Have you ever wondered why your kids are like night and day? One is a spitfire, and the other is a sweetheart. Many parents are interested in knowing what these differences will mean for their kids long-term, beyond everyday issues of discipline and family harmony.
Some time ago, I conducted a survey of more than 35,000 parents to help answer those questions. It is described in detail in my book Parenting Isn't for Cowards, but let me boil down 11 of the most important findings. These conclusions represent common traits and characteristics that may or may not apply to every child in each category. They indicate what typically happens with very strong-willed children (SWC) and very compliant children (CC) as the years unfold
Know the difference …
1. In the human family, there are nearly three times as many SWCs as CCs. Nearly every family with multiple children has at least one SWC.
2. Male SWCs outnumber females by about 5 percent, and female CCs outnumber males by about 6 percent. Thus, there is a slight tendency for males to have tougher temperaments and for females to be more compliant, but it can be, and often is, reversed.
3. The birth order has nothing to do with being strong-willed or compliant. These elements of temperament are basically inherited and can occur in the eldest or in the baby.
4. Most parents know they have an SWC very early. One-third can tell it at birth. Two-thirds know by the first birthday, and 92 percent are certain by the third birthday. Parents of compliant children know even earlier.
5. The temperaments of children tend to reflect those of their parents. Two strong-willed parents are more likely to produce tough-minded kids and vice versa.
6. Parents can expect a battle from SWCs in the teen years. Fully 74 percent of SWCs rebel significantly during adolescence.
7. Incredibly, only 3 percent of CCs experience severe rebellion in adolescence, and only 14 percent go into mild rebellion.
8. The best news for parents of SWCs is the rapid decrease in their rebellion in young adulthood. It drops almost immediately in the early 20s and then trails off from there.
9. The CC is much more likely to be a good student than the SWC. Nearly three times as many SWCs made Ds and Fs during the last two years of high school as did CCs. Approximately 80 percent of CCs were A and B students.
10. The CC is considerably better adjusted socially than the SWC.
11. The CC typically enjoys much higher self-esteem than the SWC. Only 19 percent of compliant teenagers either disliked themselves (17 percent) or felt extreme self-hatred (2 percent). Of the very strong-willed teenagers, however, 35 percent disliked themselves, and 8 percent experienced extreme self-hatred.
As every mother knows, there is no respite from parenting. When my teenage daughter became pregnant, I had to find a way to nurture her and confront my own issues at the same time.
My daughter Windsor had been sleeping a lot. She would come home from school and take long naps before dragging down to dinner.
She was keeping company with a young man who was pleasant, but had few ambitions. I didn't prevent them from seeing each other, but I certainly hoped their relationship would soon run its course.
Windsor accused me of being judgmental and not trusting her. Our relationship became volatile and frustrating. I was keenly disappointed and even questioned God about these developments.
One afternoon Windsor came and sat beside me on my bed. I saw fear in her big blue eyes as she confessed that she suspected she was pregnant. My mind raced. I tried to prepare myself for what lay ahead as I embraced her and told her it would be OK.
I was not sure that I was ready to deal with all that might come if we found out for sure. But a friend urged us to go for a pregnancy test immediately. I drove Windsor to the doctor's office.
My mind raced ahead. I wondered: How would we handle this? Could I protect her? And what about my own reputation? What would people say now? I was a single mom, and I was not prepared for this. This was not supposed to happen in our family-not to me, the daughter of Billy Graham.
The doctor confirmed that Windsor was pregnant. Still in the doctor's office, I looked into her eyes brimming with tears and held her tightly as moans escaped from her inner depths. Our lives had just been changed forever.
What Now? - What do you do with the information that your 16-year-old daughter is pregnant? I knew Windsor was wounded already. She was feeling guilty and ashamed, and I should not add to it. She did not need more rejection from me.
At some point, too, I would have to confront the many issues involved and face my responsibility. In spite of my love, tears, prayers and efforts at discipline, my child had made bad choices with serious consequences.
