"Christian childrearing is a pastoral pursuit, not an organizational challenge....
The more children you have, the more you need to be pastorally minded. Look to each of
their souls and their needs. If you are focused on upkeep of the house and the schedule,
as long as your child is not interrupting you, you don't worry about it.
If you are being a parent who is pastorally minded, you will stop whatever it is
you are doing to go see how your daughter is up in her bedroom....
you are doing to go see how your daughter is up in her bedroom....
Be a pastor to your children. Study them. Seek them out.
Sacrifice the thing you were doing to work through minor emotional issues....
[W]hile your children are little, cultivate an attitude of sacrifice.
Sacrifice your peace for their fun, your clean kitchen floor for their help cracking eggs,
your quiet moment for their long retelling of a dream that a friend of theirs allegedly had.
Prioritize your children far and away above the other work you need to get done.
They are the only part of the work that really matters."
from Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches,
by Rachel Jankovic, pgs. 50, 51
Yes! This sounds just like what Daniel is always telling me.
ReplyDeleteWhen our children were little, my husband would remind me that he didn't care as much what chores got done or what condition the house was in as he cared what condition the children's hearts and minds were in.
ReplyDelete