Training Children: Dependence, Again

“Beware of that miserable delusion into which some have fallen,–that parents can do nothing for their children, that you must leave them alone, wait for grace, and sit still. These persons have wishes for their children in Balaam’s fashion,–they would like them to die the death of the righteous man, but they do nothing to make them live his life. They desire much, and have nothing (J.C. Ryle, The Duties of Parents, p. 14).”