I was a confused and terrified parent.
Having raised me on a mix of Dr. Spock and “Pavlov’s dog” philosophies, my own mother’s form of discipline had been to ineffectively chase me around with a yardstick when I misbehaved, and father’s was to demand, “When I say jump, you say ‘how high!’”
My first child was a toddler when I heard Dr. James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” program on the radio. I couldn’t get enough. A beacon of hope! A voice of reason and guidance. I was a committed Christian and needed biblical parenting counsel. It is not overstating to say that "Focus on the Family" and its resources were a fountain of life to me in all the years when I was raising four children. The balance of love and discipline. The effective, non-abusive application of corporal punishment. The principle of taming the will without wounding the spirit of the child. And so many other lessons and encouragements guided me through the parenting years as I read books and listened to radio broadcasts.
Several years ago I wrote a letter to Dr. Dobson, telling him how much his ministry had changed my life and set a course for my family. I will be forever grateful. (And my grown children would thank him too, if they had any idea what their lives would have been like without him!)
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