In 1985 we moved into a big house on Parkdale Ave in
Chattanooga.
We had good neighbors who
moved to Florida and sold their home to a couple who also turned out to be good
neighbors.
The first thing that Mr. and
Mrs. S. did was to take down the chain link fence from around the yard.
The next thing that they did was to get a big
Airedale dog.
Rather odd, I
thought.
Mr. and Mrs. S. would come
outside and sit on their spacious porch and let the dog run free.
But they had to constantly call out, “Duffy,
come back here.”
Duffy obediently came
back.
Over the months, the dog grew to
know where his boundaries were.
When Mr.
and Mrs. S. were outside on the porch, the dog never went out of the yard.
Then I noticed that Mrs. S. would open the
door and let Duffy out to roam.
Now
Duffy was on his own, but now Duffy was trained.
He never went out into the street or out of
the yard.
Not once!
Duffy was trained and Duffy was
trustworthy.
When kids rode by on their
bikes, Duffy watched them, but Duffy stayed in his yard.
When joggers ran by, Duffy ran too, but
inside his yard.
When the UPS truck
drove by, Duffy barked and paced back and forth, but Duffy stayed in his
yard.
Solomon said in Pro 22:6, “Train
up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from
it.”
We do our children a great
disservice when we don’t train them to do the right things when they are
young.
We can prepare them for lives of
order and discipline if we begin training them early.
Hey, there is a difference between training
(which comes early) and teaching (which comes later).
But the training has to come first.
I’m glad that I had a tough mother and a
stern father.
They saved me from many
heartaches.
I hope you are a tough
mother.
I hope you are a stern father.
It will help your children more than you can
ever know.
Hey, train your children
while you can.
Give them good
boundaries, just like Duffy.
