Young Couple

Front row from left to right; Gabriel, Evania, Adysen, Shailene

Bio: Dax and Angelene Garlinghouse were married in Aztec, NM, October of 1996. Dax was born in Ontario, OR, grew up in Richland, WA. Angelene was born in Durango, CO and grew up on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation in northern New Mexico. Dax and Angelene both have degrees from Salt Lake Baptist College, training and experience in marriage and family counseling, and have traveled to many foreign and domestic mission fields.

It is clear, throughout scripture, that GOD initiated marriage and the family. However, if you read the Bible with the intent of finding role-model parents, you will find more failures than successes. There are many verses concerning parents, fathers, mothers, obedience and applicable topics to help us. There are just not many top-shelf examples of great parenting. If you do read the Bible looking for great parents to emulate, you might give up reading before you complete Genesis. The very first family was marred by a sibling rivalry that led to murder. See Genesis 2 (Marriage and Family) and Genesis 4 (Murder)

It is important to note here, that the ‘parents success rating’ (PSR) cannot always be tabulated by the children’s choices. We may have to give Adam and Eve a little break. They didn't have a lot of the resources that are available to us. There was no internet with site after site to consult. There was no long-term data on human behavior for them to reference. Certainly, there were no authors with odd last names and long lists of credentials to assist Adam and Eve as they sought to lovingly guide their children without squashing their psyche or damaging their self image. This pair didn’t even have TV doctors or talk show hosts to supply them with boot camps or therapists. What they had was daily access to GOD…then again, so do we.

The ultimate example of parenting is our FATHER who is GOD. HE knows, better than any of us, what is like to have big plans for HIS children only to watch the whole family suffer the hurt caused by the children’s choices. HE is the role model, found in scripture, for parents to emulate. HE is also the main object to which we can point our dearest ones. HIS word is our true guide, HIS character our daily goal, HIS strength our unfailing asset and HIS love our assured connection. The highest objective and the most difficult task is to keep a grasp of our responsibility to lead our children to JESUS CHRIST by how we parent them. This is not a guilt trip towards perfection but a declaration of the only true (PSR). Parenting requires us to know and to deepen our walk with HEAVENLY FATHER. Isn’t it great how HE provides us with growth opportunities! We need HIM more everyday and so do our kids.