I am taking a new Bible study this semester at a local church. This is nothing new. I have taken Bible studies since I was pregnant with Alex. I have always felt that it is important to study the Bible, and not just by myself. I need the guidance and input form others around me. I can read and study the Bible on my own all I want, but what is to stop me from reaching the wrong conclusions and going down a path that is not what God intended. That is not to say I don’t read the bible on my own. I try to get in at least 10 minutes every day to at least do devotionals. If I don’t I usually don’t have a good day.
Anyway back to my point. I am taking a parenting study this semester. It is nine weeks long and it focuses on getting to the heart of your children to parent them. I had a very hard time deciding which study to take this semester. There were three options, this being one of them. I finally decided that given the fact that we were experiencing some behavior problems with Alex, and even Lizzie, that the parenting is probably what I needed to take. Now I am starting to wonder. We are now four weeks into the class and I am really not getting anything out of it at all. It is very frustrating. I have never felt this way about a class before. Usually by the end of the first week I have already learned something and can’t wait until the next class to come back and learn more. This is not the case with this current study. I go every week hopeful, and come away every week disappointed. Usually whatever they are talking about is something that I am already doing. The topic this week was discipline. The main point was that we are going to have to discipline our children. Well no kidding, you mean that our children are born with the same sin nature that we have and therefor are going to do things that are not right or what is the best thing for them. And get this that we as their parents need to correct them. Get out of here. I mean really, are there people out there who don’t know that children have to be disciplined. The speakers also said that we need to have a discipline routine for our children and that it needs to start with words, rather than action. Again, who wouldn’t start with words. I commonly make it a practice to send my children to time out without first giving them a warning and telling them the correct thing to do. Time out is another big thing they talked about yesterday. Apparently the speakers don’t like time out. I personally have no problem with it, when it is done correctly. The speakers talked about using a break to help the child get their emotion under control. For me that is time out with just a different name. I don’t use time out as our usual punishment, it is a way for the kids to sit back, think about why they got in trouble and suffer the consequence of missing out on a fun activity while they are in the time out spot. So for the second week in a row I have come away from the study with no new knowledge. Everything that they talked about was something that I already do.
The other thing that I find hard about this study is my small group. Normally I am at least indifferent about my small group. This is the first time I have not liked the women in my group. And it is not all the women, in fact now that I am writing this It is really only a few of the women. One in particular is one of those people who talk nonstop. She is the table co-leader and I can tell this is her first time, so I am trying to be patient. However several times yesterday I had a point to make and by the time I was able to get a word in she was four topics away from what I was going to be making a point on. It was very frustrating. I don’t feel like I am connecting with any of the women at the table. That may be due to the fact that I have to come late from dropping Alex off at school, so I am missing out on the first fifteen minutes of the study, which is fellowship time. Since I do come late there is never a chair available at my table, so overall I am just feeling very down about the whole study.
Oh well, I will have to push through this. I am sure that if I keep at it, God will show me something, even if it is just that I can get through a rough class.
Heather
