[SAHD] Parenting Lessons From Eden

Courtesy fanpop.com

Who better to learn parenting lessons from than humanity's Ultimate Parent?

As a new parent I have discovered that people often give you tips, books, etc. on how to be a better parent.  Naturally some advice is better than others, but the best guidance I have found comes from our Ultimate Parent, God Himself.  Here are some lessons I discovered from where it all began, the Garden of Eden.

Create the Best Possible Environment

This one falls in the "too obvious to be seen" category.  I didn't see it at first either, but it makes a lot of sense.  God wanted the best for His kids so he made them the best home possible.  Now many of us may not have a lot of options regarding where we live, but that doesn't mean we can't be creative in our current situation.  A great way to get creative is to get your kids involved in the process.  You may not get a lot of feasible ideas, but at least you're spending time with them.  While you're spending time with them, be sure to . . .

Maintain Their Innocence

This point may be a bit controversial for some.  So much is said how we should not shelter our children and how we should prepare them for the the "real world".  However, look at what God did with His kids.  God purposely told Adam and Eve to avoid the tree that would give them the knowledge of evil, which brings us to our next point.

Give Simple Rules to Follow

God gave three basic commands to His kids: Be fruitful and increase in number, Fill and subdue the earth, and especially Don't eat from this one tree.  A possible application of this principle is instead of getting our kids to follow a litany of rules, get them to follow one simple rule, Do what your parents tell you to do (I know, I know, easier said than done, but one dream, can't he?).  Ultimately God's kids didn't listen to Him, but there is a silver lining for us even in that situation.

Don't Treat Yourself Too Harshly

Hey, if even God's kids didn't listen to Him, if for some strange reason our kids don't listen to us, we shouldn't take that as an indictment against our parenting skills. Children ultimately make their own choices that are beyond their parents control.  However, there is one part where parents have a lot of control.

Don't Avoid Punishment

Now no good parent wants their children to suffer, but when God's kids disobeyed Him, He simply had no other choice. He could have simply excused them because He is God, and can do whatever He wants, but that didn't happen.  Without some punishment, from that point forward, nobody (esp. Satan) would have taken God seriously.  When for whatever reasons parents avoid punishment that only erodes their authority and emboldens their children to try something worse.  Notice also that the punishment was simply allowing them to experience the consequences of their actions.  Something to think about, and while you're thinking . . .

Think More About God
 
While you may not agree with all of my applications, I hope that I have gotten you to think more about what lessons we can learn from the Bible, and I also hope that you take more time to read it for yourself.

What lessons regarding parenting (or anything else for that matter) have you learned from the Bible?  Share your discoveries in the comments section below.

Lost in Our Own Home

"The Lost Drachma" by James Tissot
Courtesy Brooklyn Museum

When God looks for us sometimes He doesn't have to go very far to find us.

In my last post, I wrote about a story involving God looking for someone who has wandered far away.  Today's story involves a similar scenario, but with a twist.  The searcher doesn't have to go far to find that which was lost, but that doesn't make the search any easier.

This story involves a woman should have ten pieces of silver, but only has nine.  She knows that the silver pieces have never left the house, so the missing one must be around somewhere.  No doubt we can identify with her situation in one way or another.  At one point or another we have lost something in our own homes; something valuable, i. e. our keys.  We know that they are in our home somewhere because the car is here and we are inside, but for the life of us we cannot find them.  The situation often becomes more intense by the fact that we need to go to an appointment, work, or some other time-sensitive engagement.  We leave "no stone unturned" as the saying goes, in our search for our missing item.

In the story involving the woman she has no appointment to go to, but she still desperately needs to find that silver piece.  She lives in a time and place where women received a dowry, and she wishes to pass these silver pieces on to her daughter, all of them.  An incomplete set simply will not do.  The loss of even one of these pieces would be a serious problem.  The poverty in which she lives only serves to compound her anxiety.  So she cleans the entire house looking for this piece of silver, and great rejoicing comes as a result of her finally finding it.

One of the main differences that exist between this story and the one with the lost sheep is that the sheep knows it's in trouble.  It knows it has done/is doing things that aren't right.  It knows that it needs help; needs to be found.  On the other hand, people represented by the piece of silver think that they are doing alright.  They often profess to be believers in God, and may be quite active in their respective churches, communities, etc.  They may also be out there "in the world" and have become desensitized to their true need of God.  They think these ways while all the time living under the same roof as faithful believers.

