• Children should say hello, goodbye, thank you and please. It helps them to learn that they aren’t the only ones with feelings and needs.
• When they misbehave, give them the “big eyes”—a stern look of admonishment.
• Remind them (and yourself) who’s the boss. French parents say, “It’s me who decides.”
• Don’t be afraid to say “no.”  Kids have to learn how to cope with some frustration.

Remember, you are the parent.  Let your yes mean yes and your no mean no.  You are the one in charge.  Through your guidance, instruction, and loving command, your child learns safety, security, and what it means for their home to be their shelter from the world around them.

To read the full article, follow this link:  Why French Parents are Superior

YOUR THOUGHTS
What tactics have you learned about parenting over the years?  We would love to hear your thoughts.

Video games are fun that way.  They are entertaining and now, very interactive.  For this generation, you might even say they are addictive.  So without getting into the negative impacts of video games (and there are plenty) humor me in this analogy and let’s note 10 things that video games can teach us about raising our children:

1. Keep it simple:  It doesn’t matter if it is Madden 2012 or Call of Duty: video games are easy to understand.  Give your children simple instructions that are part of your larger goal.  If you want to teach your child pride, then start simply with training them to take care of their room and toys by putting things away.
2. Give honest feedback:  When you kids play video games, if they mess up, they simply die or start over.  The concept of trying again is a good one and helps your child understand that life is not that clean.   Make your expectation an objective…just like achieving a high score.
3. Establish clear and realistic goals:  Getting to the next level is often the goal in video games.  Have a clear and realistic goal for your child to reach or fail to reach.  Either way, if the goal is clear, then your child will learn from the experience.
4. It’s okay to fail:  So often we want to protect our children from failing.  But making mistakes and failing is a part of life, so give your children a safe place to fail.  In a video game, you have to try multiple times to reach the next level.  It is part of the process of improving.
5. Try again:  The more we repeat things that, there more proficient we become.  Expertise and knowledge comes from experience.
6. Set limits:  Budgets, restrictions, etc. all teach us the same thing that, there are limits.  In a video game, when time starts to run out, the pressure begins to increase and we work faster and harder with greater efficiency.  Setting limits for your children teaches them all of those things.
7. Involve them in solving the problem:  In video games, you cannot move on to the next level until you have developed the skill necessary to progress.  Use this same idea to focus on a particular skill that your child is weak in.
8. Celebrate improvement:  It feels good to accomplish something.  Praise the positives.  Develop in your child a belief in achievement!
9. Recognize success:  Publicly and privately praise your children whenever you have the chance.  Being recognized is a powerful motivator.
10. Encourage doing better:  Consistent improvement over time is really the goal.  Life brings more challenges as we grow older.  Build into your child a mindset that each step is important and that the growth process is actually more important than just winning and losing.

As a parent, your goal is to watch for the many valuable opportunities to train and teach your child every day.  In doing so, your relationship becomes a stronger and stronger one that will stand the test of time!

Your Thoughts:  After reading this article, what are your thoughts? 

Parenting is a potent force for good and for ill.  God created a pattern and natural power in parents which is universal, creating universal results, good or bad; except in the cases where God makes a decision to show mercy when mercy isn’t warranted; where the course the parents have set is headed toward disaster and God mercifully intervenes.  The power which God has bestowed on parents is children will do what you do, but not always what you say.  The power is especially potent when what you do is one and the same with what you say, and the child discerns no contradiction between the two.  Authenticity always strikes a responsive, efficacious chord; but authenticity is absent when a disparity between actions and words, being and speaking, doing and prevaricating is the norm.  Even the smallest child has instinctive abilities to discern authenticity or the lack thereof.

