We thought it was tough when the kids were little. Then we had teenage girls. That was tougher. And then we had a teenage boy. That has been toughest of all so far. And we still have four more kids yet to go through these stages. Parenting is hard!

A friend of mine shared a verse with me a few years ago that shed some light on this for me. He told me to read Galatians 6:9, which says, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

This was not written with parenting as the specific context, but it definitely applies. Don’t grow weary… Parenting is hard! We will reap a harvest… Parenting is good! It might be difficult at times, but if we hold on and keep on going, we will see some results.

Sometimes, though, it can be difficult to see past the immediate circumstances of hard to the future reality of good. Have you ever been there? That’s why Dennis and Barbara Rainey have written The Art Of Parenting. Because it does get difficult. And it does have dark moments. But it also has great moments, and if we do not give up, we just might one day see the harvest that God can bring about in the lives of our kids.

Our family is large. We have adult children. We have teens. And we have younger children as well. Parenting in all these various seasons of life for our kids seems chaotic at best, and downright crazy at times. So I’m excited to dig into The Art Of Parenting. Having read other books by the Rainey’s, I know it will be a great help to my parenting life.

If you are a parent, I suggest you read it as well. You can purchase it on Amazon.