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Welcome! This website is dedicated to parents who are raising children- an all-important responsibility given to them by God Almighty. USSParenting.com is intended to be your safe harbor. It is a place where you will be

• encouraged
• enlightened
• educated
• energized

while you navigate through the often-times unchartered waters called parenting. Don’t just wing it like many parents do today.

Here you will find common-sense advice and counsel that is based upon timeless principles that will help you and your family become a GREAT family. Above all, remember–

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Every child on the planet wants to be part of a GREAT family!

USS Parenting- What’s in a name?

USS Parenting symbolizes a ship that contains the many ingredients that go into making parenting a successful and fulfilling life-long adventure.

Parenting is a journey rather than a destination.

Our roles as Moms and Dads are never completely finished. There are certainly ports of call akin to milestones in life like beginning first grade, graduation from high school, marriage, and that first grandchild, but the journey will take a lifetime.

Every ship needs a good Captain and a good first-mate (the journey becomes harrowing if either one is absent or not at their assigned post)

God has assigned the Captain’s role to Dad and the first-mate’s role similarly to Mom. And both roles are vital to the health of the ship, the prosperity of its journey, and its very existence. Neither role is more important than the other, but the roles are different. The ship will flounder if it has two Captains on board or two first-mates on board. It ideally needs one of each.

If, however, you find yourself going through this parenting journey without a partner, be encouraged as God holds you in special regard throughout the Gospels. God is the father to the fatherless, and can make any family whole if He is allowed in.

Every good ship needs a good crew, and the best training that can be mustered.

Successful parenting is not just having “good kids.” It is not about being the greatest dad or the greatest mom. The mere notion that you can start a new “program” on Monday and have a “new child” by Friday is just nonsense. Every member of the crew (your family) has an important role to fill.

Sailing from San Diego to Hawaii is possible whereas swimming there is not.

None of us will get to our intended destinations without relying on a good ship and a good crew. Trying to go it alone is fool-hearty.

A ship can get caught up in currents and riffs that can take it to both good and bad destinations.

Wise navigation takes us on meaningful and heart-felt journeys that are the jewels of a lifetime. But if we somehow follow or allow ourselves to be aimlessly swept along with the latest fads or trying to keep up with the Jones’s, we can become lost or even ship-wrecked.

Experiences range from the calm doldrums surrounding a tropical island to the most treacherous perfect storm around the Cape of Good Hope.

There are seasons of peace and other seasons of challenge. We may visit the same stage of life with our different children only to face night and day contrasts between them because each child is unique and different.

It is almost impossible to know where you are going unless you know where you are.

At any point in the parenting journey, it is insufficient to only know the direction that you are heading and your speed. Every one of us is a woven myriad of life-experiences that we have had up to any given point in time. What worked for one child rarely works the same way for the second because their starting points and their life journeys are so different. To ignore this truth would be like trying to take the headings and speeds that you would take to sail from Florida to Spain and expect them to get you to the same destination if you were to start the voyage from Alaska instead.

There are no real short-cuts from Point A to Point B, but there are certainly many possible detours and tourist traps along the way.

We adults are always looking for the latest and greatest short-cut to something, be it weight loss, fame, riches, fitness, and yes all fulfilling families. Most if not all of these short-cuts are distractions and illusions. Making families and parenting happen is genuine (hard) work.

Every ship displaces water in its efforts to stay afloat, and so long as it has no leaks, it does so effortlessly

Leaks can occur when the ship is thrown up against a rocky shore (uncaring attitudes, dishonesty, selfishness), or when its hull is not properly maintained and looked after. The ship can take on water rapidly if a crew member inadvertently or intentionally  leaves a hatch-door unsecured (unfaithfulness, addictions like drugs or alcohol, pornography). To leave a leak unchecked, free at will to invite water inside the hull, guarantees that the vessel will eventually sink.

Venturing out on a long journey without proper provisioning always leads to hardships, casualties, and calamity.

Just as a sea voyage across the Pacific requires proper provisioning with food, water, fuel, and other proper supplies, a successful journey through this thing called parenting requires its own special kind of provisioning too. Some of the provisions that you need for your journey are discussed here.

We seldom recognize the depth of the ocean beneath us unless circumstances compel us go look below the ocean’s surface;

Our ship protects us from the mighty depths of the ocean, whether the bottom be a mere 20 feet below or 10,000 feet below. And so it is with life.

Ocean storms can usually be predicted while they are still far off, and avoided if the ship’s crew is skilled and knowledgeable.

The seasons and the geography where ocean storms most frequent are well known, and so it is with families and parenting. To ignore the warning signs or purposely venture into a coming storm unprepared always leads to consequences.

Even with the best forecasting, sometimes a tsunami can go undetected until it is upon us.

Parenting is far from a perfect science. Parents can genuinely be the most outstanding Mom and Dad and still have a child who goes off course. It is the story of the Prodigal Son from the Gospels. Our aim as parents should be to do our very best, following the guidelines and precepts laid down in the Bible so that regardless of what happens, we can stand guiltless before our spouse, our other children, and before our God.

Once you set sail on your journey, there is no turning back.

Once you have brought a child into this world, you will forever be their Mom or Dad. For some amazing and mysterious reason, the God who created this universe and everything in it has given us frail and imperfect creatures the ability to create other living souls that will live forever.

The young inexperienced crew of a new ship would be utterly foolish not to take every opportunity to learn from the seamanship and the proven experience of the successful crews that have gone before them.

There have been many jubilant and successful ocean voyages before you. There is no problem facing you today that others have not toiled with in the past. Don’t be the lost husband or wife who refuses to ask for directions out of pride or too much self-reliance. We all need a trustworthy GPS system so that we know where we are and where we are headed.

We invite you to test and ultimately trust the guidance and advice offered through this website when it comes to this most controversial of all topics, parenting. Although the material has been modernized for cell-phones and the fast-pace of the 21st century, we have attempted to consult the ancient mariners for guidance and advice throughout the journey.