Given the truth of original sin, a fallen world, and a shrewd enemy, God knew parents would need superhuman help.  His strongest promises to us in the Scriptures are related to parenting and the responsibility of the older generation conveying to the following generation the message of salvation and truth . . .  a path to victory.  But it is not a message cast in words alone; the words must put on clothes; that is, a living evidence of paternity: who is your Father?  God’s promises are straightforward and discernable, accomplishing their purpose and goal in a life where they are believed and claimed, and the proof is always in the pudding of who you are and are becoming.

No matter what your theological tradition, if you accept the authority of God’s Word, the COVENANT is an essential element of the Gospel.  The covenant God the Father made with His Son, Jesus Christ, and subsequently with all those who are in Christ by faith, contains promises backed by the power of God, confirming them, and making them work to your and your children’s good.  God is saying in the covenant to parents who live in that covenant,  “Your efforts will not be in vain when you do what you say and say what you do in obedience to Me as you exercise parenting.”

When our children or some of our children live as though God is not their God, the failure is not God’s covenant, nor Him, but our own parenting.   Augustine once said, give me a child until he or she is seven and they are mine for life.  The formation of a child’s heart begins long before we think it does, even when the communication is yet unintelligible.   Fortunately for us when that time of formation in the home is past, we still serve a God of mercy and compassion.  Therefore, it always behooves us as parents to never stop crying out to Him to intervene in their willful rebellion and turn their hearts to the Father.  God never gives up on His side of the Covenant, neither should we on our side.   Even when your children have left the home your work is not done, though a larger portion of it will be on your knees.   Work on your own fitness for heaven, and pray for your children’s.

Let’s state the obvious by just getting it out in the open that everyone of us is someone’s child.  Everyone of us also has memories of our childhood.  Everyone of us has been influenced by our past.  Everyone of us has had a hero or someone they watched and idolized at an early age.  Most often, that person was their parent.  So parents, remember your youth and recognize that you are your child’s role model.  Research states that whether you know it or not, most youth look to their parents and other family members for their examples.  Is that not your own experience?  So if it is, what do we do with that?  What happens to that hero?  Have you remained your child’s hero?  What is our role in the family?

As a father of a rapidly growing 7 year old, I often think of the example I am setting for my son.  And that literally, is what the word means.  We see in scripture that Jesus is referred to as the Son of God and ‘son’ means the ‘example of.’ Therefore, Jesus is the ‘Perfect Example of God.’ It is the Perfect Example of God who was incarnate.

So, if son means the example of, then we must recognize as parents that children are examples of their parents.  Throughout scripture, you see it this way: David was the son of Jesse who was the son of Obed who was the son of Boaz.  Literally, you could say that David was the example of Jesse who was the example of Obed who was the example of his father Boaz.  In the person of David, we know a little bit about his father, and his father before him.

We as children, are examples of our parents.  And this is a key component of the role of the family.  Families provide:

1. an example
2. an identity
3. moral, social, and economic support
4. influence in a family member’s life that lasts a lifetime
5. boundaries providing security and structure in which one can grow and flourish

Yet according to a study conducted by the University of Missouri:

1. Dads spend 8 minutes a day talking to their children
2. Working mothers spend 11 minutes
3. Stay-at home moms spend less than 30 minutes

So, in raising children, do we look at it from the perspective of a lifetime or from a day in day out experience? The key piece of the family is a deep commitment by the parents to parenting and raising their children.  Commitment is not demonstrated by a week’s trip to Disneyland or the beach or the mountains.  A deep commitment is shown over time, day after day.  Remember these four things

1. 1. Respect is earned
2. 2. Make time for fun – deliberately plan to be around each other
3. 3. Encourage – learn each other’s assets and strengths
4. 4. Communicate love consistently – not just in words but in actions

The recent floods in Des Moines, Iowa and the floods in Florida this week provide a great analogy.  Generally a river or stream has clear borders.  Water needs to be contained.  When the water is contained, the countryside, trees, and foliage which are near the banks of the river are beautiful.  But when that river no longer remains in the banks to control its flow, there is devastation and chaos as a flood will destroy the surrounding environment.