To ease my confusion, I reached for a devotional book, and it opened to Bible verses about peace. I read: “Now may the Lord of peace Himself give you peace always in every way. The Lord be with you all” (2 Thess. 3:16, NKJV); and “'My presence will go with you”' (Ex. 33:14). I felt a peace that was not my own.
Windsor made the first big decision herself-she did not want an abortion. I was thankful for that. When she informed her boyfriend of her pregnancy, he said he did not love her and did not want to marry her.
I contacted a local crisis pregnancy center to find out what resources they offered. Their counselors were understanding and helpful. They provided me with the names of unwed mother homes, but these were far away or seemed to be too rigid.
Windsor had heard enough preaching. She needed a balanced approach and did not want to be manipulated into a decision. The search was frustrating, and we clashed often.
As her mother, I was the safest person for her to take her anger out on-and she did. I love my daughter so deeply. I can honestly say I was never ashamed of her, although I certainly grieved for her and with her.
To show her how much I cared, I listened and listened some more. I heard things I did not want to hear. It was hurtful. Arguing was futile, but often I fell into that trap.
My daughter needed to be able to trust me with not only her angry outbursts but also her deepest thoughts and fears. I rarely let Windsor see my own anguish and doubts, which is one way I failed her.
Eventually I needed counseling. It forced me to take responsibility for my anger, doubt, guilt and shame.
The Need for Nurturing - Anyone involved with a child in an unplanned pregnancy becomes part of a complicated journey. I found others to lean on and allowed those I trusted to comfort me.
I was blessed to have a wonderful friend who was also a counselor by profession. Sara Dormon often provided a home, counseling and support for women with unplanned pregnancies. She took Windsor into her home, and walked her through the realities of parenting and adoption.
Although she changed her mind just about every hour, Windsor eventually decided to release her baby, a girl, for adoption. She was on a roller coaster of emotion to the very end.
My daughter pulled at my heartstrings and pushed all my buttons. Windsor needed me as never before. But she was more difficult than ever. There were days I didn't want to face another decision, argument or emotion. I didn't want stamina; I wanted out.
To keep going, I had to nurture myself physically, emotionally and spiritually. I did things I enjoyed. I went antiquing and read books for pleasure more than for self-improvement.
But despite my efforts, I became depressed. The help I received from wonderful doctors and counselors helped me make decisions and kept me from spiraling downward emotionally.
Anger, Blame and Forgiveness - My life was altered by Windsor's choice. People looked askance at her and at me. I was mad about this.
I was angry with these people, with Windsor, the young man, myself and with anyone else who happened to cross my path. My anger wasn't rational, and I frequently lashed out. I was angry with myself for being angry and needed to find someone to blame.
I blamed Windsor's father. He was not there for her as she grew up, and he rejected her early on. He left a huge void that she desperately wanted to fill. I felt, too, that the church let us down. And I was angry with God because He hadn't intervened.
Unloading the anger began when I made a conscious choice to forgive. I told God about my decision and asked for His help in carrying it out. The first day I had to remind myself of that decision 100 times.
Forgiveness does not mean being tolerant of bad behavior. Nor is it about denying reality, excusing sin, avoiding conflicts or ignoring the consequences.
Forgiveness looks the hurt straight in the eye, calls it for what it is and says to the offender: “I relinquish the right to make you pay. I give you the opportunity to make a new beginning.” It costs you.
My heart had been deeply wounded, and the healing process wasn't always smooth and pretty. But the more I practiced forgiveness, the greater my capacity to forgive became.
Asking forgiveness of Windsor, her father, God and others for my harshness and anger was the hardest and most humbling thing I ever had to do. But even if my daughter continued to hurt me with her choices, that couldn't stop me from making the decision to forgive every day. I saw it as my responsibility, and I didn't wait for Windsor to ask for my forgiveness-I gave it.
A Shared Journey - My daughter spent nine months thinking of very little else but the baby within her. Windsor loved this child more than anything.
I admired Windsor's courage. She knows this now, but back then she did not think I cared because I kept so many of my emotions to myself. Windsor needed me to cry with her, but I carried my grief inside.
