Tiny Devotional for Thursday, 11/19/2020

 A great good day to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who dropped by, celebrate November in any way that’s appropriate.

A foolish son is destruction to his father,
And the quarrels of a wife are a constant dripping.
Proverbs 19:13, NASB



It’s not the fashion for fathers to complain about children and wives, unless they are stand-up comedians. Then, they can get away with it, as long as they make themselves the butt of the jokes. 

Otherwise, when fathers complain about their kids, and husbands complain about their wives, their friends roll their eyes behind the complainer’s back. THEY knew the wife was a whiner from the beginning; they may have even cautioned their love-struck buddy against the marriage. And they also know that the reason the kids are acting up is because the father didn’t provide a good example, or set appropriate boundaries, when the kids were younger.

At least 70% of the time, the friends are right. It’s a leadership failure; the father is a dork.

On a few occasions, though, that’s not true. The husband / father can do everything possible to make a good home, and one or more kids is going to act the fool;  a wife who has been a partner will become an adversary. Rare, but it happens. 

But then: who is the proverb speaking to? Dorks don’t READ proverbs. And the diligent father doesn’t need, or deserve, to have his nose rubbed in it.

This proverb is not descriptive; it’s precautionary. It’s to warn the youth what CAN happen, if they fail to use good sense in mate selection, and shirk their duty as parents.

Share this with your kids. I did, just now!

Peace be on your household.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tiny Devotional for Wednesday, 06-21-2023

Image
A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, the Fairmount Pattersons are Papa-sitting this morning! It is better to live in a corner of a roof Than in a house shared with a contentious woman. Proverbs 21:9, NASB Today is the 21st of the month; so, Proverbs 21. I have written about verses 1-8;  it’s verse 9’s turn. Thus, my selection of this verse has NOTHING to do with my wife, mother, sisters, or daughters! All of them are intelligent, confident, and assertive; they are NOT contentious. ‘Contentious’ does NOT mean ‘has a different opinion’!  A man who has lived with a contentious woman gives the definition by example: I was 20 years old, and stupid (those might be the same thing).  I thought our marriage would work because she was beautiful, and I was, too. It didn’t take long before I realized I was wrong about that. Most of the time, it didn’t matter what I did; I couldn’t please her. We were married for 3 years,
Read more

Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 08-20-2023

Image
A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, Piper doesn’t like her food. Differing weights and differing measures, Both of them are abominable to the Lord. Proverbs 20:10, NASB If this verse weren’t so important, I’d skip it, because I discovered it in a painful time. Others were involved, and their stories are not mine to tell. So, you get a parable: Stockman Bubba ran a cattle station, in partnership with his horse, Nancy. They worked hard together, and although they were not rich, they had achieved a degree of success. One day, a platypus stung Bubba, incapacitating him. Bubba tried to continue running the station, but after two years had passed, he realized it was time to retire. Nancy couldn’t adjust to this, and she left for life on her own. Three years later, Bubba realized Nancy was never coming back, and considered getting another horse. However, he was concerned that the other station owners would think bad
Read more

Tiny Devotional for Sunday, 07-23-2023

Image
 A great good morning to all my friends and neighbors in Internet Land! And to family members who have dropped by, reach for the sky. Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the Lord always. Surely there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off. Proverbs 23:17-18, NASB Today’s verse is 18, but I included 17, because I THINK they are a couplet. I wrote about verse 17 last month, and will try not to repeat myself. Our senses describe the present, our memory describes the past; the future is described by our hopes and our fears. In this little verse, we are given one of the strongest foundations for peace: yes, you DO have a future, and it’s a good one. Under most circumstances, we take the future for granted. If you have ever been forced to doubt that a future exists, you know how chilling that is. ‘No future’ is MUCH worse than ‘bad future.’ This verse draws us back away from the abyss of nothingness, and back into reality: yes, you DO have a future.  (If that
Read more