It can feel so overwhelming to be a parent… If you can't get them to toss their clothes in the dirty clothes hamper how on earth are you going to get them to do the really important things in life well?  On most days, if you're like me, you struggle just to make it through the day, let alone accomplish something besides surviving! 

Sometimes when life itself is a challenge, it can be hard to think about the finish line of parenting.  What do you want your children to know before they leave your home?  What values in life are the most important?  How do they learn to make wise decisions and recognize the symptoms of foolish ones?  One of the best ways I know of, is to take time to clarify for yourself what were the most important lessons you've had to learn in life and what the values are that you want your children to hold to.  If you create even a short list of important things to focus on, you'll be much more likely to be successful than just drifting along without any clear destination or plan.

Perhaps one of the easiest examples I can share with you of how we approached parenting with purpose in our home, would be in relationship to teaching our children about marriage.  I came from a family that had two generations of divorce.  My grandmother was divorced in the 1930's and my own home was destroyed by divorce in the 1960's (when almost no one else was divorced).  I experienced firsthand its devastating effects and didn't want my children or grandchildren to experience it for themselves.  

I realized that I didn't learn algebra by accident and very few important lessons in life would be best taught by accident either!  So, in addition to the basics of brushing their teeth, keeping a clean house and learning how to learn in school, I wanted to make sure they could recognize what makes a good marriage in the first place.  Then what it would take to make their marriages grow and thrive.  I realized I needed to learn before I could teach them!  I read books, listened to wonderful resources like Focus on the Family (www.family.org), Family Life (www.familylife.org) and tried to put into practice what I was learning in my own life.  In many ways, I simply taught them what I was learning, but at an age appropriate level.

Children learn in a lot of ways, and of course the best way is by observing our lives. If Mom snipes at Dad behind his back, they learn it's okay to disrespect your husband if you disagree with him.  If Mom and Dad have a disagreement, but show their children that they can argue without being disrespectful, they teach them valuable skills of conflict resolution.   If we have a loving marriage, they learn what one looks and feels like, and how husbands and wives should treat each other. 

Hopefully by watching our marital interactions they won't be likely to settle for a relationship that is distant and strained, or be attracted to someone who is negative and critical.  One warning, when you teach by example, you'd better make sure you "practice what you preach!"  because they sure quickly notice when our words don't match up with our actions!

Another of our clear purposes in parenting was to make sure our children understood the difference between wisom and foolishness.  We wanted to help them connect the dots of cause and effect, i.e. foolish choice "A" led to the consequences "B, C & D."  Wise choice "A" led to these successes.  On the foolish side of the equation, they observed someone in our lives have an affair, get pregnant, get divorced, marry the individual they had an affair with and then saw the consequences to their life and the lives of their children.  We discussed in advance what was likely to happen and why.  They correctly anticipated the problems that would inevitably come and because they had been discussed in advance, really observed the consequences and remembered the lessons they taught. 

A positive lesson they learned from observing wise decisions was watching their cousin and her husband delay gratification and live simply in order to complete their college educations.  They lived in a tiny apartment, drove old cars, and didn't go shopping for new clothes and luxuries for what felt to them like a really long season.  Yet our girls saw how short the time really was and how quickly the time passed.  Once they both graduated, their careers opened up and they began to see the fruits of their wise choices, including their cousin being able to be achieve the desire of her heart and be a stay-at-home Mom. 

We're real people, and we've experienced our share of failures as well as success on this long road of parenting.  Keep in mind that children are a 30 year crop.  If you missed that post, you can read it here.  Knowing in advance the values you hope to instill in your children makes you much more likely to seize an opportunity for a discussion when it presents itself.  We found that little by little, through big discussions and little observations our children's values have been formed.  Life has tested them, our children have even challenged them at times and as each has passed into young adulthood we've experienced the joy of finding that our values have truly become their own. 

What's your purpose, your goal as a parent?  May God grant you the wisdom to discern it, the creativity to communicate it and great success in achieving it!

Audrey Jeanne Roberts