The Different Facets of Parenting

I am finding that a lot of parenting books are insufficient in giving those good examples/practical application. Maybe it's because every child is different and so each situation has to be treated differently...

Last week, our pastor took a little tangent from his sermon and spoke about Galatians 5:23, the fruit of the spirit. Did you realize that it is the fruit of the spirit and not the fruits of the spirit? He compared the fruit of the spirit to a diamond and how a diamond has different facets. He talked about how in different situations we might have to practice a different facet of the fruit of the spirit. Sometimes it's faith, sometimes it's goodness, sometimes gentleness, sometimes kindness, sometimes self-control, etc... As he preached on this, I started to think about how parenting is like that diamond also and how sometimes we have to practice discipline, but sometimes we have to practice grace, or forgiveness, or self-control. So, perhaps parenting books aren't able to give practical application because each situation is different and it is up to us parents to take the time to know our own children well enough to know which facet of the diamond to turn to reach our children's hearts. I think it was in Shepherding a Child's Heart where Mr. Tripp tells us to study our children so that we will know them.