Beat the Boomerang
Theme of the Week: Firm but Fair
Friday, August 12, 2005
 1 of 1
Key Bible Verse: Your own actions have brought this upon you (Jeremiah 4:18). Bonus Reading: Ezekiel 18:1-4,25-30
Your teenagers will attempt to shift the discipline focus, blaming you: "You're making me do my chores so I can't be with my friends."
Like most teens, my son didn't rise early. His habit of sleeping in put the whole family behind in the morning. He also began getting tardy slips at school. So Patsy and I found ourselves in a power struggle. One morning, I briefly considered going into his room to drag him out. Instead, we decided to transfer to him the responsibility for this choice. We worked it out with the school that if he received six tardy slips, he'd have to stay after school for two hours, cleaning up trash around the grounds.
"We're not going to argue with you any more about getting out of bed," I told my son, "but if you get up late, we're also not going to rush to get you to school on time. If you're late, you're late. It's your choice. And you know the consequences."
Guess how many tardy slips he had at the end of the semester? That's right, five. He never seemed to get the sixth one. Somehow he found the strength to get out of bed every morning because we transferred the responsibility to him.
—Patrick Morley in The Dad in the Mirror
My Response: Here's one area in which I can transfer responsibility …
Thought to Apply: Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him.—BOOKER T. WASHINGTON (educator)
Adapted from The Dad in the Mirror (Zondervan, 2003) by permission.
Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity. 1 of 1
Heavenly Father, help me to reflect Your justice and mercy in the way I discipline my children.
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