On Training Children

What we want to do with our children is not merely to control them and keep them in order, but to implant true principles deep in their hearts which shall rule their whole lives; to shape their character from within into Christlike beauty, and to make of them noble men and women, strong for battle and for duty. 

They are to be trained rather than governed.  Growth of character, not merely good behavior, is the object of all home governing and teaching. 

Therefore the home influence is far more important than the home laws, and the parents’ lives are of more moment than their teachings.       –J.R. Miller, The Family, 1882

On Having Babies

For a Christian, having babies is not about birthing pains, changing diapers or baking cookies (though it includes all of these).  Having babies is about transforming the world forever.   This investment will last, not for thirty years, not for my lifetime, but f-o-r-e-v-e-r.  The investment is realized on earth and pays dividends for eternity.  On earth, we pray that these children will advance the very kingdom of God.  But in heaven, the souls of every redeemed child will stand with me throughout eternity before the Lord Jesus.  The pressures of today (be they financial, physical, etc.) that taunt Christians to self-consciously distort God’s fruitful purpose for the womb, and to separate life from love, will seem infinitesimally small as we look back upon this whisper of a life with our children beside us in eternity.

My children can have more far-reaching implications for society and posterity than anything else I can do.  Having babies and training children for Jesus Christ means my life work will last forever.  I refuse to accept the minimizing, selfish, materialistic, and limited vision of womanhood dispensed by the apostles of modernity and relevancy in this generation.  My dream is far greater.                                                – Beall Phillips

On Criticism

We can learn from our critics, either because what they’re saying is true—or because of the way we respond when it isn’t.        - Jim Bob Duggar

A Wise Reminder

An inexperienced, immature child should not be expected to do a job as well as an experienced, mature, perfectionistic parent.              – S. M. Davis

The above quote pops into my head on occasion—usually occasions when I need a wise reminder.

Like today.

Perhaps, dear mother, you need a wise reminder as well.  (I can’t be the only one???)

May the Lord help us teach our young ones in patience and kindness.

A Sacred and Holy Trust

A friend recently shared the following quote, which I found too lovely and motivational to keep to myself.  May the Lord give us eager hearts and hands.

Oh that God would give every mother a vision of the glory and splendor of the work that is given to her when a babe is placed in her bosom to be nursed and trained!  Could she have but one glimpse into the future of that life as it reaches on into eternity; could she look into its soul to see its possibilities; could she be made to understand her own personal responsibility for the training of this child, for the development of its life, and for its destiny, she would see that in all God’s world there is no other work so noble and so worthy of her best powers, and she would commit to no others’ hands the sacred and holy trust given to her.                                                                             ~ J.R. Miller, Homemaking