 Day 10: Planting SeedsProverbs 4:11-12 I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. My wife once planted a vegetable garden and, every day, she would water her tomatoes, pull out weeds, and watch for predatory worms and snails. She trained her tomatoes to climb a trellis and tenderly drew them back if they were turning one way or the other. That’s a picture of parenting as an everyday process. One of our sons went through a phase requiring discipline multiple times a day (often for the same offense). It was exhausting to deal with the tantrums, deception, and defiance. But one day at the breakfast table, my sons commented that I hadn’t had to discipline them all year long. That claim was not entirely accurate, but the moments had thankfully grown fewer and farther between.
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 How do you parent a child through tragedy, loss, and pain? Is there an answer or are we left to figure it out on our own? Join AMBrewster as he gives Christian parents hope in suffering. Check out 5 Ways to Support TLP. Click here for our free Parenting Course! Click here for Today’s Episode Notes and Transcript. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Instagram. Follow us on Twitter. Follow AMBrewster on Twitter. Pin us on Pinterest. Subscribe to us on YouTube. Need some help? Write to us at Counselor@TruthLoveParent.com. Click "Read More" for today’s Episode Notes and Transcript.
 Day 9: ProtectionProverbs 4:5-6 Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. Our family recently welcomed a baby girl into the world. After three boys, God finally gave us a girl. And as her father, the experience is vastly different. Right now, my little girl may look the same as all the boys (apart from the fancy pink clothes). She poops and pees the same and squawks and waves her arms around. She sleeps the same as they did. Yet I personally experience a different feeling when I hold her. It finally struck me one day that the difference was not her, but me. I felt more tenderness for my baby girl and a greater desire to protect her. I worried about her more than I worried about my boys. Whether it’s because she was a helpless infant or my first little girl, I was more concerned for her protection.
 Day 8: AuthorityProverbs 27:5-6 Better is open rebuke than hidden love. Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. Dads, let your words reflect God’s holy Word. Be able to say to your children: “Keep my instruction” in the same breath as you say, “Receive God’s wisdom.” Let them know that if they please the Lord, then they also please you. You are a spokesman for God, not yourself, and especially not for them. Your children, however, will often test parental authority with the penetrating question: “Why?”
“Go wash your hands before supper, dear.” “Why?” “It’s time for bed.” “Why?” “Clean up your room, please.” “Why?” Now certainly as parents we want to encourage curiosity. We want our children asking “Why?” of the world. Yet their knee-jerk response of asking, “Why?” is too often just a clever attempt to disobey.  Day 7: Heart DesiresProverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Dads, have you ever noticed what upsets you? Your wife asks you to take out the trash and you get angry. You gripe and complain, then afterwards think: “Where did that come from?” Or you’re driving in the fast lane, content to go the speed limit and some car tries to pass you on the right. So what do you do? You hit the gas (because now it’s a race that you must win). Yet your accelerating opponent has the element of surprise and cuts you off. As you slam on the brakes, you curse him out (under your breath, of course, because you’re a Christian). Dads, why do you yell at your kids for being late? Or why does your toddler smack his brother in the head with a fire truck? Why does your teenager stomp off to her room and slam the door? “What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?"
 Parents enjoy so many amazing experiences, but it’s possible they hold the most beautiful part of parenting in disdain. Join AMBrewster as he helps Christian parents understand the depth and beauty of the best (and hardest) parts of parenting. The First Step to Being a Good Parent Check out 5 Ways to Support TLP. Discover the following episodes by clicking the titles or navigate to the episode in your app: “Parenting in Christ” series (starts in episode 241) “Parenting Like the Holy Spirit” (episode 123) “There is No Formula for Parenting | Jim Newheiser Interview” (episode 110) Click here for our free Parenting Course! Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Instagram. Follow us on Twitter. Follow AMBrewster on Twitter. Pin us on Pinterest. Subscribe to us on YouTube. Need some help? Write to us at Counselor@TruthLoveParent.com. Click "Read More" for today’s Episode Notes and Transcript.
 Day 6: GuidanceProverbs 1:5 Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance. Many fathers enjoy playing ball with their sons, and our house is no exception. We are often playing catch in the front yard, basketball in the driveway, football on any spare piece of carpet, and (much to my wife’s consternation) broom hockey in the front entryway. Yet even as we play for fun, the coach in me sometimes calls, “Timeout,” to give some guidance: “Catch the ball with two hands. Follow through on your passes. That’s a double-dribble.” Guidance requires the recognition of wrong behavior and the wisdom to correct it.
 Day 5: Prudence, Knowledge, and DiscretionProverbs 1:4 To give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth. Like many parents, I cannot count the times I’ve shouted after my retreating boys, “Shut the door!” Always in a hurry to reach their destination, they neglect to finish the task behind them. Certainly their folly is a symptom of forgetfulness, but an even greater folly concerns me as their father. I must teach them to shut the door of their mind after truth has entered in. Thus Proverbs 1:4 introduces still more blessings in God’s Word: “To give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth.” This verse describes two types of people who most need wisdom: the simple and the young. And dads, you must realize that your children are both.
As simpletons, their gullible minds are a literal open space to be crammed with anything and everything (see 14:15a). Being “open-minded” may sound virtuous to a pluralistic society, yet according to Scripture is a dangerous condition. Picture a house with the front door swinging wide open . . .  Kristen Jenson, founder of Protect Young Minds and best-selling author of Good Pictures Bad Pictures: Porn-Proofing Today’s Young Kids, joins AMBrewster to discuss her books and how Christian parents can prepare their children to respond biblically to pornography. Join the TLP Family for your copy of "The Biblical Companion Guide to Good Pictures Bad Pictures." Follow Protect Young Minds here: Website Protect Young Minds article: Healthy Sex vs. Porn Sex: 7 Crucial Comparisons to Teach Your Kid (Before XXX Hijacks Their Future) Fight the New Drug article Check out 5 Ways to Support TLP. Discover the following episodes by clicking the titles or navigating to the episode in your app: “Parents, Kids, and Techtation” (episode 25) “A Prediction Concerning Sexuality in America” (episode 28) “Transgenderism is Child Abuse” (TLP Snippet #5) “The Nashville Statement” (TLP Snippet #10) “How to Parent a ‘Me Too’” (TLP Snippet #11) “Help, I Just Found My Child with Porn! | what to do when your child’s deliberately or accidentally exposed to sexuality” (episode 147) “Apps You Thought Were Safe for Your Kids, But Aren’t” (episode 88) Like TLP on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Follow AMBrewster on Twitter. Follow us on Pinterest. Subscribe on YouTube. Need some help? Write to us at Counselor@TruthLoveParent.com.
 Day 4: Righteousness, Justice, and EquityProverbs 1:3 To receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity. The other day, one of my boys struck his brother with malicious intent because he wanted the toy that his brother was not sharing. He then spit out the most horrible insult he could conjure: “You’re not my best friend.” His sense of fairness had been violated, so he sought to make things right by force. Realize dads, that you are often called upon as judge and jury because your children are infinitely creative in finding ways to fight. Study Proverbs, therefore, “to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity” (1:3). “To receive instruction” again restates the need for “discipline” (v. 2a) and “wise dealing” describes the discernment and insight to reason your way through complex situations. Discernment is . . .
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