning,
And a man of understanding will attain wise counsel,
To understand a proverb and an enigma,
The words of the wise and their riddles.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
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