As a child I was mistaken about many things. I thought that the entire world was in Australia. I presumed that one day I would learn to fly. I believed that my Dad was the Apostle Paul " after all he was called Paul, he was always talking about Jesus and he travelled a lot visiting other churches. I was wrong on all counts.

But what I was right about was that God loved me. I learnt about God’s love from my parents.

Childhood is a precious and fragile time. In the first years of life we learn and absorb at a rate that exceeds any other stage in life. From conception to birth and beyond, children are little miracles. Their very existence is testament to the profound genius of a creative God. Yet in the daily work of parenting the miraculous can be overwhelmed by the mundane. Parenting is hard. It is full of joys but it can be emotionally and physically exhausting. It can be humbling and frustrating.

I have to laugh despite wanting to complain when my four-year-old-daughter insists on avoiding all lines and cracks in the footpath. I can hardly rebuke her when I clearly remember doing the same thing. (Although as a child I was avoiding crocodiles, she is dodging volcanoes.) But it does make a walk around the block or through the shops a long and contorted experience.

This edition of mindful is focused on parenting and children. Such a broad topic could readily include a hundred articles but we’ve limited it to four. Ethics lecturer, Dr Andrew Cameron has provided an important article on how we treat children. Moore College graduate and mother of two, Michelle Underwood gives us her opinion of the book Parenting Inc. Bishop Glenn Davies sheds light on the critical issue of children and salvation and evangelist and former teacher Christine Jensen writes on the importance of reading to children. Whether you have children or not I hope you find this edition of mindful helpful.

Sarah Barnett

Thanks to CASE and The Briefing for permission to reproduce material.