Parenting: The Many Worlds of a Parent

 Deuteronomy 4:9-13

One hot summer afternoon a little girl went running into the house, swimming suit still wet. She had a strange look on her face. She had been swimming with friends. A teen-age boy had joined them. They had played water tag. Then he took them to some trees and asked if he could lick their toes. At that point the little girl ran for home.

This is what she said to her mother: "I didn't know what to do. Linda thought it was funny, but I didn't want him to. It made me feel .... I don't know."

A mother sighed with great relief. Her child had trusted her own inner feelings. And although this incident may not have turned threatening, there are times when a child's survival depends on listening to the small voice inside and trusting that voice.

The home is where we learn to do that. The family is the place where we "catch" what it means to trust that who we are and what we are is good. Healthy children know what they feel.

It's tough being a family today. And the family is changing once again. For the first time in 140 years the family is growing larger in America. No, people are not having more kids. Kids are coming home -- and often with grandchildren. After watching the Walton's all those years, many families are having a chance to try it out themselves.

And the family is again at the center of attention in our national political agenda. The violence in our cities forces us to look again at the family as the indispensable unit of a civilized society. But the importance of the family is never in doubt in the Bible. Moses' farewell speech, before the tribes of Israel enter the promised land, resounds with a family focus. Concerning God's laws, Moses declares, "make them known to your children and your children's children.... Assemble the people for me, and I will let them hear my words, so that they may learn to fear me as long as they live on the earth, and may teach their children so" (4:9-10).

Moses' words went right to the heart of their need. If they are to be a nation, the family will be the place where the teaching, the commands, and the will of God shall be passed to the generations that follow. The future of our nation does not rest with a handful of political leaders who make and sign laws. Our nation's future will survive or fail in our homes and families.

A home is where a child is listened to. How many times has this happened? A child comes home from school unhappy, throws down his books and declares that school is really lousy. And Parent says: "You think you have it so bad. Why, when I was your age I had to walk to school in the snow (Grandparent adds how many miles in the snow). And I had to earn my spending money (brief description of capitalism). And we didn't have (here follows long list of computer games, etc.). And we had four hours of homework every night."