Gently Lead

Bess doesn't want to sit still for a photo opp

Caring for our new puppy "Bess," has awakened memories of parenting a toddler! Accompanying the sudden responsibility and intense rush of love for a new life, there is joy and laughter as she discovers the world and its limits. There is a bit of weariness, too, and frustration, along with the fun of watching her bite at the phantom dog reflecting up from her water dish.

I know how important these months are in providing the attention, training and security that make for a happy and confident family member. And I know that much of the effort is in educating and changing myself, and in the conscious welcoming and adapting of a new member into the family, not always an easy thing to do.

But we know family is the most formative force in any of our lives. Children's minister Ivy Beckwith says: "Family is everything to a child. Family is the first place a child forms and experiences relationships. It is a child's first experience of community. Family is where she develops her first view and understanding of the world....[Family] is the most important arena for a child's spiritual development and soul care."

Effective Christian education and discipleship requires focus and tending to the experience of children and youth in their homes as well as in our churches.*

How does your church or group support parents and other caregivers? How have you experienced such support yourself?

Add your comments to the notes on our Facebook page or send me an email. We look forward to hearing from you.  

Laura Alden

Publisher, Judson Press

*Thanks to Dr. Cassandra D. Carkuff Williams, American Baptist Home Mission Society, for her thoughts on this subject in Learning the Way: Reclaiming Wisdom from the Earliest Christian Communities (The Alban Institute, 2009). The book is available through www.judsonpress.com.