The family provides banks and boundaries for its members.  Parents establish those “banks” for their children. Without them children have no “home,” no security, no place to feel safe, no refuge to run to in trouble, no safe harbor in which to grow and develop.

One of our most natural weaknesses is being consistent; in our love, our discipline, our time commitment, our self-control, our application of God’s Word. This is the precise reason we need daily reminders, daily strength, daily encouragement. God says in Lamentations 3:20 that “His grace is new every morning.” Every day is a new day because of God’s grace. The actions of yesterday do not need to control the actions of the future if you take it to the Lord, confess the sin, and ask for His grace to begin anew. You cannot do that that too many times! His grace is infinite!

So in understanding the role of the family, particularly the role of parents who set the tone for the family, here is some simple advice:

1. Speak openly and honestly think before you speak!
2. Praise the positives!
3. Spend time regularly doing things your children enjoy. This doesn’t mean that you have to cater to their every interest but it does mean you should spend the time learning what they are really interested in and developing those skills. Each child has their own unique talents, learn your child’s talents rather than forcing your interests on them.
4. Eat meals together and engage in family activities on a regular basis
5. For those who drink alcohol, make some of those dinners or social events alcohol free to show your children that you don’t need alcohol to have a good time or to relax.

You are never alone in carrying out the work and calling of a parent. Like minded parents with whom you can become friends can become a help and encouragement as you traverse these years together. God never leaves us or forsakes us when we call on Him and ask for His grace. A healthy and vibrant church community can become a great resource for parents and their children. Use what God has provided for families and parents. Remember, God works through and with families.

We receive news of our world in a number of ways: newspapers, other print media, TV, radio, internet, speeches and conversation.  Is that really true?  Do you believe what you read, hear, and see? And if your response is “sometimes,” then how do you discern what you believe and what you discount as a lie? C. S. Lewis, one of the most brilliant Christian writers and scholars of the twentieth century, once wrote what he thought of newspapers, “I never read the papers. Why does anyone? They’re nearly all lies, and one has to wade through such reams of verbiage to find out even what they are saying.” That was 1955. I can only imagine what he would think today.  He also wrote, “To abstain from reading—and… from buying—a paper which you have once caught telling lies seems a very moderate form of asceticism. Yet how few practice it.” The most prominent newspaper in America today is constantly caught telling lies, yet people still buy and read it…and most unfortunately, in too many cases, believe what they read.

Every day in our technologically advanced world we receive (it might be more accurate to say we are flooded with) information which we will accept, filter, or reject. There doesn’t even have to be an immediate decision what you do with it; information purposefully sifted and tucked away or not even dealt with when heard can still influence your thinking somewhere down the road, framing your perceptions rightly or wrongly. This is especially true of the person who is not constantly sharpening and maturing his or her world-view, empowering a capacity to discern good from evil. Being a professing Christian is obviously in itself not enough to guard you from wrongly discerning the truth or lie of information, since the author of Hebrews in writing to an audience of Christians bluntly said some of them had become dull of hearing, needed to learn the basics all over again, and in regards to the knowledge and discernment of truth were still “babes in the woods” who could not handle a diet of “meat.” This evaluation had nothing to do with how long they had been Christians. It had to do with how skilled they were in the Word of righteousness.  This skill will not be gained or improved by spending more time in the newspaper or before the TV than you do in the Word.  It’s fairly simple logic. Lewis wasn’t dumb.

Living as we do in an information world, more so than all our predecessors, a trained and practiced world view is absolutely essential to every Christian who desires, in Christ’s words, to overcome the world, and not be overcome by it. Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Hear what? “What the Spirit says to the churches.” And where does the Spirit speak to the churches, to individual Christians, and to the world that has an ear to hear?  God’s Word. The message of the Word is not PC (politically correct), nor inoffensive or tolerant. In fact, it is an offensive stumbling block to those who are dying. It declares a world-view (a God-view) concerning matters of controversy contrary to the now-accepted norm of the culture no longer condemned. Rather, those who hold to the teaching of God’s Word are themselves condemned in the public square, becoming the prey of those who call evil good (Isaiah 59:15 above). Numerous attempts to acculturize the Scriptures to allegedly “bring them into the modern age” fulfill the prophetic warnings of Paul, Peter, Jude, John, and the Lord Himself.

