Today is the last day of 2012. Time to evaluate this past year and set goals for the next one. Whether or not you set actual New Years Resolutions, evaluating our parenting efforts is important. In fact, it should be done on a very regular basis. The new year just seems like a great time for setting goals and then we can measure progress regularly.
My oldest daughter is 16 1/2. When she was a sweet, tiny baby in diapers, I knew there would be a lot of decisions that my husband and I would have to make. I am so thankful for having the Lord to rely on and seek wisdom from. I seriously never even imagined this technical, digital world that we would all be immersed in – that my kids would grow up thinking as completely normal. While I consider myself somewhat technically savvy, it’s still something that I’m learning. For the teens and younger, it seems to be something they are breathing. I’m sure some of you know what I mean.
As we all know, there is no manual written for parenting, although some have done a fairly good job of trying and being helpful. Even though times have changed , the Word of God is still the best place to go for wisdom in making decisions for raising our children.
There’s no mention of cell phones and social media in the Bible you say? Well no. But there are certainly important truths and guidelines about how we spend our time and resources. There is much focus on what we should fill our minds with, who we should set our affections on, what kind of treasures we should be seeking.
The good news is that the answer is not necessarily to ban all things digital in order to pursue the ways of the Lord (although it may be necessary for some who have specific struggles). We can use these tools for glory of the Lord and we can teach our children how to do this as well.
It will be the goal of Why We Web in 2013 to help families in this area. We pray that we can be of service to you and help direct your goals for yourselves and your children to pleasing the Lord in your use of technology. Many of you are already doing a great job with that and we would love to hear your thoughts and ideas. Some of you are realizing things have gotten a bit out of control in your family and would like some advice. Please contact us.
May the Lord bless your family as you seek His wisdom to live digitally responsibly in 2013. Happy New Year!
About the author: Sherri Jason was saved at the young age of 4 and has been in active fellowship at Thorold South Gospel Chapel for almost 20 years. There she is involved in many areas of service including children’s work and music.
Sherri works for Bridgecourt Inc., the company that owns mySonlight. She is also editor of the Christian Evidences Ministries website and thoroughly enjoys her online work. She also blogs at momto5.com. She and her husband Chris and their 5 children live in Welland, Ontario near Niagara Falls.
About Sherri Jason
Sherri was saved at the young age of 4 and has been in active fellowship at Thorold South Gospel Chapel for almost 20 years. There she is involved in many areas of service including children’s work and music. Sherri works for Bridgecourt Inc., the company that owns mySonlight. She is also editor of the Christian Evidences Ministries website and thoroughly enjoys her online work. She also blogs at momto5.com. She and her husband Chris and their 5 children live in Welland, Ontario near Niagara Falls.
Tags: parenting
Happy New Year, Sherri!
Yes, it is a brave new world out there! It is not easy to navigate, as individuals and especially as parents.
My wife and I took a big leap this Christmas and stepped into a totally new parenting arena~~ we gave our oldest child a cell phone. He is 12. With the phone he can text and call, other features such as web & email are locked down.
He was not expecting the gift and was TOTALLY surprised. Actually we had some real fun with it, the gift was wrapped and well hidden under the tree. When everyone thought that all the gifts had been opened I called his phone. It was great, the kids all stopped when they heard something ringing under the tree. Our other son found the ringing box then handed to his brother after reading the tag. He was so excited that he just starred at the box, I said to him… “well aren’t you going to answer it?!”
We have given him some ground rules, but so far we haven’t encountered any problems.
Thanks for your great post.