The Keener Way

   If it wasn't obvious from the fact I have a whole blog page dedicated to the former USMC backpack system, I love military surplus stuff. And when it gets cold enough that a hoodie is no longer sufficient, I can be found sporting some combination of the US Army's seven layer extreme cold weather system. How is this relevant to the topic today? Well, the jackets in this system have places to put Velcro patches. I love Velcro patches. I especially love patches that have funny, sarcastic, or witty remarks on them. So I always wear a couple on each jacket. So one Sunday this past winter, I showed up at church with a patch that said "Don't grow up, it's a trap". Which immediately caught the attention of one of my friends from my young adult group. (Yes, I'm calling you out on this. Yes, I know you are going to read this. Yes, you know who you are. :p ) I had it pointed out to me that Paul says, "when I was a child, I thought like a child...but when I was...

    Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. From KJV. I had someone give me the thought this morning that this may not mean what most of us think it means. On the surface, it looks like "There is a specific way to raise your kids that guarantees they will stick to those ways all their lives". Except then parents all over the world bemoan their misfortunes as they watch their kids stray from their upbringings. "We trained them as trained as we knew how to. How was it not enough?" Here's the thing. I don't think that's what Solomon meant. The individual who spoke to me this morning suggested that Proverbs 22:6 is saying "Train a child according to his inclinations/personality/interests and when he is old he will still be doing these things with excellent success." Which is entirely valid. Maybe you want your child to be good at math and become a rocket scientist. But maybe they have no inclination...