3 Things Every Child Needs to Hear
You are my precious son/daughter. I love you SO much! I am so proud of you. These are words our hearts long to hear from our parents and our children long to hear from us. For some of us, we will never hear these phrases from our father or mother. In fact, we may have heard the opposite while growing up. But all of that can change. We have the power to pour life into the next generation with our words. Take a moment today to say these simple, yet powerful, words to your children.
Marriage Matters
Why do we need marriage? Why do we need a critical mass of married couples in our communities? Author Janice Shaw Crouse writes that happily married persons generally have learned the skills to being good neighbors and citizens. Children growing up with parents who are committed to marriage are likely more secure and tend to treat other children with care and compassion because they have seen it in their home. The virtues learned by working to develop a happy marriage constitute drops of glue which, when multiplied in sufficient numbers, produce a good, healthy, humane social environment for all.
Raising Healthy Kids
God is the very definition of love. Indeed, God is love. We are told in no uncertain terms that we should love the Lord with everything we have within us. (Deuteronomy 6:5) This is the perfect model for how we should love our children, whether they be babies, children, teens or young adults. Relationships between parents and children change and evolve over the years and the balance between mentorship, friendship, psychologist and disciplinarian is in constant flux. All parents want to rear healthy, God-fearing children and He gives us the perfect blueprint to do just this.
Stories
Do you like to read? There are fascinating stories in both the Old and New Testaments-stories of conflict, victories, fallen people and God’s love. There are human interest stories, epic events and the foretelling of Christ’s coming and how vital that event will be. Then the New Testament tells us of Jesus’ life from His birth to His death and His resurrection. The Bible is a huge story-one of God’s creativity and love for those He created, which necessitated the supreme sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. It’s a spell-binding book, one you should read more of this afternoon.