God is the Same Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow - Are You

Hmmm. I seem to be on a parenting binge here. I suppose it was the hour conversation I had with my daughter with the MSW degree. As we talked we came up with another way that God is a model for parents. I really love this idea of the parallels between God the Father and how he parents us, and Human parents and how they should parent their kids. Expect future posts on the subject.

However, for today it was about consistency. There was a study done several years ago that I won’t be able to reference, but the gist was that employees' number one favorite attribute concerning their boss was consistency. They liked to know what to expect.

I have to believe that our kids are like that, too. My folks (perfect of course) practiced this as well as anyone.

We knew what time we had to be home. We knew the consequences of not doing so, and they were always forthcoming.

We knew whose night it was for dishes. There was no fighting about it.

We knew the dinner table rules, including that with rare exceptions, we had to eat whatever was put in front of us.

We knew what age we would get a bike, be able to drive, be able to own a car, be allowed to double date, be allowed to wear makeup (the girls, not me.) And there wasn’t any waffling or weaseling.

Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family tells a story about how he had a rule about being in church every Sunday morning, no matter what. Even on vacation. I don’t remember the exact details, but there was this one occasion when the family was on a ski vacation. The first several days were terrible for skiing. Too much snow, lifts not running. Then, on Sunday morning it was the all time perfect day. He called the family together and said he would leave it up to them whether they skipped church or not.

Later the teenage kids let him know that they were shocked, and wondered that if a person of his character would compromise on such a small issue, what would happen when the going was a lot rougher.

Think about that. Your kids are always watching. How is your consistency?