Will your Christian world-view meet the test? Because the waters are rising fast, the winds are blowing into a gale, and your foundation is being exposed (Matthew 7:24-27).

Frankly, I cannot relate to this deadening of the mind inscribed with the words “I’m bored!” My mother might beg to differ with me, but as far back as I can stir my memory, I cannot remember ever being bored; and I was reared for a time without, God forbid, TV, video games, or movies.  I spent a great deal of time as a PK (pastor’s kid) in church which for most of the bored is the epitome of “Boresville.” Still, when I consider the world in which God has placed us to live, while not the paradise of Eden prior to the curse, I/we can still in this sin filled world exclaim with the Psalmist, “How manifold (numerous, abundant, complex, exciting, fascinating, et cetera) are your works, O God.” Or the entire 8^th Psalm! I always had a curiosity about life and the world and even alone was well occupied. Bored was just not a part of my vocabulary in describing me or my life. I never cease to thank God for a heritage of godly parents and a home infused with spiritual purpose and service. I have to say that I now understand that having the presence of the Creator within one’s inner being is the compelling inspiration of the soul to be curious with awe and wonder about a world so intelligently made. The bored are not so blessed as to have this environmental incubator from which to be hatched into adulthood.

Janie B. Cheaney in a recent article in World Magazine wrote, “Boredom is less a matter of what’s going on around us than what’s happening, or not happening, inside.” It is a difficult task, as we at the Paul Anderson Youth Home are well aware, to expel the boredom from young people’s minds, by exciting their souls to the wonder of the world and its majestic Creator. Boredom is actually an integral element of sorrow and depression which can lead to loss of desire to even continue living. Consequently, teen suicide is on the rise. Again we catch the drift of Postman’s premise “Amusing Ourselves to Death.” Typical amusements become boring with time when they do not nurture an eternal purpose or feed what God has put in us: a hope for eternity. When in our work or play we cease to be engaged in eternally purposeful activity, or do not understand how and why what we do and think is eternally meaningful, hope is drowned in the boredom which is the result. Boredom is the absence of any confidence that what we do and think is significant for eternity.

Are you bored? There is not the least bit of spiritual logic for the Christian to live in boredom other than being blinded by his own sin. I well remember when in the 7^th grade I was fitted for my first pair of contact lenses. In my vanity I had refused to wear glasses before and did not understand that I was missing a whole lot. A new world opened to me. It was astounding. I could see details that before were not there. This is not unlike what we who are Christians are to be about. Our own genuine wonder and delight in God’s amazing world ought to be “eye-opening” and intriguing to the bored people we engage daily. They need to meet and you need to lead them to your Optometrist.

Is marriage passé?  In a January 14, 2011 article Natalie Portman, unusually successful as both a child and adult actress, revealed her latest view on marriage. Apparently, many young women are taking her advice. Portman told a reporter that the reason she was drawn to her latest movie, “No Strings Attached,” was because the main character whom she plays “was simply seeking a no-romance bed buddy as opposed to the whole nine yards.” Portman said, “Emma (the main character) wants a relationship without the relationship. She just wants the sex. It’s unusual but funny. I love romantic comedies, but I’m tired of seeing girls who want to get married all the time and that’s all they’re interested in. I think there is a wider vision of how women can conduct their lives and what they want.” Normally, I wouldn’t give a plug nickel for views on the institution of marriage from “experts” like Natalie Portman. The problem is she is a “role model” for many young girls and women who think emulating her will lead to happiness. The rapidly rising rate of suicide among teenage girls, the increasing failure of married and unmarried relationships, and an epidemic of emotionally scarred and broken people seems to point to a paucity of happiness in spite of piles of propaganda to the contrary.