After Windsor released her daughter for adoption, she attempted to return to her routine. She soon found that she didn't fit in with her former friends at school or at church. Naturally, she gravitated toward those who didn't make her feel bad about herself. She began dating again, and things deteriorated rapidly, to the point where she moved out of my home.
After nearly a year of this behavior, she informed me that she was pregnant again. I wept; I could not go through it again. I told her she was on her own this time, but I would not abandon her.
I remember how I felt when Windsor told me that she was not going to release this baby for adoption. I got up, hugged her and told her that I was glad she was settled with it and could move forward. When she left the room, I picked up my Bible, and my eyes fell on the verse, “The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein” (Ps. 24:1).
In my heart, I felt an unexplained peace that could only have come from God. Windsor and her baby boy belonged to Him, and He would take care of them.
The Scriptures tell us that God is with us in the midst of our heartaches. Jesus not only experienced life here on Earth in all its agony, but He also became human so that He could understand and comfort us in our need.
It has taken Windsor and me years to uncover all the areas have needed forgiveness. When, finally, she asked my forgiveness, we both cried. The healing continues today.
Ruth Graham is the third child of evangelist Billy Graham and author of several books, including In Every Pew Sits a Broken Heart (Zondervan) and I'm Pregnant...Now What? (Regal), co-authored with Sara Dormon, Ph.D.
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Crisis pregnancy workers say they minister to nearly as many Christian women considering abortion as unbelievers.
When a young girl shows up at the First Life Center for Pregnancy in Orlando, Florida, the director, Sandy Epperson, depends on the Holy Spirit to give her just the right words to say. But when clients request a pregnancy test to make plans for an abortion, they are often shocked by the director's response.
"Why don't you just kill the baby you're holding in your arms?" asks Epperson, who has been running the center for nearly 13 years. She says there are times when she ministers to teenage girls and adult women out of tough love, but there are other times when the Lord will prompt her to use a more gentle, compassionate approach.
"The purpose of my remarks is to keep that unborn child alive and safe from abortion," Epperson explains, because many single mothers don't want another baby to feed and care for.
According to the National Right to Life Organization, more than 42 million babies have died since the legalization of abortion in 1973. Research also indicates that many women get pregnant a second time within six months of their first abortion. That was the case for one woman who did not want to be identified in this story.
"I wanted to have a second abortion because I was afraid of what other Christians would say about me," she said. The native New Yorker says she listened to the Holy Spirit and became a single parent instead of killing her child.
Helping women like this is what motivates the volunteers at First Life Center for Pregnancy. The center was established 16 years ago when founders Rick and Suzanne Fletcher heard their pastor, Jim Henry of First Baptist Church of Orlando, preach a sermon about abortion. First Life also started a post-abortion program when Henry, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, learned that women in his 10,000-member congregation were struggling with the aftermath of abortion.
Today the center is run by an army of volunteers who attend Pentecostal, Methodist, nondenominational, Baptist and charismatic churches. Despite their religious affiliations, these volunteers are prepared to offer Jesus to people who don't know Him. The women they serve come from different racial, ethnic and religious backgrounds, ranging from Muslim women to those who are born again.
Crisis Pregnancy Centers (CPC), where many women often are referred, have been around for years, and their visibility has saved the lives of countless unborn children. Many CPCs around the country are affiliated with churches, but many are not because some churches don't have the funds to support them, Epperson says.
Marcos Perez, a 22-year-old advertising director for the Christian men's magazine New Man, almost became a statistic when he tried to force his girlfriend to abort their son, Marc-Anthony.
"I was a sophomore attending college on a vocal scholarship. I was a respected youth leader and a pastor's kid," Perez told Charisma.
But when Perez found out that the love of his life, Kathy, was pregnant, everything came crashing in. He says he wanted her to abort the child, but the Holy Spirit's conviction was too strong for him to go through with his plans.
Today, the Perezes have been married four years and are delighted with both their sons, Marc-Anthony, 3 and Julian, 1. Marcos says that one of the greatest gifts that God gives to human beings is the freedom of choice, but with that freedom comes responsibility.
"When we look into the eyes of our sons, we are eternally grateful that we chose life," he says.
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