celebrating discipline: One Year Bible Reading for December 8

 Today we read from these verses in the One Year Bible:

Hosea 10:1-14:9
Jude 1:1-25
Psalm 127:1-5
Proverbs 29:15-17 

Let's look at the proverb. It says, "A rod and a reprimand impart wisdom, but a child left undisciplined disgraces its mother." I've talked about the role of corporal punishment in another blog. But let's talk about discipline.

Discipline isn't easy or fun, right? It's kind of a bummer. Now, if you would like to learn some good Christian disciplines that will help you grow in your faith, I highly recommend the book (pictured above) called Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. It's one of the best books I've ever read - and I've read it three times. Each chapter in the book is about a different Christian discipline - like prayer, fasting, silence, etc - and when you finish a chapter you'll be excited to go practice it! I loved everything I learned and put into practice from this wonderful book.

And the same is true in raising children. We can turn everything into a painful, unpleasant chore as we teach kids what to do and what NOT to do in life. Or, as creative parents, we can CELEBRATE that discipline and help kids to be excited about learning new things, even when they do things wrong. When I was a lifeguard for many years, we would come up with creative punishments for kids who we caught running around the pool - which was against the rules. We would make them sing, or walk backwards, or do something silly. Oftentimes we would give them a choice which punishment they wanted - and encourage them to do something fun and silly rather than unpleasant. They loved it, and they still learned to stop running.

How can you use fun and creativity both in your own discipline and in disciplining your kids?

God, thanks for giving us fun and creativity both in our lives and in teaching others.