People in this category often receive harsh treatment, the religious ones being called "hypocrites" and being used as an excuse by those in open rebellion as the reason they rebelled.  The non-religious ones often receive the label "lost cause" and people do not even try to reach out to them.  We need to be crystal clear that these people have as much value and need to be sought after as much, or even more than, those who have openly gone away from God.  One author put it this way.

"The coin, though lying among dust and rubbish, is a piece of silver still. Its owner seeks it because it is of value. So every soul, however degraded by sin, is in God's sight accounted precious. As the coin bears the image and superscription of the reigning power, so man at his creation bore the image and superscription of God; and though now marred and dim through the influence of sin, the traces of this inscription remain upon every soul. God desires to recover that soul and to retrace upon it His own image in righteousness and holiness"  Christ's Object Lessons pg. 194

This simple truth remains, God loves everyone, even those who have no feeling, no real sense, that they walk the wrong path, and in order for these "coins" to be found we need to have that same love for them in our hearts.

Looking for You

"Seeking the Lost Sheep in the Mountains"
courtesy La Vista Church of Christ

God is looking for you, even if we don't think we are worth the effort.

There is one fact that I want you to be perfectly clear about, and that is that God loves you.  We have heard people say a lot about God loving the world (if we hear even that much), and often lose sight of the fact that He loves us as  individuals.  It doesn't matter what we have done, or even what we are doing right now, He still loves us; loves me; loves you.

Many stories exist that, in one way or another, try to illustrate that love.  The one I read most recently involves a man who owned some sheep, a hundred of them to be exact.  Now at the end of the day when he brought all the sheep in from grazing, it seems as though one was missing.  He counts again, and sure enough, only ninety-nine sheep.  He could have thought that it was too much trouble to go out into the darkness to find this one sheep.  He could have thought that the lost sheep will get what it deserves for wandering away.  He could have thought up so many excuses not to go out, but instead he chose to look for that one lost sheep.

A storm started to brew, but that did not deter him.  It only served to increase the earnestness of his search.  Despite the darkness of the night and the danger of the path, he searches until at long last he hears the faint sound of his lost sheep.  He can tell that if he doesn't get to it soon it will be too late, and with great joy he at last finds it.  He doesn't scold or punish the sheep, but rather takes it in his arms and brings it to the place of safety.  It didn't matter what the sheep had done, he was simply glad to bring it home.

One writer put it this way

"Desponding soul, take courage, even though you have done wickedly. Do not think that perhaps God will pardon your transgressions and permit you to come into His presence. God has made the first advance. While you were in rebellion against Him, He went forth to seek you. With the tender heart of the shepherd He left the ninety and nine and went out into the wilderness to find that which was lost."  Christ's Object Lessons pgs. 188-189

One of the greatest lies going around is the one that states that we have gone too far, committed too many sins to be loved by a holy God, but that could not be further from the truth.  However far we have gone, He will go even farther to bring us to Him.  Don't worry about trying to fix yourself ahead of time, simply allow yourself to be found, and He will find you because He is looking for you.

Considering His Love

Psalm 107:43 Whoever is wise, let him heed these things and consider the great love of the LORD.

Regardless of the situation we find ourselves in, we can consider God's love, and know that He wants to deliver us.

Psalm 107 is basically a series of scenarios. There is no specific historical connection for these scenarios so it's best to take them in a general, illustrative sense. A theme that runs through all these scenarios is that people found themselves in negative situations and God came to their aid. It is interesting to note that of the four situations mentioned, two of them came as a result of the people's own foolishness. In one case their negative situation came as a result of direct rebellion against God, yet God saved them when they cried out to Him. In the other, the rebellion is there but is more generalized, yet the deliverance is still the same. In fact, upon closer examination, verses 6, 13, 19, and 28 are almost exactly the same. I decided to look up those verses in the original Hebrew and discovered that aside from a slight variation in verse 28, they are exactly the same. All the key words are the same, the differences in the NIV came by way of translation. Therefore, the thought is quite clear. If you cry out to the LORD, He will deliver you from your distress.

This comes as great comfort to me because, like many people, I have things that distress me. Some of these things came as a result of my own rebellion, and some simply came upon me like a storm. Whatever the case, I can take heed to the things I read in Psalm 107 and consider God's great love for me that if I cry out to Him, He will deliver me from my distress.