I am awed, humbled, and occasionally overwhelmed by the responsibility of raising children. Parenting is hard work, and it is something that I do imperfectly on a regular basis. As I write about the books I am reading and my views on parenting, one of my biggest fears is that people will mistakenly believe that I have it all figured out, or that I'm judging other people. I'm not. The truth is, I fail regularly. I very strongly believe in certain things- like attachment parenting, gentle discipline, and applying my faith to how I treat my children- but I am nowhere close to perfect, and I mess up just like everyone else. Sometimes I am too harsh. Sometimes I yell. Sometimes I am out of control. When I face my own imperfection, there is no room for pride in myself or judgment of others.
Although I realize I will never be perfect, I will continue to try to be the kind of parent I believe God wants me to be. My prayer is that the fruit of the Spirit will shine through in all areas of my life, including how I interact with, raise, and discipline my children. I will continue to move toward the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control spoken of in Scripture, and I will continue to speak out about parenting practices (especially Christian-endorsed parenting methods) that are not characterized by these things.
The reason I write about my views on parenting and the books I am reading is simple: I am trying to continually stay focused on the kind of parent I want to be. If I can encourage other parents along the way, that is wonderful. But my primary goal is to move closer and closer to being a parent who reflects the heart of God.
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