Parenting is hard

Last time I checked (about 20 seconds ago), parenting is hard.  I have four boys.  They are entirely too much like their father.  Take my selfishness, lack of patience, and short attention span and multiply that by 4.  Raising these boys is an unspeakable joy and at times an impossibly difficult challenge. 

With that in mind, I am writing a true blog post this afternoon.  Did you know that the word "blog" came from the words web log?  Web logs were a "log" of websites the author of the web log wanted to share.  Web log was shortened to blog and instead of just a forum for sharing insights from around the world wide web, it became a place for people to share their own insights.  When it comes to parenting, I don't have much in the way of original insight, so let me point you to some great resources for parenting - from short and sweet to longer and more involved.  (I thought of this because my brother, Benjamin Hoak, posted a few parenting links today and it got me thinking.  He has three boys and you can read some of his writing here.)

First, a brief blog post from Kevin DeYoung.  Humorous because, well...if you're a parent trying to raise your children according to God's word, you'll understand.
Then two books on parenting.  The classic - Shepherding a Child's Heart, by Ted Tripp.  It is a must read.  Don't Make Me Count to Three is Ginger Plowman's practical application of Shepherding a Child's Heart.
If having family worship is a challenge (and it is a vital part of raising your kids!), check this out. 
Oh and this.  If your marriage isn't solid, it will be difficult to raise your kids together.  So here's the best thing I've seen on marriage in a long time.  E and I are working through it together.  Thank you Dave Harvey!
And now for the longer and more involved, but well worth your time:  If you want your kids to turn out like me...no wait.  Strike that.  This is a parenting class taught by my dad.  It is 17 sessions on video or you can download the audio.  It is worth every minute you'll spend watching or listening.  And don't use me as a barometer for how effective it is.  Just take it on its own merit.  You can find it here.

Happy reading/listening/viewing!