The Joys and Challenges of Parenting

If you are parent, you probably clicked on this post right away. There’s something about being a parent that is both uniquely joy-giving and challenging. As a result, we often look for honest, life-giving stories to help us grow into our parenthood. As I grow with my two kids, I am steadily challenged to rely on God and his wisdom in raising children that are neither spoiled not straight-jacketed. Above all, I desire that my precious little sinners come to delight in all that God is for them in the Son and the Spirit. I am soberly aware that I can be both a hindrance and a help in this aim.

It was out of my struggles in parenting infants that I wrote much of “Becoming A Parent: Facing your Fears and Frustrations.” As my children grow, new challenges and joys emerge. Their facility with language brings us to tears of laughter. I think of my son’s recent cry, “Daddy, get my dirties off, get my dirties off” referring to his need to take a bath. Of course there are the moments of iron-hard resistance to anything we say; the flaring of the human will to chart his or her own course. Discipline is always hard, especially doing it from the right motives.

At this new stage of parenting, I’m considering writing another article, one like, “Becoming A Parent,” that helped me work through how my children were raising me, as well as how I am to raise my children. So, I thought I’d put a request out, to see what some of my fellow parents would appreciate reading. What topics might be of interest to you?