Last Thursday evening at prayer meeting we were studying the blessings of discipline (particularly with young children). I told them “now I don’t have children” and then added with a smile “but I have children.”
They knew exactly what I was saying
I don’t have physical children….
but many spiritual ones.
Those of you who read my posts know the Lord has placed a great burden upon my heart for the children of Barrouallie. This comes from seeing so many of them who have very little of what I call “structure” referring to rules, or a healthy home life. They spend most of their time “in the road” or away from home causing mischief.
In many cases this is because the mother is at home with the younger child. Sadly fathers are often not present in the children’s lives. So while mommy takes care of the little one, all the other kids can do whatever they want.
When the older generation were children this freedom was limited because anybody could give you licks (a spanking) if you misbehaved. As you can imagine, the same isn’t true today. I agree that not just anyone should not be allowed to discipline your child. But today NOBODY other than the parent’s can discipline the child
And the children know it!!!
This is where spiritual parents step in
Spiritual parents are individuals who the children love and respect. They will bring clear rules, rewards, and punishments (not involving physical touch).
In other words, they bring structure that children desperately need.
Near my house there’s a group of boys who play in the road all day. Not that there’s anything wrong with playing in the road, but without structure, they can get more and more violent.
I watched two boys playing a few weeks ago when there was a disagreement. One of them picked up a very large piece of wood and struck the other on his shoulder so that he started to cry. I immediately called him over, asked why he had hit the other boy, and made him apologize,
That same week I had a discussion with a young man about how to talk with his first girlfriend, mediated a conversation between two friends who were at war because one of them wanted “alone time”, and taught another boy (on behalf of his girlfriend) that “if you really like a girl, you should leave her alone.”
No I am not a parent
but the Lord allows me to have parenting conversations for which I am eternally grateful.
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