Title
Raising Children On Purpose
Helping Your Children Find Their God-given Calling
Author
Wesley H. Fleming
Publisher
Whitaker House
Review
Are you tired of trying to raise Christian children in a society that has forgotten its Christian roots? Do you sometimes feel like you’re drowning in a sea of confusion and you wish someone—anyone—would throw you a life jacket?
That’s just what Fleming does in Raising Children on Purpose.
In Raising Children on Purpose, Fleming encourages parent to:
- Pay attention to their children’s natural likes and dislikes,
- Meet their children’s emotional needs through protection, acceptance, recognition, availability, and support,
- Set boundaries,
- Help develop a healthy relationship with God,
- Avoid inserting pressure or guilt to motivate children into action, and
- Pray without ceasing and with great purpose—for God’s will and protection on the lives of their children.
And how do we do that?
We do that by following the Word of God, by praying for understanding and wisdom, and by reading Fleming’s book. In
Raising Children on Purpose, Fleming helps us understand how to put those six principles into action by:
- Sharing personal stories,
- Offering backup through statistics and Biblical verses,
- Providing applicable solutions to real issues, and
- Offering checklists and questionnaires designed to help us further our understanding.
While the ultimate goal of Fleming's book is to help our children find their God-given callings, his book offered peace of mind in an
area I’ve been struggling with this past year.
As I read through Raising Children on Purpose, I couldn’t help but smile because much of what Fleming says hit home—his concepts
are actually concepts we’ve been applying in our family for years; only we didn’t have a name for it.
Yet, there is one area I’ve been struggling with and that’s giving my teenage son more growing space. While we’ve always been good at
giving our children choices and allowing them to choose from a list of appropriate choices, I’ve been having a rather difficult time
watching him grow up into a young man who doesn’t need his parents quite so much. Backing off isn’t easy—even when we keep that watchful
eye over him.
But a quote from Fleming hit home for me. He said, “God’s perfect plan is for you to lead your children into their unique destinies.”
Fleming goes on to say, “We develop self-control in our children by giving away control.” And the control we give away is determined by
us and the choices we give our children. As long as we “enforce the limits” we can never give our children “more freedom than (they) can
handle responsibly.”
I’m to lead my children. I’m to help them develop the abilities to think for themselves, to make choices for themselves, to be able to
handle right from wrong, and to know when to call in the big guns—God, parents, and other adult authorities. I’m not supposed to hinder
my children by making it difficult to stand on their own two feet. I’m not supposed to stop them from fulfilling their God-given
destinies just because I fear the “empty nest syndrome”.
To Sum It Up
In the end, I was reminded that while parenting is tough, letting go is often tougher. But if we teach our children to think for
themselves, at a young age, then they will grow into mature, responsible, healthy, happy adults and who could ask for more than that?
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About The Dabbling Mum:
Alyice Edrich is a freelance writer with a love for finding "ah ha moments"…even if the writers didn’t intend
to put them there! Visit her at AlyiceEdrich.com
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