Yesterday ended an eight week after school program of drama enrichment.  Nine kids ranging from 2nd to 4th grade showed off their acting skills to their classmates and parents.  Working with children has always been a blessing for me, but there are times when I wonder if anything is getting through to these little ones.

There’s the arguing amongst themselves – forgotten lines and cues – missed entrances, total disconnection from the task at hand and did I mention missed lines?  I’ve learned in my years of doing this, you don’t always see immediate results.  Sometimes it takes many years.  Other times, they get it right away.

The joy of the entire process is not in the perfection, but in the growth.  When we look at our children, we often expect immediate results.  We expect good behavior without really setting good examples.  We expect them to clean their rooms without showing them how.  We want perfect little people, but forget that they aren’t perfect.  None of us is.

Parenting can be a most delightful experience, but most of the time you don’t realize it when you’re going through it.  For most parents, the process is a fly by the seat of your pants experience.  You take things as they come and deal with them in the best way you can.  In doing so, your children will eventually find a steady course and you’ll learn along with them.

The only manual on child rearing that has any real value is in God’s Word.

“Train a child in the way he should go and he will not depart from it.”

You might think I’m weird to be such a glutton for punishment.  I like to think of it as enjoyment in watching children grow into responsible young adults.  Besides, just look at those faces!