Today my pastor/husband preached out of Psalm 101 on the importance of godly companions. He especially emphasized this to the teenagers in our congregation. He and I are smack in the middle of this parenting gig, so by no means do we feel that we have it all figured out. (If anyone does, would they please give me a call??) The truth is, we are constantly looking to the Bible and prayer as we continue on this journey called “parenting.”
I Corinthians 15:33 says: “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
Just this one verse alone, if heeded, could save many a parent some heartache. How does it play out?
1. Homeschooling is an option– but even if you don’t homeschool, you can still make sure that you are “home socializing.” In other words, make sure that most of your kid’s social time is spent with YOUR FAMILY. In YOUR HOME. Plan family activities and make your home a fun place to be. I was recently talking to a friend and she said, “My son can’t stand being at home. He’s always looking for somewhere to go on the weekend.” My teenagers are normal kids and enjoy spending time with their friends, but every Friday they come from school and say “What are we (as in our family) going to do this weekend?” There’s hardly nothing my sixteen year old daughter would rather do than curl up on the couch in our living room and watch old movies with us.
2. Know what they’re up to– This means, not letting your kids have unlimited cell phones and/or texting. This also means keeping tabs on their Facebook or Myspace pages. I actually joined Facebook so I could be in the “know.” (And it’s been a lot of fun catching up with some of MY old friends in the process!) I am always shocked at what’s being said on some kid’s pages. I KNOW these kids wouldn’t be talking like this if their parents were standing in the room. But on Facebook, they feel unchecked. I even have the passwords to all of my kid’s email accounts and check them periodically. My kids understand that all of these things are PRIVLEGES and not rights and that I can suspend any of it at anytime if I feel that God has been dishonored or their testimony is in jeopardy.
3. Make sleep overs the exception and not the rule. Really, why do kids need to spend the night with each other? Late night gatherings often end in snarky gossip, mischief and hurt feelings. Let your son or daughter stay late at their friend’s homes and then bring them home at 10 or 11 to sleep under your own roof. I’ll occasionally allow a sleepover in our home, but very rarely do our kids spend the night somewhere else. We’ve actually let the kids sleepover at a friend’s house a couple of times over the past few years and we’ve gotten burned. One of my children watched a movie that we would have NEVER normally allowed in our own home.
4. Don’t let your kids date until they’re old enough to start thinking about marriage. I’ve talked about this before. You can read the old post because I still stand behind every word of it.
Junk food is delicious, but you would die if you were on a steady diet of it. Some secular music can be great fun, but your soul would shrivel up without praise and worship. Silly times with friends can be swell, but your parenting will take a serious hit if you allow your kid’s to consistently hang with kids who don’t come from homes that share your views on authority and godliness.
This is all hard work, but no one ever promised that parenting would be easy did they? Stay the course, friends and never stop praying.
And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. Galatians 6:9
thisonesforthegirls.wordpress.com 