Do you have a game plan???????

Good morning guys and gals. Are you a parent? If so, do you have days or maybe weeks when you feel you are failing at it? Sometimes feeling like whatever you do it is wrong and you’re messing up. Well, I am having one of those weekends. After I finally got the kiddo's bedded down for the night I laid in bed and read and prayed. I prayed that God would show me how to be the father/daddy that He desires me to be. Let's dig into the good stuff and see what today's Bible verse tells us.........

Bible Verse: Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

This sounds easy right? Not!!! I think parents have been struggling with this since Cain and Able and you know how that worked out. I think back to my childhood and wonder why I am not a bank robber or something else crazy. I am not dogging my parents but, I wasn't raised in church nor in a house that taught about God. Saying that, I know my parents believed in God. They didn't get involved in going to church until I left for the military. I am telling you all this because it is so important these days to train our children up to know and yes, fear God. See, these days everything that's not nailed down, the devil is tearing up. Heck, even if it is nailed down, the devil is pulling nails as fast as he can. We must get in the trenches in raising our children, sometimes making hard decisions or being the bad guy or girl. I don't think it say's anywhere that you have to be always your child’s bestie! In the long run your children will thank you for having rules and lines that they are not allowed to cross. This sets up how they will be for the rest of their lives.

I hear some parents say "I am just tired of fighting them all the time." I get it, but if we fight the battles early and in the beginning. Then they will not be as epic as when we wait till they are teenagers. Today's Bible verse says it all. Ok, I will break it down Barney style for ya. If you get a puppy, do you wait till it is two or three years old to start house training it? Duh!! Of course not, you start when it is young. Takes a little bit of work in the beginning but, it usually sticks when they are older right? Now, we get to another hard part. People are going to possibly disagree with you or think maybe you are being too hard or have too many rules. They might even say that you need to be your children’s best friend and not they're dictator or rule maker. That takes me back to the days with my best friend in school. We were constantly getting in trouble with each other and doing the wrong things. We were still best friends though! I could go on for hours writing about this stuff but, if you have children or plan to have children. Look ahead at what you want from them and for them. Plan your parenthood as much as possible. Think about how you might deal with certain situations if they arise. If you have a game plan before they game, it makes play calling much easier during the game. Last, but definitly not least, PRAY!!!! Have a great day and God bless!