In Titus, Paul gives these instructions to choosing elders in the church ~
If any be blameless, the husband of one wife,
having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.
So I figured that if elders could raise children that were not rebellious, we could also. Therefore, these expressions {terrible twos and rebellious teenagers} never entered my vocabulary. I was determined to not have terrible two year olds or rebellious teenagers. At the first sign of a rebellious spirit in any of our four children, we dealt with it immediately. We didn't want rebellion in any form.
I am not saying my children were perfect because they were not. As you can see from the picture above, neither is Emma. Whenever she gets in an irritable mood, they just have her sit somewhere until she gets out of it. {Ken was egging her on a bit for this picture ;). So far, she is an obedient little girl. Oh, how I love her!}
We spent a lot of time disciplining them, training them, and teaching them. It took a lot of time and patience when they were young but as they got older, it got a lot easier. All in all, they were a pleasure to raise and we loved having children. We would have had more if God allowed.
We saw too many parents being permissive with their children. They would tell them to do something several times, then start counting, then tell them they were not going to get a treat, etc. This was training their children to be disobedient.
Some told us we were too tough on our children. I don't agree. We were tough but they always knew we loved them and were doing it for their good. It is much easier to be a disciplined adult if you were disciplined as a child.
So refuse to believe the terrible twos and rebellious teenagers are just a stage all children go through. It is not. Nip rebellion in the bud as soon as it rears its ugly head in your children no matter how young they are. If they learn to want to please you when they are growing up, they will most likely want to please the Lord as adults.
Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from
it.
