Raising a child that is a Disciple depends on the child's ability to discipline himself. This morning as I planned one sausage patty per person, 1/2 cup orange Juice per person and a large slice of French Toast, I felt a little badly. Part of me wants to put a huge platter of all you can eat sausage and gallons of orange Juice on the table. The responsible adult in me reasons that I could not serve that much fat even in delicious sausage and more than 1 cup of orange juice simply creates expensive urine. Soon after that thought my mothers intuition whispered that I would not want my children to eat 4-5 sausage patties just to satisfy an appetite. I want my children to stop themselves from eating unhealthy proportions of any food no matter how good it tastes. I remind myself I am in the business of raising children to be disciplined. Parents set an example of good discipline by teaching proper proportions and serving sizes. In some cases those rations are governed my budget constraints but in many where finances are not so tight parents forget what their objectives are in raising children.
I want my children to be able to sacrifice their own wants for the good of their families and communities. I want them to govern themselves instead of letting appetites rule. I marvel at God's grand design that allows us to deny ourselves and give to the poor. He wants us to learn these principles in our homes. I want my children to love God and to love our neighbors as themselves. I want to raise Disciples.
Dinner: Messy lasagna (curly noodles with all the cheese, meat and tomato sauce and spices) This casserole was given to us as leftovers from a church dinner. Salad on the side.
Snack: Root beer floats a la Dad who loves the Children to look forward to Sunday's to have ice cream!
Cinnampn toast for bedtime snack. Some children had bread and milk.
Good post! You also don't want children getting used to eating huge portions and dealing with weight issues later in life (like me!)
ReplyDeleteWe had some friends over for dinner last night - home made pizza with cookies for dessert. Our guests were going overboard with the cookies - the dad had 6 and so their overweight 11 year old also thought he should have 6. I was pleased to see that my children didn't even ask for more after one and I believe it's because we model moderation in our home regularly. Your post re-affirms that I'm not alone in my thinking that just because it tastes good doesn't mean we need to go hog wild. Thank you.
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