Kids are WAY cool

Following up yesterday's post...
"Train up your child in the WAY he/she should go."
Now what about that WAY?
The revelation of this verse is that each and every kid has a way.
A particular way.  A unique and wonderful way imprinted in the child by God.
Our job in train them up is to discover and develop that way.

Let me use the analogy of a seed.
Say you find a seed.  You're not sure what it is, but you plant it and give it the things you know every seed needs: soil, water, sunlight, air.
As that seed grows, you begin to learn more about it: looks like it might be a tree.  Looks like a deciduous tree.  Look like a maple.  Looks like a red maple. (Yeah, that's the "Canadian" Maple.)

You train up that seed into the plant it was made to be.  That's obvious enough.

But somehow we often miss this with our kids.
We give our kids the things every kids needs: nurture, shelter, protection, etc.
They start to show themselves to be one kind of plant.
Then we need to start figuring out what they need specifically.
Don't just give them the basic stuff all kids need.
And don't push them to be something they are not.

Parents, train up your child in the way that God made them to grow.
To do anything less dishonors God, mis-directs our children, and does our relationship with them no good.

So ask yourself, what kind of plant is my seedling, and how can I nurture that way in him/her?