One of the real and definite privileges of my role is working with parents.
From my vantage point as Principal, I regularly encounter great parenting. I wish to be a voice of encouragement to those who are parenting. I salute you, whether you are a birth parent, a guardian, a grandparent on the second round due to life circumstances, or a foster parent.
I am prompted to celebrate this today because I have recently been inspired by some wonderful parents.
If parenting were easy, there would be one definitive book and perhaps one video series. Instead, there is an enormous publishing output. Advice on parenting is an enormous industry. I am not adding another book, nor dispensing advice today. I am just describing what I see.
A father sat in front of me in equal parts—tears of tenderness and fists clenched in outrage. Someone had reached passed the boundaries he had established to protect his family. The world had bruised his children and threatened to damage their shared trust. I observed his authentic pain and frustration. I admired the manner in which the core elements of his faith counselled his response: self-control, forgiveness, love, compassion, a sense of care and justice. I can only imagine what it must be like to be in his family and know the security of protection expressed in such decency—to see his faith govern his response in a real and humble manner. He was just a recent, visible representation of many parents I have met in the last few years.
Recently, I was speaking with a lady who had determined that an education at an independent school was necessary to achieve emotional health for her child. She would stretch beyond convenience and limitations to secure that health and safety. She is living sacrificially. She is like so many I have seen, who are sold out to the best interests of their child.
I could fill several pages of this newsletter with stories of inspiration—moments of parenting that inspire me to get up in the morning. Men and women of character and conviction, who are strong and humble in the complexities of life’s swirling currents. It is a pleasure and an inspiration to work with parents in this complex journey of raising children. In these and other instances, I value the opportunity to work through the challenges that life presents.
In the circumstances I mentioned above, the parents acted in the best interests of their child. They acted with transparency and character—but not necessarily with their child’s full agreement. I admired that they parented. They resisted merely partnering with their children. For the health and long-term success of their children, it was essential to stand up for them—and also to them.
The verses of Isaiah that announce the Lord have some real application to such parenting:
"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace…" (Isaiah 9:6–7)
In these verses, government precedes peace.
This is the quality I see in those parents I mentioned directly. It is the quality I see in the vast number of parents like them.
I want to encourage parents. I want to “shout out” to you—not to lose faith and heart, not to let your ardour be dampened by the cries of “...but everyone else is allowed to!” It might feel like you are fighting a rear-guard action in a cultural war, but I am encouraging you to fight on.
Your children are watching. They identify what you actually believe in by watching what you are prepared to fight for. There is something instinctive in a child that already knows the scripture from Isaiah. When you bring the government that matches the character and spirit of Jesus, then there is peace. The great rise in childhood anxiety is largely explained through this one factor.
Keep parenting. You inspire people. You have inspired me.