Parenting Made Simple

As a parent of three young children, trying to raise them in a home where the Gospel is central, I found this advice by Kevin DeYoung providing the needed, humor, realism, and encouragement I need.

Hope you do as well. The post is here.

Here's a couple of excerpts that showcase the nice balance of needed humor and encouragement.

It’s all so involved. There are so many rules and expectations. Kids can’t even eat sugar anymore. My parents were a solid as rock but we still had a cupboard populated with cereal royalty like Captain Crunch and Count Chocula. In our house the pebbles were fruity and the charms were lucky. The breakfast bowl was a place for marshmallows, not dried camping fruit. Our milk was 2%. And sometimes, if we needed to take the edge off a rough morning, we’d tempt fate and chug a little Vitamin D.

I could be wrong. My kids are still young. Maybe this no-theory is a theory of its own. I just know that the longer I parent the more I want to focus on doing a few things really well, and not get too passionate about all the rest. I want to spend time with my kids, teach them the Bible, take them to church, laugh with them, cry with them, discipline them when they disobey, say sorry when I mess up, and pray like crazy. I want them to look back and think, “I’m not sure what my parents were doing or if they even knew what they’re were doing. But I always knew my parents loved me and I knew they loved Jesus.” Maybe it’s not that complicated after all.