It is worth noting that Portman displayed some values in her earlier acting career refusing to play parts where nudity or sex was expected, and turned down acting in films like Lolita, denouncing sex between young girls and adult men. Apparently, her life in acting has had an eroding influence on her once-held values. The Scripture verses above seem very passé, even glaringly offensive in present culture; a culture that has invaded even the church. Most turn a blind eye in this day and age to young people living together in the days, months, and years before marriage, and many more who never bother to “get to the altar.”

Is marriage passé today? Does it have any value in a “modern” world? Or is God just the Grinch who stole Christmas in commanding that a man and a woman reserve sexual relations for marriage, and ought to honor the marriage bed by being faithful to one another? The prevalent spin of the world and its puffed-up “wisdom” says God is hopelessly wrong. The blatant evidence of the wounded society in which we live and the scattered carcasses of individual lives, shattered relationships, and damaged children says He is right. It is not that God is throwing cold water on “fun,” His purpose is to save what is lost; to heal and restore what is being destroyed; to inculcate what alone will result in happiness that lasts.  Portman will live to rue the day she said, “I think you can find both men and women that are into non-emotional relationships, because you get hurt, and you don’t want to invest emotions in that way again”; especially the day she is in love herself (emotionally, passionately; Is there any other kind?) and someone stomps on her heart because they now want an un-emotional relationship with her. Natalie, your philosophy simply doesn’t hold water and is not worth a cup of warm spit.

Marriage will never be passé for those who not only believe God, but discover the joy of walking in His commands. The individual glory of a man or a woman whom God calls into the covenant of marriage is discovered in the intimate happiness of that union and in bringing forth godly children. This is exactly what God declares in Malachi 2 and in many other passages of the Bible. Say what you will till the cows come home, His way produces gold and silver; Natalie Portman’s, filthy rags.

Well, yesterday was election day and having just gone through another political season, I am sure politics is nearing the bottom of things we want to talk about with anyone right now! Still the question is a fair one, what do we want our children to learn from us about the world of politics and our responsibilities as citizens? Even if we say nothing to them, they are learning from us by what we say to others and to one another as parents. They learn from what we do or do not do with regard to our citizenship. As in everything, our children learn from us in the way we live our lives, from the passion we show or the lack of passion we have for people and/or our responsibilities.

In Peter’s First Epistle, we are instructed to “always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you for the hope that you have.” (I Peter 3:15) Our hope is certainly our salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ, but it is also the hope we have for a world reformed by the Gospel because we are His disciples. Just as there are Christian spectacles through which we should see this present world, there is a Christian world-view we need to have in  the political realm. It is this perspective we want to impart to our children. We want them to have and live out a Biblical world-view in everything!

The Christian cannot be divorced from politics, anymore than he can be divorced from living in the world. As Jesus prayed to His Father for his disciples, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one.” (John 17:15) We are in the world, but there is no necessity to be of it. “The world and its desires pass away, but the man that does the will of God lives forever.” (I John 2:17) Politics is part of God’s plan for the world and the society in which we live. Like the world, it is susceptible to evil. “Dirty” and “politics” are two words commonly linked. But that should not be surprising in a fallen and sinful world.

Nevertheless, Romans 13 clearly sets forth both God’s sovereignty in the political arena and the truth that His children are not separated from it. We may not be politicians or even aspire to be, but politicians (magistrates, rulers, judges, governors, presidents, legislators et cetera) have an impact on our lives and the lives of our children. Some politicians and rulers are Christians and legislate or rule with Biblical principles, while others do not. But the Bible tells us that both types rule by God’s authority. It is He that raises up rulers and authorities, just as it is He that brings them down. God’s purposes in raising up evil rulers and authorities are not always known to us. Yet there is no one who thwarts His will. Everything conforms to His plan even though we do not always know exactly what it is.

