Last night I was feeding the kids just before bedtime when they noticed a wasp flying around the kitchen. It crawled inside one of the can lights so I couldn't kill it. The following conversation ensued:
Isaac: Daddy, where did the stinging bug go?
Me: I guess he went to sleep for the night. We'll find him in the morning.
Abigail: We should whack that stinging bug out of bed! (She scrunched her face up for this statement)
Me. We should? (I said this as I was putting out a bowl and spoon for my breakfast this morning)
Abigail: Yeah! And then we should whack it with a spoon! (Her face was scrunched again)
Don't believe for a minute that your children don't soak in everything you say and do. Proverbs 23:13 instructs us to "Withold not correction from the child", and Ephesians 6:4 admonishes fathers to "provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." While it is tempting to leave the task of child-rearing to the mothers, we fathers are ultimately responsible for the running of our households. Note that First Timothy 3:4 indicates that a man must "rule well his own house" to be qualified for the office of an elder, which the Holy Spirit through Paul describes as a "good work" in verse one. I hope that one day in the future, the Lord willing, my kids will be able to read this and understand that the discipline that their mother and I administered was centered around the goal of bringing them up in the "nurture and admonition of the Lord."
By that time they should also understand that trying to take out a wasp with a cereal spoon isn't a good idea.
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