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What do you remember from your childhood? The times when you experienced special accomplishments? The difficult times that you didn’t know how you were going to get through? Chances are, you also remember the people that you shared these moments with…including your parents. Your parents were with you when you got the “A” in that most difficult class (they probably played an important role in your grade!). And they were walking with you during those dark days. Their presence was so important during your growing up years.

A couple of months ago I wrote that when it comes to parenting, who you are matters more than what you do. This is because who you are, even more than what you do, helps to shape your kids into the people that they will become. I identified 10 traits that Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott write about in their book, The Parent You Want to Be. Let’s look at 3 of them…

I don’t know if you’ve noticed it but we live in a culture that is pushing us toward bigger and, at the same time, scripture is constantly calling us to smaller. If you have wrestled with bigness (desire to be known, desire to grow your business or ministry or reputation or…), .then you can breathe a sigh of relief today in knowing that God is looking for vanishing leaders. He’s looking for men and women who are going to understand that their life goal is not to become bigger but, instead, to become smaller and ultimately to just disappear altogether. 

We spend a lot of years in the classroom…more than we realize. Certainly, we spend the years it takes to finish high school…and college…and graduate school. That’s a lot of hours spent with teachers. Many different subjects taught. Many different skills learned. When you consider it, the teachers that you have over your lifetime exert a lot of influence on you. And not just in teaching the content that the course demands.

Who they are influences you, too. Because, like it or not, your teachers also are role models for you. They influence your ideas of right and wrong, important and unimportant, etc. They have helped shape you into the person you are today.

My wife and I love to have adult time. When you have 2 little ones, both of you have jobs, and you have developed a dependence on sleep (gotta have at least 5 hrs. a night!), time together and time with other adults is a much desired luxury. We love to get together with our small group and talk… about anything! Small group time centers around whatever we’re studying but inevitably it also centers around each other’s lives. Reconnecting and sharing. Laughing and praying. 

We have been blessed to be a part of a group made of excellent parents. We are so blessed to get to “talk shop” and learn from others who are on the journey of parenthood. We have gotten helpful hints and super strategies for everything from meal time to bedtime and from discipline to potting training. So many ways to be better parents.