Children are like shopping carts...

I totally copied this from my friend Amy. No original thoughts from me, though Amy and I have spent years discussing this! What a friend! (And, BTW, this explains why we want to have a stay-at-home mom situation and home school if at all possible)



Children are like shopping carts. Actually I think that all children are like broken shopping carts!

You know how you go into the store in a hurry and end upwith a shopping cart that the wheel is "broken" so it pulls the opposite direction of where you're trying to push it? That's what children are like. Their "pull" might not be very noticeable at first, but too soon you realize that you feel like you are constantly being challenged as you attempt to steer "the cart"(i.e. child) in the direction you want it to go!



There are some ways to handle this dilemma:

1) Return the shopping cart and get a new one- only we're talking about our children and there are no returns or exchanges!

2) Keep"pushing" the cart and hope it gets better with time or distance-only they don't get better, they grow older and even more challenging!

3) Take the time to correct the pull- it will take time and lots of energy and patience and skill and help, and you'll have to give up your idea of "going on a quick trip to the store" (i.e. a leisurely self fulfilling comfortable life!) and focus on the important task at hand- that of "training your shopping cart" in the way it should go!

4) Know in advance that all shopping carts are broken (i.e. all have sinned, even babies and children, and come short of the glory of God!) This knowledge will cause you to approach your whole shopping trip (i.e. life) and your shopping cart (i.e. children) with greater wisdom, patience, and humility. It should lead you to develop skills and have the tools in hand to be able to roll up your sleeves and train your "shopping cart" from the very beginning to Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind,and strength and to love your neighbor as you love yourself!



This last option will take a lot longer and is much more difficult at first than the other options. However, we are all in a store (i.e. life) and everyone is a broken shopping cart (i.e. sinner). God calls and equips His children to walk in the newness of Life His Son gives us -with less pulling the wrong way and more pulling the right way so that He can reveal to all the other shoppers how their cart is "broken", how He has the right way, and how He will help fix the brokenness (i.e. God's Holy Spirit convicts the worldof sin, righteousness, and judgment so they might come to Jesus as Savior andLord)!



There are SOOO many verses God gave us in His Word to address the issues related to training your children, but here are a few:

1) Titus 3 where it talks about how older women help the younger women love their husbands, love their children, and care for their homes

2) Train up a child in the way he should go.... Proverbs are jammed packed with wisdomand instruction in how to train children

3) My life is not my own, I was bought with a price- therefore glorify God with your body-and everything... we give up ourselves so that we might bring glory to God- one of the major ways we bring glory toGod is by training our children!

4) When Jesus was asked what is the greatest commandment, He replied, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all yourstrength. And the second is like it, Love your neighbor as you love yourself." This sums up and incorporates all of Jesus' teaching. We would do well to find out for ourselves what Jesus means by this, what it involves, and then live it and teach it to our children for we will be held accountable before God someday how we followed Jesus ourselves and how we fulfilled our ultimate job as parents- to teach our children about God and instruct them in His ways and live it out for them!