God help us to weave a tapestry of love and not hate in our children, a spirit of tolerance and caring, a dedication to freedom for all and not just some. God help us to sow seeds of peace and justice in our children's hearts today.
Every christian parent wants to teach their children to be faithful to our wonderful God.
I have found myself struggling lately with keeping my kiddo God oriented as I like to say, when life get' crazy (which tends to happen when you have children) it's nice to be able to have some little reminders of how to keep your kiddos on the right track to having God in their lives.
So anywho, I decided that I need to come up with a plan for when life does get crazy. Some sort of plan that both my hubby (Steve) and I could both keep up with. After searching high and low this is what I have come up with to keep strong with weaving our children's hearts and spirits in this crazy world.
~Weaving our kiddo's hearts and spirits in a crazy world~
1)Pray, pray, pray...
We need to teach our children that praying to God is just like talking to one another, there is no special way to talk to God. We can be silent in prayer, whisper real quiet, talk at a normal tone, or however it is we like to talk to Him.
2)Uncondititional Love...
Our children need to know that we love them no matter what, even when we are upset or have to punish them. We need to reaasure our kiddos that we love them undconditionally and nothing will change our love for them.
3)Teach our children that God loves them.
He is beautiful, loving, kind, and merciful. He is the best friend anyone could have. Teach them to love God in return because He has given them so much. The best way to love Him is to do what He wants of us.
4)Know God has a plan...
It's our responsiblity to teach our children that the Lord has a plan for our lives, even when bad or unfortuante things happen to us it is for a reason and is part of God's plan for us.
5)Set a family day (atleast one day every week)
Take one day a week for your family, it really doesn't matter what you do as long as your together. Play board games, watch a movie and eat some yummy popcorn, go for a family walk, go outside and play (mom' don't be scared of getting dirty, I'll admit I have had issues getting down and dirty in the past with the kiddos) make mud pies lol, just spend time with family.
6)The worst moments happen..
When our frustration turns into accusation:
"You blew it."
"You'll never get it."
"I don't even know why I try to teach you these things."
"What...ever! You figure it out, I'm done trying."
"You're grounded...for life!"
How we model correction and coaching for kids doesn't have to be so negative for them and frustrating for us. But it starts with our taking the self-discipline we've learned in our faith and not exempting ourselves from practicing it repeatedly and consistently with our kids. They do not deserve our venting, nor are they equipped to deal with it.
7)Use the magic words
"Stop stop stop" if anything is getting to be too much (tickling, teasing, anything scary). All siblings and parents agree to stop the behavior immediately. Everyone keeps this rule because they all might need to use it some time.
Still working on this one with my girls, man if they get into a tiss, everybody watch out!!! Patience mom, that' the key.
Hope you enjoy this, I found some of these on the web and other I did myself. I am finding myself getting better at keeping up with it, remember when life gets tough or crazy all you have to do is..
Pray, pray, pray....
