This post is part of an ongoing series about parenting and proverbs. Our goal is to make specific application of the first 9 chapters of Proverbs to the issues parents face with their children. Every Christian parent wants to see his children protected and guarded by God’s wisdom, especially as they grow older and begin their own lives away from home. The book of Proverbs has much to say about this biblical and good desire. We have already looked at the first 5 verses of Chapter Two which focus on the importance man’s effort to know the wisdom of God. Now in verses 6-11, Solomon turns to the sovereign grace of God in protecting and guarding young hearts. Please […]
Monthly Archives: June 2011
6 posts
Weariness is certainly no stranger to a parent whose child is wide-awake in the middle of the night. That is why the book, Go the ____ to Sleep, has been such an instant retail success. It is currently number two on the Amazon best-selling book list. For a Christian, however, recognizing weariness should bring great hope. Why? Because Jesus says “Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
We have been discussing how to respond to children who are awake in the middle of the night. One important consideration is to be clear that the behavioral issues with our children are always connected to hearts—their hearts and our hearts. In other words, all the behaviors occurring throughout the day are not random, disconnected events. They all have to do with God—and with your heart. The upset your son had with his little sister in the morning is somehow connected with anger at the dog in the afternoon. It may even impact his ability to get to sleep that night. This is even more to the point if you are unaware of the problems with his sister or the […]
It is 3 a.m. You finally got your three-year-old to sleep at 2 a.m. Now you are awakened once again by the call of a wide-awake child. You can’t believe it! What do you say or do? This brings us to the second principle concerning children going to sleep—which is that all of your words are to acknowledge the commands of God that these instructions are to be deeply impressed on your heart so that you can speak about them to your children. Some of you are probably thinking I need a reality check. Just let the baby cry!!! But before we see how this command applies at 3 a.m., let’s take a few steps back in time to 9 […]
First of all, thanks to all of you for your comments. Thanks, too, to Laney for raising her concern. As you can tell from the comments received here, and from the popularity of the book referred to in the original post, the topic of infants and children going to sleep is on peoples’ minds!
This is the title of a parenting book that is currently ranked number eight of all books sold on Amazon. Previously, it has been ranked at number one. The book is all of 32 pages long. Each page has a short, witty verse which overlays some creative and appealing artwork built on the book’s theme: frustrated attempts to get a toddler to sleep. This attractive little book is written from the perspective of a sleep-deprived parent, desperately longing for his young daughter to finally nod off.