1 of 1

Key Bible Verse: Fathers, do not exasperate your children. (Ephesians 6:4, NIV) Dig Deeper: Psalm 144:12

Not long ago Bridget and I sat up until well after midnight talking, praying, and weeping over the state of our family. Our [homeschooled] children were in school from 9 in the morning until as late as 7 some nights. Much of our effort was geared toward preparing them to get into a good college. They were doing work at levels far beyond anything most children their age could imagine. However, our home was tense all the time, and we had very little time for anything but school.

The next morning we told our kids there would be no school that day. We spent the day talking, laughing, praying, and playing. We told our children how sorry we were for the way things had gotten.

We were still committed to the stewardship of their minds. However, we start school at 9:30 and are done by 2:30. We get up in the mornings, take our time at breakfast, go for walks, have family worship, and soak in the day.

Bridget and I had to admit that much of what we were doing was geared toward achieving the American dream at the expense of weightier matters. What good would it be for our children to go to the best colleges if we neglected to take advantage of the time we have with them?

—Voddie Baucham Jr. in Family Driven Faith

My Response: How have my own expectations for my children gotten in the way of my need to simply love and encourage them?

Thought to Apply: Live so that when your children think of fairness and integrity, they think of you.—H. Jackson Brown Jr. (writer)

Adapted from Family Driven Faith (Crossway, 2007) by permission; All rights reserved by the copyright holder and/or the publisher. May not be reproduced.

Copyright © 2010 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

 1 of 1

share this page

Prayer for the Week

Heavenly Father, show me how to truly care about the details of my children's lives; help me to be patient with their immaturity; guide me as I seek to discipline in God-honoring ways; help me to always love them unconditionally.

				Try an Issue of Men of Integrity Free! Name Street Address City/State/Zip E-mail Address No credit card required. Please allow 4-6 weeks for delivery. Offer valid in U.S. only. Click here for International orders. If you decide you want to keep Men of Integrity coming, honor your invoice for just $19.95 and receive five more issues, a full year in all. If not, simply write "cancel" across the invoice and return it. The trial issue is yours to keep, regardless. Give Men of Integrity as a gift Buy 1 gift subscription, get 1 FREE!

FREE Newsletter Sign up for the Men of Integrity Newsletter (All fields required)    RSS Feed   RSS Help