We are feeling pretty challenged at the moment in our role as parents. As well as being hard work, it's also really difficult to know what the best way forward is, a lot of the time.E suggested that we read this book together, so we've both made a start on it, and it has been good so far.
3 comments:
Hi, Ben,
I haven't read the book, but reviews make me ambivalent. On the one hand, the central thesis is excellent: our task as parents is not to modify our children's behaviour and have well-behaved little legalist. Rather, we want to speak the gospel to their hearts so that they understand who Jesus is and who they are in relation to them. It's also good for picking up some idolatrous reasons that we as parents can punish our children (rather than disciplining them for their good. For a brief rundown, search for Parents (verse 4) at http://timchester.wordpress.com/2007/03/07/ephesians-522-69-the-household-tables/)
On the other hand, lots of people say it's pretty abstract, and that 'Don't make me count to three' does a good job of helping you to put it into practice. (See my caveat here: http://leslumieres-au.blogspot.com/2009/07/how-to-make-smacking-big-issue.html)
And as I said before, for practical advice, you can't go past the Adeneys :)
We'll be in prayer for you!
Thanks for your thoughts.
Funnily enough, it was actually the Adeneys who gave us the book.
Not that I have children, but the Boundaries (Cloud & Townsend) series of books are a good read - the original book is written for all adults but they have subsequent books for married people & parents. They have helped me to react less when people push my buttons.
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