Shepard and Family Values

Something I've noticed throughout the works of the puritans is that they are very family oriented. When we read Bradstreet she wrote a poem to her children. After the poem she writes an excerpt describing her life to her children. Taylor writes poetry about his children as well. The idea of family appears important to the puritans. Especially proclaiming about mistakes they may have made. It was increasingly important that the puritans tell their children that they as humans made mistakes but that God led them through and helped them.

In Shepards piece he describes his sons birth first. He explains why God took away his mother, and asks him to not blame God. Doing so would not solve anything. Shepard then begins to discuss his life. The puritans wrote down about their own lives. By writing their own experiences they are assisting their future generations to understand the work of God. Along with this they are showing thier offspring that they have made mistakes but that God has led them throughout their struggles. These struggles they understand as the workd of God and how he has a plan for everything.

Family values within the puritan lifestyles appears in many of their works. Family life was important to them and it increased their beliefs in God. If God took away a person of that family they felt that it was due to a specific reason. They never questioned why. They always took the work of God as something to be learned by.