Perry Noble, one of my favorite pastors, tells the story of a little boy in one of their Sunday school classes. It was the younger kids’ week to get up and sing in front of the whole church and this particular Sunday they were singing “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…” One little guy was belting out the song and when it got to the chorus, instead of singing “…hide it under a bushel, NO”, he sang, very loudly, “…hide it under a bush, HELL NO”!!

Although this is very humorous, it made me think about us as parents.

What about our ‘light’?  What do our kids observe in us that make them think “That’s what makes Daddy or Mommy shine brightly”? Do we get more ‘lit up’ (excited/passionate) watching/playing our favorite sport, doing our hobbies, getting a raise, buying new stuff, being entertained or do they see us shine the brightest when we are worshipping God, giving to others or serving in our communities? Our relationship with God will outlast anything else in this world…we need to be teaching our kids how important it is to be shining for Him!

The Bible says “Let your light shine to those around you so that they can see your good works and glorify your Father in Heaven”.

This week, don’t be hiding your light under a bush,— NO, Dad and Mom!  Shine brightly for those dear ones who are watching you so closely!

Love,

Karen

Is your Daddy in your life, or is he an ‘absentee Dad’, like many seem to be these days?  There are men that would push back against this statement but the reality is even some of the ones who live in the same house are emotionally or physically absent for their kids.

A Dad is the man in his child’s life who protects, provides, nurtures, is emotionally, spiritually and physically there for them, and loves them with words and actions!

A ‘sperm-donor father’, on the other hand, is a man who has sex with a woman and then when she delivers his baby, walks away from taking on the role of a responsible, loving Dad!

What kind of example are you in your kid’s life when it comes to being a good Dad? When we understand the Heavenly Father’s care for us it will help us a lot!

Are you teaching your kids that God is their Creator, and although He is fully available as their Father and lovingly calls them into relationship with Him, it is their choice to live in that relationship or not? There is a verse in the Bible that says:

“As many as received Him and believed in His name TO THEM He gave the right to be called His children”

and

“If we confess with our mouth that we want Jesus to be our leader and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved”

We are all His creation but we cannot call the Father our DADDY until we ask Him to be the ‘Forgiver of our sins’ and the ‘Leader of our life’.

Our children know that they do wrong things (sin) and so it is makes it easier for them to understand that the reason Jesus died on the cross was to take away those sins and give them a new life!…invite them to allow God to be the Dad He wants to be in their lives.

Love, Karen

Have you ever heard a parent say something to a child that totally shocked you? Sometimes I think we forget how much our words hurt and affect our kids.

Here are some actual quotes from parents to their children:

“You are a girl; you won’t ‘be’ anything”

“You are going to end up in jail someday”

If we followed God’s word and said things “…to edify and build others up” it would be a good guide as to what comes out of our mouths. In Proverbs it says “Let the words of my mouth…be acceptable in your sight, oh Lord”.

Let’s make it our aim to follow God’s directions in what we say to our kids, so we don’t continue to be ‘epic failures’ with our words!

Have a great week!

Love,

Karen

The Bible teaches us that “The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”…I agree totally! But for kids, who aren’t really much into loving money yet, there is something else that seems to be at the root of their ‘evil’ ways, and that is boredom!

Bored kids are often badly behaved kids. If you have ever been a teacher or involved with groups of children for a period of time you will have observed that the kids who are bored tend to be the instigators of unruly behavior!

When our son was young, he did very well in school and would finish his work before the other kids did. Then he’d begin to distract the others and get into trouble. The teachers were very wise and partnered him with a boy who needed extra help.  As much as Jay did not like this much at the time, according to the boy’s Mom, it made a huge impact on her sons’ life, not only scholastically but also in building his confidence significantly! It also helped Jay to stay focused and get into less trouble in classroom.

I understand that some parents push their kids to become involved in too many activities, but it is good to keep them busy as much as possible without overdoing it.

Are your kids misbehaving regularly?  Then maybe you need to consider regularly giving them a simple chore to do at home and an activity to involve them in that they would enjoy and would avoid the ‘boredom=bad behavior’ phase of their lives!

Love,

Karen

I was waiting in a Dr’s office the other day and was appalled at what I witnessed. A mom walked in with a toddler and a boy around 4 years of age. The toddler started to scream almost immediately and the mother did nothing to try to stop her…this continued the whole time they were there.

The little boy came over to the coffee table and began pitching every magazine until all of them were completely a mess and several were on the floor. When the Mom saw what he had done she came over and with frustration said “Danny, look at the work you have made for Mommy”!! He walked away and began to play elsewhere and the Mom, with screaming girl in tow, began to clean up all the magazines. I, along with the lady beside me, helped her to get it done quickly but my thought was this “Why are we doing this”? This is teaching that boy nothing except that he does not have to worry about consequences to his actions…he will assume that someone else will always be there to bail him out”!

Dads and Moms who give their children freedom to express themselves without restraint or believe that disciplining children is out of the question are setting their kids up for failure.

My husband and I know a family that had a house rule that said that the parents were never to say “No” to their children. So when one of the boys smeared his feces over the window screen, headlights of the car and side of the garage, the only thing the Mom had to say was “Oh, I always knew he was going to be our creative one” and proceeded to clean up the mess he had ‘created’!! Would it surprise you to know that that same boy has frequently been in and out of juvenile detention centres and now has major struggles in his life as an adult?

My prayer is that as parents we teach our children well that their actions do have consequences and that they are responsible for the choices that they make!

Love,

Karen