David Jeremiah - Hopeful Parenting: Encouragement for Raising Kids Who Love God

To Donna,
my loving wife,
the heart and soul of our family

C ONTENTS

One doesnt have to read the newspapers a great deal or watch many television sitcoms to realize that the American family faces huge challenges. The battle over the definition of marriage, the growing acceptance of alternative lifestyles, and the perception that children are an expensive burden threatens even Christian families. I am so thankful we are not left to our own understanding in determining the best way to establish a flourishing family.

I am profoundly grateful, first of all, to my heavenly Father, who one day said, It is not good for man to be alone. It was He who started this whole family business and it is a high priority in His heart. So, my first thank-you is to You, Father God. I love You for allowing me to be a part of Your family and for giving me such a wonderful family here on earth.

This book would not have been written without my first learning the principles and living them out within my own family. John and Jan Dodge, David and Cami Jeremiah, Emmanuel and Jennifer Sanchez, Daniel and Merae Jeremiah, and each one of my grandchildren, thank you for all you continue to teach me about love and forgiveness and laughter and commitment and all of the other building blocks of great families. And Donna, I devoted a whole page to give thanks to you, but there are not enough pages in the world to tell the story of my love for you and my deep gratitude for what you mean to all of us. This is our story from beginning to end the story of Gods working in the David and Donna Jeremiah family.

Another profound thank-you goes to Diane Sutherland, who so diligently maintains control in my Turning Point office, enabling me to stay focused on the tasks at hand, and to Cathy Lord, who worked with the editors and publishers to see that everything was as they wanted it to be.

What my son David Michael does to manage things for us at Turning Point is another reason I am able to study, preach, and write!

Sealy Yates has been my attorney, literary agent, and personal friend for many years. What he continues to do for me personally and professionally is one of the bright spots in my life. He and his wife, Susan, continue to model for us the commitment to godly excellence that challenges every member of our family to excel. To each of you, a heartfelt thank-you.

It is always gratifying for an author when a book he has invested himself in is well accepted by its readers. This book is, in many ways, an extension of my own family, which made it even more satisfying when the people at David C. Cook approached me about reissuing it. So thank you to those who have enthusiastically embraced the concept of the biblical principles for the family in this bookprinciples that I believe in so strongly. And thank you to Don Pape and his team at David C. Cook, who encouraged me to keep this book in circulation and have carried the ball to get it done.

David Jeremiah
August 2007

I ALWAYS GET A LITTLE NERVOUS WHENEVER Im asked to express my thoughts on successful family living.

At all costs, I want to avoid the impression that I have arrived that I can now speak with full authority on the subject because I did everything right. I may be the father of four grown children and the grandfather of nine, but I can assure you that I dont do everything right! Im still a learner, along with everyone else.

Still, God has taught me a great deal through the years, and I long to put my hand on the shoulder of anxious parents (and parents-to-be), encouraging them that, with Gods help, they can build solid and loving Christian homes fragrant with the aroma of Christ.

All of us parents need encouragement like that.

We need to hear that despite frightening headlines and cultural pressures, our God sits firmly on His heavenly throne and promises to give us the strength and wisdom to build Christian households filled with godliness and laughter.

Although Hopeful Parenting contains instruction from Gods Word on building healthy families, it is not primarily a book of instruction. Id call it a book of encouragement. More than anything else, I want to encourage parents that they really can rear sons and daughters who love God and bless their communities. I want to bring assurance to those who have just started out on the road of parenting, and hope to those who may be feeling a little wearied or intimidated by the journey. I want to declare to both groups that with God all things are possibleeven the seemingly impossible task of building thriving Christian families (Mark 10:27).

My friend, our sovereign God isnt surprised by any cultural trend in todays world. He isnt shocked by the evening news. He isnt stunned by the condition of public schools. He isnt surprised or shaken by the content of network television. He knew about this era of our history before it ever arrived on our calendars. He knew what would happeneverythingbefore the foundation of the earth. He knows very well what kind of world young children must grow up in today.

And He is as able today as He was yesterday, or fifty years ago, or a thousand years ago to supply His people with power and wisdom and insight and blessing. Even in this new millennium, moms and dads who draw their strength from Jesus Christ are as able to raise solid, godly families as Christian parents in the 1950s. God doesnt change! His grace is ever available!

If you doubt that, just chew on these words of Paul for a minute or two:

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (2 Corinthians 9:8 NIV )

All grace. In all things. At all times. With all that you need. So that you will abound or excel in every good work including child rearing.

Throughout this book you will hear me loudly cheering you on and shouting, You can do it! I do so because I really believe you can do it. Why do I believe this so strongly? Because God never gives us a task without also giving us the resources to successfully complete that task. When He tells us to train up a child in the way he should go (Proverbs 22:6), He also promises that if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5).

Yes, we moms and dads have a challenging job. But not a helpless one. And not a hopeless one! Not as long as we depend on the God who tells us, Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the L ORD (Psalm 31:24 NIV ).

And anyway, who says that parenting and raising a healthy family has to be a burdensome, fearful enterprise that almost inevitably ends in tears? Who made up that fiction, anyway? Even secular psychologists are beginning to see the foolishness of such doomsaying:

A few months ago I was in a major metropolitan mall and wandered into one of the bookstores. Arriving at the child care section, I found myself looking at a row of bookshelves 6 feet tall and 15 feet long: 90 square feet of titles, covering every conceivable aspect of the child and its proper upbringing. There were books on only children, middle children, gifted children, strong-willed children, shy children, learning-disabled children, children with attention deficit disorder, adopted children, and children who dont act like children. There were books on how to toilet train em, put em to bed, boost their IQs, help with homework, end sibling rivalry, cultivate copious amounts of self esteem, and you get the picture, Im sure.