And a rebuttal.....

Lots to think about here, huh?


Little Billy's mother was always telling him exactly what he was allowed to do and what he was not allowed to do. All the things he was allowed to do were boring. All the things he was not allowed to do were exciting. One of the things he was NEVER NEVER allowed to do, the most exciting of them all, was to go out through the garden gate all by himself and explore the world beyond.

--Roald Dahl, The Minpins

(Insight into the heart of little boys, taken from the book "Wild at heart". )

While there isn't anything wrong with your insights, all can be solidly supported biblically, the conclusion that I come to on reading this is that I need to discipline my children more and be a better example myself. . . . both true...however, look at the children of The Perfect Parent . . . . .how does he handle his children?

The heart of a male child is to adventure, to take inititive, to explore, to try dangerous things, no, to be thought of as dangerous himself . . . .

Think about the advice your giving, and how it directly conflicts with the heart of man . . . .this isn't to say that following our hearts is right, but too much discipline often creates the rebellions we are trying to squash, not enough discipline and you spoil your children. . . .balance . . faith and grace-based parenting focus on relationship, learning to lead our kids, using discipline as a tool to slowly release our kids to try and make their own decisions.

Our role as parents from my point of view is to slowly enlarge the list of the things that we can say yes to that encourage young boys to be whom God has designed them in their hearts to be. And to be constantly pushing that envelope as parents and helping our children to make wise choices, and to learn how to measure risks vs reward through the process. We should be encouraging ourselves to faith and grace-based parenting, following God's example of how He parents us. Good Godly discipline is important, but rebellion often comes from too much no, and not enough yes. I want to challenge you to sincerely think about your list of no's. . . .

B.