by Pat Lamb (Author of: Let the Children Come; Children, Come to Me; When the Stars Fall Down; Widening the Church Doors to Teach the Narrow Way; My Thinking Book; Love is…) Books are available on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and www.patlambchristianauthor.com

Train up a child…

Raising Children is Like Raising Flowers

         Even those who do not have a “green thumb” can relate to the idea that raising children is somewhat like raising plants in a number of ways.

The problem is, however, that when we fail with a plant, we can throw it away and get another.  What we do with children lasts for eternity. When spring arrives and our thoughts turn to gardening, it is easy to think of some of the things we must do in order to produce good plants.  Do we give as much consideration to what we must do to produce adults pleasing to our Lord? 

         Following are some of the similarities found in raising children and raising plants:

• Both need almost constant care when very small because they are unable to care for themselves.
• Both need water and fertilizer to survive.  We can think of fertilizer in children as the knowledge we give them.  If too much is given all at once, it is harmful.  It must be given in doses that can be processed.  When children are given too much knowledge, they become overwhelmed and frustrated.  This is happening in our culture now as children are bombarded with much on TV and other places that they are not prepared to deal with.  Also, the fertilizer is like good nutrition for children by making sure they eat properly.  Just as plants need certain nutrients, so do children need certain nutrients.
• Plants and children each need pruning.  We snip off parts of plants to make them grow in the right direction.  Children need to have certain actions and behavior cut out of their lives to steer them in the right direction.  When this is not done, both plants and children may grow crooked and not in good form.
• We cannot force flowers to bloom and we cannot force children to grow up too fast.  Growth comes from the inside on God’s time table.  Just as one might take a budding flower and pull the petals open, when we try to force children to grow up faster than they are ready, they become bruised and hurt.
• We cannot change a rose to make a daisy, nor can we make children become something that God did not intend.  Each child is born with certain tendencies.  We cause harm when we try to get children to become something different from what God gifted them to do.
• Plants and children need the proper environment in which to thrive.  Just as some plants need bright sunlight and some need shade, children need to be in an environment of encouragement and love to thrive.  They need to be around those who will be good friends.  They need clean air and proper exercise in sunshine to grow healthy bodies.  They need church fellowship to grow spiritually, and they need good schools to grow mentally.

Knowing that children are a gift from God, we can take those gifts and nurture and watch them grow into the men and women God intended them to be.  We cannot do the growing for them.  God provides the growing, we are the ones who care and tend them.