The benefits are great, and doubtless other benefits could be
deduced. Every parent wants the things outlined above for his child.
But what about the costs?
(^) To be sure, these things do not come cheap. The cost is great. It
requires being available and fully engaged in parenting.
(^) There is a simple way to look at the cost of deep, full-orbed
communication. You must regard parenting as one of your most
important tasks while you have children at home. This is your calling.
You must raise your children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.
You cannot do so without investing yourself in a life of sensitive
communication in which you help them understand life and God’s
world. There is nothing more important. You have only a brief season
of life to invest yourself in this task. You have only one opportunity
to do it. You cannot go back and do it over.
(^) You live in a culture in which there are opportunities for you to do
things unheard of in history. You are presented daily with scores of
options for investing your life’s energies and creatvitycreativity.
There is more than you could ever do. You must, therefore, prioritize.
(^) Parenting is your primary calling. Parenting will mean that you
can’t do all the things that you could otherwise do. It will affect your
golf handicap. It may mean your home does not look like a picture
from Better Homes and Gardens. It will impact your career and ascent
on the corporate ladder. It will alter the kind of friendships you will
be available to pursue. It will influence the kind of ministry you are
able to pursue. It will modify the amount of time you have for
bowling, hunting, television, or how many books you read. It will
mean that you can’t develop every interest that comes along. The
costs are high.
(^) How can you measure the cost against the benefits? I have spent
time with broken parents. I have seen the drawn faces of parents who
have known the heartbreak of seeing their children fleeing a home in
which they had not been understood or engaged by their parents. I