Don’t Make Me Count to Three, by Ginger Plowman
CONFESSION...I only finished this book...started it a while ago. A few of the books on my list this year are “finishers” and this is one of them. I think I lacked motivation because Brynne was so young and not really at a discipline stage yet. Well, she’s getting there a lot faster than I would have imagined. Anyways, this book is a discussion of a philosophy of discipline based on scripture. Ginger is very thorough in handling what discipline is, why we should do it, how to do it, and gives a lot of application and great examples. One of her main points is that we are working to reach the heart of our children, not simply their actions. This is so important!!! Especially as Rob and I have talked, we desire so much to have children that love God and desire to serve him - not little robots that simply follow orders mindlessly. One of her examples that was so simple caught my attention...how often do two children fight over one toy and someone walks up and says “who had it first?”...she says that this is not the question to ask - at least with our children. We have to share with both children that their hearts are in the wrong. One is taking and causing frustration, while the other is not sharing and being angry. Neither is acting with a heart of love for the other. It would be easy in this case and so many others to simply take care of the basic issue...”who had it first, well give it back”... but we’re not really reaching the heart.
Another thing she said over and over to her children that I noticed was “I love you too much to let you disobey”. This is something I want to remember...when I don’t feel like disciplining, when they are doubting my reasons for disciplining...I love them too much to let them live however they want, realizing where this will lead them in the future. They often won’t understand, I know I didn’t - but I’m so thankful for my parents and their faithfulness in raising me. One thing that bothered me a little about this book was a tendency to prooftext at times. I’m glad that she tries to back everything up with scripture, but some things are just great ideas and practices and you may not have a specific reference for them. I think she pulled some things out of context to serve her purpose. That being said, I would definitely recommend it for parents as a good reference.
Now, on to Perelandra...another “finisher”.
3 comments:
I recently read this book and agree on all your points! It is amazing, once they start moving around, their little sinful souls become evident pretty quickly. :( though at the beginning it is a lot of them discovering that there ARE boundaries and what they are. sometimes it's tricky to determine if they are just being curious about something new or being naughty. lots to learn for us. :)
Kelly...that is so hard for me (knowing when they are truly being rebellious). I guess it will become more apparent - but it is hard when I don't really know how much she understands at this point. It takes so much prayer!
That sounds like a good one for me to read- I loved the example about sharing, too!
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