Ya, I know, this is a strange way to start off our study for today . . . let me show you where I'm going!
Barney had a phrase that he loved to use: "Nip it in the bud!" Quite often he was trying to convince his laid back boss to stop a problem while it was very small -- before it had developed into something larger. Often his misgivings turned out to be hilariously wrong, but occasionally he was right.
Wonder if his grandma or mom used our verse today if they had to discipline him . . . Hmmmm, did anyone use it for you?
Pro 19:18 Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying.Now, I don't know if you "believe" in spanking or punishments, but it seems that Solomon was well-acquainted with child rearing. I guess with so many wives, there had to be a lot of kids running around in that palace!
Quite frankly, the chastening that results most in crying has to be spanking - you know, spare the rod and spoil the child? But in our home, that was the Last Resort. You used all other methods before you used the Last Resort. And it had to be a Large Infraction. Or a Large Transgression. I mean, there are many other ways to get the point across, right?
Just the same, I can probably count on the fingers of one hand, the times that my Mr. or I had to administer the Last Resort. And that is distributed over three kiddos. And I know that each of those times, the spanker was crying almost as much as the spankee. So I guess if Solomon was standing in my kitchen, he'd be shaking his head and murmuring this verse, but I think it would have come out, "let not thy soul spare for your own crying, either!"
Today, by God's grace, the three kiddos that He loaned to us are happy, healthy, productive Christians. Two of them have indicated to us that they appreciate our efforts in raising the three of them.
I guess I'm glad that we nipped some problems in the bud!
I've seen so many parents in the recent past, who don't discipline their children at all. It's very sad to think that their lack of doing so will result in negative behavior most of their lives.
ReplyDeleteMy children laugh at some of the times of Last Resort at our house when they were growing up. I think that is a wonderful thing. It shows me that I was right in what I did, and I wasn't too severe in it. I always worried about that.
I've seen that just doing a time out on my grandson seems to get a message across quite well. He understands there are consequences to his wrong actions even at barely two. We are trying to "nip it in the bud"!!
"Nip it!" Good ole Barney Fife...yes! I think the biggest reward and answer to our question about whether we were "too hard" on our children comes when we hear from them as adults, "When I was growing up I always thought I would NEVER be this hard when I have kids but now after seeing how spoiled some kids are, I am going to raise mine the same way I was raised!"
ReplyDeleteGood lesson today. Thanks for sharing.
I often used 'the spoon' on the little guys. It worked for all three and never had to be used much once they learned to respect 'no no'. Even Stephen hasn't needed his hands slapped in I don't know how long.
ReplyDeleteBut I do giggle at one time when Amy was 15 and she was a mouthy mess. I was a single mom and she just thought she ran the world. I spanked that girl. I completely shocked her. It had been years since she'd seen "the SPOON". It was the last time she saw it..and we still laugh about it.
And she too thanks me for lovingly disciplining her. Even when I had to dig out "the SPOON". LOL