Parenting: The Joyful Impossibility

Paul David Tripp has been so helpful to us in parenting - not only helping us actually parent better but also helping us pay attention to our own hearts in parenting. I recommend reading everything you can find by him. Here is a portion of a recent article from the Gospel Coalition site.

Parenting: The Joyful Impossibility

It was eleven o’clock on a Sunday night, and I was pulling out of the grocery store parking lot exhausted and overwhelmed. After we had put our four children to bed, later than we had planned, Luella discovered that we had nothing in the house to pack for lunches the next day. With an attitude that couldn’t be described as joy, I got in the car and did the late-night food run. As I waited for the light to change so I could leave the parking lot and drive home, it all hit me. It seemed like I had been given an impossible job to do; I had been chosen to be the dad of four children.

It is humbling and a bit embarrassing to admit, but I sat in my car and dreamed of what it would be like to be single. No, I didn’t want to actually leave Luella and my children, but parenting seemed overwhelming at that point. I felt like I had nothing left to face the next day of a thousand sibling battles, a thousand authority encounters, a thousand reminders, a thousand warnings, a thousand corrections, a thousand discipline moments, a thousand explanations, a thousand times of talking about the presence and grace of Jesus, a thousand times of helping the children to look in the mirror of God’s Word and see themselves with accuracy, a thousands “please forgive me’s,” and a thousand “I love you’s.” It seemed impossible to be faithful to the task and have the time and energy to anything else...... Read the rest here: Parenting: The Joyful Impossibility

A Must Read for All Those Concerned for Our Nation's Critical Marriage Debate *

Do you want to be salt and light in a culture confused about truth? One of the most significant ways to do this is to be informed and equipped for the nation-wide discussion of the nature of marriage. The conclusions to this discussion will drastically determine the future of our country because the nature of the debate goes to the roots of law, justice, family, society and morality.

For starters, check out this excellent presentation by Robert P. George, Ryan T. Anderson and Sherif Girgis, “What Is Marriage?” published in the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy.

You can also follow the inevitable counter arguments and debate here:

• “The Argument Against Gay Marriage: And Why It Doesn’t Fail” (first response to Professor Yoshino)
• “Marriage: Merely a Social Construct?” (Response to Northwestern Law Professor Andy Koppelman)
• “Marriage: Real Bodily Union” (Response to Family Scholars blogger Barry Deutsch)
• “Marriage: No Avoiding the Central Question” (Response to second Yoshino piece)

Stay informed and equipped to be salt and light!

* HT & Sources: Justin Taylor