Sharing tips from a book I reviewed:
Overcoming Negative Family Patterns–Raising Kids Who Love God and Themselves–Creating a Grace Filled Home.
God’s promise to you is found in an old proverb: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
When a child comes into your home, he or she doesn’t come with an owner’s manual, warranty, or guarantee. Nobody sent us to parent—training school.
This book won’t give you easy answers, but it does offer a road map, one drawn by God himself, who made caring for your family your highest calling on earth.
Is your parenting working? It will never be perfect, but it is supposed to be working.
For now, be aware that you may need to use the word “no” more than you would like in order to raise your kids to be responsible adults.”
Frankly, you can’t do much about the decisions of your spouse, or even your kids when they reach a certain age. Make decisions about your own life.
You can choose to recover from your family’s past or repeat it.
The author admits that there is alcoholism on both sides of his family. His choice is either to recover or repeat, so he chooses not to drink.
Dan Chun is a good friend of the author and a pastor in Honolulu. Several years ago, he was looking to hire a youth worker for his church and called the author for some suggestions. The author gave him two names: an all-star youth worker and the other were yet unproven. Dan decided not to take the all-star. He told the author he only hires broken people to minister in his congregation.
Bill Hubels has written about coming to a place in his life where he needed to make some changes if his ministry relationship to his wife, and his role as a father were going to be successful.
He wrote, “there was no way he could continue to lead, teach, feed and grow his church with so many broken pieces rattling inside him.
