PARENT: Elder Emmitt Robinson, Jr. (Pastor of Savannah)

Interviewed by: Sister Lisa Lemons

 

Q: Can you give a few suggestions for how to raise children the biblical way?
A: First they must hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. For the children that do this they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck (Proverbs 1:8-9).

 

Q: Are there any methods you received from others in the church that have worked with raising your children?  Are there any methods that were flawed? 
A: Mother Dean, Mother Dudley, Deacon Edwards, Bishop Lucas. They taught me that you can’t make grown-ups out of children. You must let them grow up and have their own dream. I also had help from my mother, who was a Godly woman in my life.

 

Q: What teaching methods (tactics/strategies) have you used to help guide your children?
A:  They were taught to fear God, and behind every choice you make, there are consequences.  This helped them to make good choices to gain our trust, and taught them accountability and responsibility in the home.

 

Q: Can you provide ways to help strengthen the relationship between a parent and children?
A:  If our faith in Christ is real, it will usually prove itself at home. Children should honor their parents even if the parents are demanding and unfair. Parents should care gently for their children, even if the children are disobedient and unpleasant. Christian parents and children should relate to each other with thoughtfulness and love. This will teach both how to submit to one another.

 

Q: What can parents do to help their children reach their highest potential?
A: Let them live out their own dream and always exalt to be the best they can be.

 

Q: Do you feel you were too strict, too lenient or well balanced as a parent?
A: Is being too strict the cause of rebellious children? My wife and I always worked together we were well balanced in our home. Yes in some cases, for we are not to provoke our children for this cause them to be hurt and discouraged. (Ephesians 6:4)

 

Q: How did you help your children deal with peer pressure?
A: We taught them to not let circumstances or people’s expectation control you, because this can lead to bad decision making.

 

Q: How did you teach your children about discipline?
A: We taught them that we discipline them because we love them and that it hurt us more than it hurt them. (Proverbs 18:35) If you refuse to discipline your son, it proves you do not love him; for if you love him, you will be prompt to punish him.
                 
Q: How did you discipline your children when they were disobedient or unruly?
A: We punished them when they were disobedient and unruly and did not spare the rod.

 

Q: Were there any parents in the Church that you observed and admired as you were raising your children?
A:  Deacon Holmes, Deacon Edwards and Minister Whitehead Sr.

 

Q: What did you observe?
A: Their children were obedient and not unruly. They had a lovely home.

 

Q: What did you admire?
A: The love between the husband and the wife which helped me to love my wife.

 

Q: Do your children appreciate you more, now that they are older?
A:  Yes, through the love and respect that they show us.

 

Q: Do you believe the “church community” plays an important role with raising our children?
A:  Yes because it gives them an outlook on the natural and the spiritual side of life.

 

Q: What age would you consider the most difficult when raising children?
A: Between 14 and 18

 

CHILDREN :
Sister Calandra Miller (Deliverance Temple) &
Brother Emmitt Robinson III (Savannah)

 

Q: Do you know of any methods that can help strengthen the relationship between children and their parents?
Calandra:   Parents should ask children about their day.  Parents should take interest in the activities their children enjoy doing and encourage them in their activities.  Even if your child is a straight A student and a self-motivator they still need to feel the approval of their parents.
Emmitt III: Parents have to be in unity and as children become young adults they need to be more understanding, appreciative, and thankful.

 

Q: What teaching methods (tactics/strategies) did your parents use on you to guide you to Christ?
Calandra :  My father preached the word (all the time)! Bible class in the home.  My mother taught us to read bible stories, scriptures, recite scriptures, books of the bible.  It was part of our learning lessons growing up.
Emmitt III : The bible. They kept the word in front of me.  After I got older I already knew what was expected of me. I had to know Christ for myself. Daddy said that if the word don't draw you, nothing will. He left it at that.

 

Q: What did you admire the most about your parent(s)?
Calandra:   My parents have two habits that I admire most showing love and giving.
Emmitt III:  I admired the way they worked together. They were also great examples of how to prove your love towards God and man.  

