In my last post I talked about how much of a blessing parents are and how mine are especially a blessing to me. Shortly after posting it a good friend of mine brought up the fact that we also learn bad things from our parents and should try to weed those qualities out. In order to help do this and to learn things that our parents can't teach us he brought up that it is sometimes helpful to adopt "fill-in" parents, however, is this undermining your own parents?
I would be inclined to think that "fill-in" parents can be a great blessing to you and to your parents as well. It is good to have more people around you who care for your spiritual wellbeing and yourself as a person in general. We aught to have older men and women who encourage us in the faith, both with words of kindness and with words of exhortation so that we are made more and more to look like God.
Titus 2 talks about how older women are to teach younger women to work at home and how older men should encourage younger men to be self-controlled. Paul himself adopted Timothy as his son in the Lord. (1 Timothy 1:1, 2 Timothy 1:2)
Every family is different. I would encourage everyone to adopt an older couple to act as sort of grandparents and a younger couple with kids. It is helpful to adopt a family with young children so you can learn what that stage of life is like, including answering the question "why?" for the 400th time. You will be a blessing to a young family by helping around the house and distracting the kids so their parents can have a short break. You will also gain wisdom from watching how another family works. There will be things you like and things you don't like. Learn from both. An older couple can give you much wisdom in the stories they share and the life they lived. You might be surprised. You will also be an encouragement to them as older people are often lonely.
Other people will show you what your parents did right and what they did wrong. Whether you live at home or away from home having more parents in the Lord is a blessing to all those involved. If you don't have any yet, you should prayfully consider who might need you to be a child to them, and who you would gain wisdom, knowledge, and encouragement from. Then you can either ask them in person or simply start helping and visiting them. The relationship of friendship will grown naturally the more you know each other. Don't be nervous. You are all children of God and so you are already part of the same family with the same Father.
Blessing!
I would be inclined to think that "fill-in" parents can be a great blessing to you and to your parents as well. It is good to have more people around you who care for your spiritual wellbeing and yourself as a person in general. We aught to have older men and women who encourage us in the faith, both with words of kindness and with words of exhortation so that we are made more and more to look like God.
Titus 2 talks about how older women are to teach younger women to work at home and how older men should encourage younger men to be self-controlled. Paul himself adopted Timothy as his son in the Lord. (1 Timothy 1:1, 2 Timothy 1:2)
Every family is different. I would encourage everyone to adopt an older couple to act as sort of grandparents and a younger couple with kids. It is helpful to adopt a family with young children so you can learn what that stage of life is like, including answering the question "why?" for the 400th time. You will be a blessing to a young family by helping around the house and distracting the kids so their parents can have a short break. You will also gain wisdom from watching how another family works. There will be things you like and things you don't like. Learn from both. An older couple can give you much wisdom in the stories they share and the life they lived. You might be surprised. You will also be an encouragement to them as older people are often lonely.
Other people will show you what your parents did right and what they did wrong. Whether you live at home or away from home having more parents in the Lord is a blessing to all those involved. If you don't have any yet, you should prayfully consider who might need you to be a child to them, and who you would gain wisdom, knowledge, and encouragement from. Then you can either ask them in person or simply start helping and visiting them. The relationship of friendship will grown naturally the more you know each other. Don't be nervous. You are all children of God and so you are already part of the same family with the same Father.
Blessing!
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