Train Up A Child

Train Up a Child

Direct your children onto the right path,

Proverbs 22:6

Do you remember your teen years, when you questioned what you were going to do with the rest of your life? Your parents may have expected that you’d go to college, embark on a career, and make them proud. They may have wanted more for you than they had. Maybe that was your expectation too. Maybe you also dreamed that you’d find a spouse, create a home together, and have a family.

Amish youth have no doubt about their parents’ expectations. Even though Amish parents may anticipate a time of “running around” (Rumspringa), they train their children to desire to be baptized into the church as young adults, marry, and continue in the Amish tradition—just as their ancestors have done for generations. Conformity is the goal for the Amish way of life.

The training works. More than three-fourths of all those raised in an Amish community stay Amish. But what about the others? The fact that they leave the Amish community doesn’t mean they forget their training.

Deuteronomy 4:9 says, “Watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.”

Many of my friends have left the Amish community (or their parents left), but they still cling to what they were taught. My friends love God, they are dedicated to their communities, they serve their families and, for the most part, live simple lives in their homes. They may not have fulfilled every one of their parents’ expectations, but those I know have clung to the best part—their relationship with God.

We may know people we wish were more like us. But the real test of our training is whether our children still cling to God even if their lives look very different from ours.

Dear heavenly Father, I am prone to expecting others to turn out the way I want. I’m often disappointed when they don’t live up to what I believe they should. Forgive me, Lord, and help me to point them to You. I pray most of all for their conformity to Your will.