3 minute read
Encouragement For Parents
from April 2020
by Jennifer Hastings R ead this little poem, keeping your kiddos in mind. As you read, be open to what stirs in your heart. Is there a verse jumping off the page? Does one line make you proud as a peacock, whereas another makes you want to bury your head and beg for a parenting redo? Pray for God to show you what character trait your child needs help developing.
“Children learn what they live.” –Dorothy Law Nolte If a child lives with criticism, he learns to condemn. If a child lives with hostility, he learns to fight. If a child lives with ridicule, he learns to be shy. If a child lives with shame, he learns to feel guilty. If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient. If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence. If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate. If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice. If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith. If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself. If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world. giving our kids gifts than what we are teaching them. Are we caught in some invisible parent trap, one that brainwashes intelligent adults into grading themselves by delivering the best and most popular possessions to our children? I admit I feel this pressure the world places on parents. Everything in our lives speaks to this narrative. From social media to every advertisement we see, it is there: the subtle message that you need this or that to be happy. Ever since I read this poem in November, though, I keep coming back to it, and it seems to ground me in what really matters.
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This poem convicted me and made me stop to ask, what if I were intentional about giving another kind of gift to my kids? What if I worked hard all year not to save money for Christmas presents, but to give gifts of encouragement, praise, and security? You know, the parenting stuff that really makes a difference.
What about you? What do your kids need? As you read the poem, what came to your mind? Whatever came to your mind can be your parenting focus for the year. Just pick one thing to work on giving your child. You may have a grown-up child needing to hear you are proud of them. Maybe your adult baby needs encouragement about how they are raising their own babies. I love how God continues to woo us and work on our character. It makes perfect sense that we should woo our own children and see them for the adults they have the potential to become, not as they are now.
As a child of God, God continually works to give you lasting gifts of character. God is dedicated to helping you become all He has created you to be. He has gifted you with unique talents and gifts. God is presently wooing you and drawing you to a character that will last.
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