Life is made~

Life is made through choices.  Many humans live their lives as if doing the immediate will get them to where they wish to be.  They live as if their wants and desires are the most important things in this world.  Then they are surprised that as they approach middle to old age to find dissatisfaction with their lives.
Choices...How many of us remember being seventeen, eighteen, maybe even twenty-five years of age?  Maybe younger, or older--no matter what age a person is--unless they are a baby of course, no matter what age we can remember some choices that turned out not good.  Usually it ended with at least a reprimand from someone in authority. 
 Genesis 30:1  "And when Rachel saw that she bare Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister; and said unto Jacob, Give me children, or else I die."
What has changed from parent-child relationships of the past compared to the same relationship of today?  Children are not always considered the blessings that they once were.  Many couples are no longer choosing parenthood, and many parents heave a huge sigh of relief when they survive the teenage years.  I believe there are a number of reasons for both of these symptoms, but most of the reasons are self inflicted.  Do we as parents actually believe that past generations had children that were somehow different than children of today?  No, humans still have the same wants and needs now as they did in the past.  The reason we dread raising children and especially teenagers is because adults have lost control.   The teen years are a traumatic time of  life, and our society has lost the pattern for dealing with human nature in more than one area, but tragically this area in particular.
My number one advice to parents is, deal with teenagers the day they are born. If as a parent you have not done a good job when they are babies, you've lost the teenager years.  Not that a parent can't do remedial work the moment they realize they have done something wrong.  A parent has to begin where they are, and an honest attempt, no matter what age a child is, is better than never trying at all.
What should you teach babies--soon to be teenagers?  Teach them God...not just about God.  Take time to teach them about the wonders God has created all around us in nature.  Teach them about God's Word, the Bible.  That should lead into God's love for us, our love for God, and our love for one another.  Teach them the first commandment:   Mark 12:30  "And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment."  And the second Mark 12:31  "And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."
They need to learn respect--not just for their parents, but their grandparents, elders, and Godly leaders.
Deuteronomy 7:13  "And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb,"
 All children are a gift from God--so, teach them to love others and themselves according to God's way.  Teach them self-respect.  As they learn these things, teach and guide them to make right choices through their younger years.  If you teach them during the younger years to love, to value, to listen to your guidance, through your words and actions, the teen years will go much smoother.
The crumbling foundation of our social system which has been hacked almost to death by our government--past as well as present-- has continued to hasten the demise of our families and their structure. The empowering women mentality has not empowered women, but has encouraged an  increase of fatherless homes, and left women/mothers as single providers.  However, babies, children, and young adults/teens need their fathers returned to them.  Women need the father to be what
God meant a father to be.  They need the father to lead the family and be an example worthy of following. 
When the adults go through life walking rough-shod over everyone else and everything else, acting like selfish children, their children won't know how to live and make right choices either.  Adults-- men and women-- need to step up and make the right choices so they don't find themselves at the mid life or older realizing they have wasted their years, and trained up another generation that will do the same thing--waste their years as well. 
The pattern from ages past has been slowly erroded into generation after generation of ineffective parents and a dysfunctional society.  This pattern can be restored, changed back into a strong family unit.  Families of a strong husband, his wife, children, grandparents, all working together.  Children from birth to teenagers are all in a very emotional time of their lives.  In these times they need more than ever a steady home life, they need the assurance of a loving family.  They need the assurance that some things are right, and some things are wrong and the knowledge of what and why these things are what they are.

Hebrews 6:14  "Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee."
Hallelujah, what a Savior!