Thanks for the reminder Mike.

Consistency in doing good. Water, yes, but not all at once and then none at all. Weeding yes, but don’t unroot the plant you’re trying to grow. Fertilizer, yes, but too much Miracle Grow leads to unhealth.

I am living proof. I have a child at a Christian college, a senior who has no love for himself, his family and everything associated with it.

I cannot stress enough the importance of standing firm, like minded, and together doing the hard stuff. I do not want a soul to go through my pain with this prodigal son. Please pray.

Once kids are out of the house and into their own life, there will always be a vacuum left for parents to hold on to. How that vacuum is grasped depends on how secure the boundaries were when they were given to the kids in their earlier years at home.

God bless all parents. And God be with you … this must have been an extra special Father’s Day for you and your kids. Revel in it for as long as you can.

When my dear dad said, “Thou shalt not,” or “Thou shalt,” it was taken seriously since an infraction of these declarations brought, what he called an application of the “board of education to the seat of rememberance.”

As mentioned above, he helped us through the transition of parental dependence to God dependence.

Dad and I grew to have a wonderful, loving closeness in my adult years that I still miss terribly even after 13 years of his homegoing. He truly was my own personal cool dad, PTL!!

http://www.tentpegs.blogspot.com/

Check him out!

God bless, and have a great trip,
DU

The whole goal of parenting is to transfer our child’s dependence on us to dependence on God, right?

Lots to think and pray about. My oldest is 12…not much time left at home. Yikes.

May God grant us wisdom and endurance on this path of parenting.

Lynn Trigg

Even though he’s almost 13, Chris will always be my favorite kid to baby-sit!

I don’t have much to say on the whole parenting thing because I’m not one yet, but in my babysitting/day care work, I have seen a lot of spoiled children who run their parents and it breaks my heart. I am praying for the courage to be the kind of parent you were talking about. Thanks for the advice!

I hope you and Diane have a wonderful time on your cruise this week! I love you both so much!!

P.S. You know you’ve been reading Mike Cope’s blog too long when…Ray Petit introduces himself to you at church by saying, “Heather, I read your stuff all the time.” (”my stuff” being my comments on this blog!!lol) Come on, Ray, we’d love to hear your two cents too!

Thanks so much for these encouraging words. My wife and I just had this conversation yesterday as we both just finished reading Kevin Leman’s “Making Your Children Mind Without Losing Yours” Like Dave I am also a youth minister and I deal with this stuff way too much. I am not perfect and I know that, but one thing that pops into my mind constantly that I have even told one of my parents is “You’re the parent.” That’s the bottom line. Thanks for stating this thought, it helps in a world where you feel like you’re all alone. Happy Father’s Day brother!

The problem is that so many parents are looking to control something as they come to grips with their own lack of control on the universe. Teens are looking for control as a way to express their independence. Parents begin to comtemplate their mortality. Teens feel invincible. Parents and teens are headed in the opposite direction during the storm we call adolescence. But it doesn’t have to be a diaster. If a parent has a healthy self esteem and does not feel a need to relive their youth through the act of “being cool” they can actually let their teens grow up. Raising grown up kids who can make responsible and Godly decisions…now that’s cool!