 

Q: Are there any methods you know of that were provided to your parents that worked? Are there any methods that were flawed?
Calandra:   I don’t know what methods were provided to them.  I know my mother taught me things like, how to sew and cook which I’m sure she got from her mother. I don’t think they were flawed.  I think my parents did the best they could with the knowledge they had.  Could they have done better?  Probably, we all have room to grow.
Emmitt III:  No methods were flawed to my understanding.  They did what they knew to do. As their knowledge increased, I can look back and see how they upgraded their methods.

 

Q: Were your parents lenient, strict, over protective, or well-balanced as you were growing up?
Calandra: My parents were well balanced.  If you act up you received punishment and if you did good you received praised. 
Emmitt III: Strict yet well-balanced. As I got older it was up to me to do the right things. They did not spare the rod as a child, but as a teenager that part stopped. They talked about and explained actions and consequences.  

 

Q:  Did it changed as you got older?
Calandra:  Yes, as we got older they were more lenient but I think it was only because we were old enough to make our own decisions.
Emmitt III:  Yes, it changed because their knowledge about parenting changed by the word through the preaching of the gospel.

 

Q: Do you believe the reason some children become rebellious is because their parents were too strict?
Calandra:  Not necessarily, I think some children are born with a rebellious spirit. It does not matter whether you are lenient or strict only God can remove the rebellious spirit.  I don’t think parents are strict enough. I don’t think there is anything wrong with being strict.  You can be strict without being overbearing.  I think a lot of parents become overbearing and provoke their children.
Emmitt III:  What is too strict? I wanted to do what I wanted to do at one point.  As a child, I got the belt. As a teenager, I got punishments.  In my late teen years, I wasn't totally on my own but I suffered for my actions. Whether  good or bad,  I believe it’s a choice you make as you get older. At some point a child must become accountable for their actions.

 

Q: Do you appreciate your parents more now that you are older?
Calandra:   I use to hate it when my mother put hats on me at church and not many of the other little girls wore them at the time.  But when I got older I told my mother thank you for doing that.  I see children/young girls now who don’t want to mess up there hair style.  But after wearing a hat for so long, I felt ashamed when I didn’t have my hat for prayer. Yes, I appreciate the suffering they went through so that we could have a wonderful life.  They paid the price so that we can become the adults that God would want us to be whether we chose to go with Jesus is completely up to each individual child.
Emmitt III:  Definitely. It took God for me to see what they should be appreciated for. I didn't appreciate them as much when I was younger because I wasn't thinking right.

 

Q: How important was it to talk to your parents?
Calandra:  It is vital to be able to communicate effectively and understand your children’s wants and needs.  Body language, attitude, and your aura can discourage a child from wanting to communicate with his or her parents.  Your environment should foster good communication.
Emmitt III: It was important as I got older, but at a young age I did not understand them. I didn't want to hear them sometimes. I found out later that they were right the whole time. We talk more now because our conversation is the same. I can talk to them about God and anything else now. Back in the day, I just didn't want to hear it.

 

Q: How important was it for your parents to trust you?  
Calandra:   It was imperative that my parents trust me.  My parents allowed us to make decisions on our own and earn their trust while also guiding us through the process of growing up.  They let us do things so that we could show them that we could be trusted.
Emmitt III:  I didn’t know if they trusted me or not because I didn’t bother to ask. Trust was not an issue because there were just some things I would not do because of what I was taught. The things I thought I was getting away with sometimes I got caught by them. Then again God saw it all. You reap what you sow.

 

Q: How important is it for parents to talk to their children about sex, drugs, or violence?
Calandra:  In today’s society, sex, drugs, and violence are things your child will be faced with in life.  Either you can give them the right information or they can potentially get the wrong information from someone else.  I want my children to have my (God’s) morals and values; not someone else’s.
Emmitt III:  It is very important to keep it real.  When it came to sex, drugs, and violence my father did not use the bible all the time but he talked to us about the natural side of life. He did tell us at some point we have to get away from sex, drugs, and violence and that the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience. My father might have kept it too real sometimes. I was scared of  girls completely until I was in my late teens. They use to say I was a square or too shy. I was too afraid of drugs and never used them. The violence part was a last resort for me. What does a father tell a son after being beat up for being different? Being from a large family and not having much, caused me and my brothers to be picked on. Sometimes that got some people in trouble with six brothers. My father didn't teach us to beat up on folks but it was what it was and we didn't have the Holy Ghost.