Children are not pancakes! You have to get your parenting right the first time because you are not allowed to throw the failures away. No starting over, you have to live a lifetime with your first attempts. Scary isn't it?

Children are not pancakes, and you and I are not perfect parents. We are not infallible so our children are not going to "turn out perfect." Maybe the key is to not expect...not demand perfection from our children. Perfect children expect to have perfect parents, and unless we can deliver on our own perfection, we should not expect to have perfect children.

The Bible speaks of "training a child in the way he should go and even when he is old he will not depart from it" (Proverbs 22:6). Traditionally we have understood this PRESCRIPTIVELY, i.e., if you do "X" then "Y" will happen. I think we should understand this verse DESCRIPTIVELY. Descriptively, this verse speaks of the powerful influence of parental training. "Train a child and he/she will never be able to get away from that training."

Children may and often do choose a different "way" from that to which they were directed by their parents. But parental training is so powerful that in order to choose a different way, the child has to go against what their instincts tell them is the way.

The fact is, "train a child in the way he should not go and when he is old he will still be effected by that training." Adult children of alcoholic parents and dysfunctional homes can testify to this truth. Children never get a way from their training. Sometimes they overcome a terrible "bringing up," but they never completely "depart from it." A child brought up in the way he should go may reject that way, but they will never completely get away from it.

Early childhood training is powerful. Parents have an awesome power and a terrible responsibility. No one needs to tackle the job of parenting without help from God. One of the tasks God has assigned to his church is to help parents "train their children." Albert Schweitzer, on his last trip to the United States, said: "The most important thing for your children to do as they are growing up is to see you worship." You say, "Well, my children do not understand what is going on in the worship service." They do not have to understand. They don't need to comprehend all that the preacher is saying or all that is happening. What the old missionary/theologian was saying was, "Children need to see their parents look to Someone beyond themselves for direction and guidance. They need to see their parents worship." "Train up" means setting the example---worshiping with your child and saying by your example that seeking direction from God is important.

Children are not pancakes! You and I have to get it right the first time. God has not left us without help. Use it! Make worship and church participation a habit for the family.