Our concern, our responsibility, is to do His will in our personal lives, no matter what goes on around us. What others do is not an excuse that removes ours or our children’s responsibility before God. What does He require of you? That is the supreme question. Just as Jesus said to the Pharisees, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s,” (Matthew 22:21) we have responsibilities as citizens within the particular nation in which God has placed us.

Consequently, here are some principles to assist in instructing your children about their political responsibilities, before and after they come of voting age:

1. Voting is a privilege that should be deeply appreciated and consistently performed.
2. How we vote requires prayer and wisdom.
3. Thoughtful consideration of politicians, political ideology, and issues using Biblical principles is necessary. Micah 6:8 is a good foundation: “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Ask these questions as you determine your vote. Does the candidate or the position support and encourage:
   • Protection of freedom of worship in the nation?
   • Protection of God’s ordained social entities: marriage and family?
   • Commitment to God’s moral law as expressed in His commandments, to include the protection of human life?
   • Justice for all regardless of race or socio-economic status?
   • Loving concern for the poor?
   • Humility in actions and words?
   • Trustworthiness?
   • Commitment to integrity and ethical behavior?
   • National policies that follow our Lord’s command: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
   • National policies that pursue relief and freedom of the oppressed.
4. Sometimes we are required to determine the lesser of two evils. Who (politician or party) or what (position or issue) will most help accomplish the above principles in the nation and the world?    

In the world of politics, there will be many times we despair. However, this is true of life in a fallen world. We must teach our children the truth that, “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (I John 4:4) We have much to hope for in God, our Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. We are neither to become cynical, nor alienated from the world and the political process as we wrestle with political realities. God always remains sovereign! Do not give in to despair! Read 2 Corinthians 1:8-14 and 2 Corinthians 4:1-12 with your children. Convey to them and remind yourself that in God we have hope. In Him we have every reason to press on and  keep pressing on until He returns. Until that day, we are instructed to pray for those in authority over us, regardless of whether we voted for them or not.

So, here are 11 points of perspective as we raise our children:

1. Time
a. Children spell love T-I-M-E
b. Be deliberate…intentional about how you are going to spend time
with them
i. This may be any number of things like reading to or attending
their school functions.  Time is not just a one week vacation
to the beach.
ii. Work is not more of a priority than your family…it is merely
an excuse. Remember that if you succeed at work and fail at
home, your failure in one will always impact the success in
the other.
c. Take time to see what they see and hear. Not where you want to go
and what you want to see. Parenting forces us to lose a lot of “self.”

2. Set an example – be genuine…how you live, how you act, what you do…
it matters. Children hear and observe far more than we imagine. They are
patterning their lives after something, what pattern are you setting?

3. Let them express how they feel
a. It is okay for your child to be scared. They can be scared of ghosts,
school, a new environment, people, getting older, dying, relationships,
and any number of things. It is not what you know, but it is
what they know. Let them respectfully and freely express those
feelings with you.

4. Express how you feel
a. About them
b. How their actions made you feel
i. Remember when you correct your child, that it is their actions
you are correcting, not they themselves that you are correcting

5. Listen
a. Respect is earned so earn the right to be heard

6. Stability is safety which comes from:
a. Protection and consistency

7. Praise and encourage
a. Offer more positives than negatives.  And be optimistic…
it’s contagious.

8. Don’t make idle promises or threats:
a.  No one can truly ground their child for long periods of time so do not
say something you do not or cannot practically keep.

9. Control your own emotions
a. While it may feel this way, it is not about you!

10. Be aware of their age not yours
a. Remember, it is not what you know; it is what they know
i. Don’t expect a 9 year old to act like a 15 year old in their
maturity…they simply cannot

11. Appreciate that they are different from you:
a. It is not your goal to create a mini-me. Embrace and encourage your
child’s skill sets, even if they do not match up with your own.
b. Sit back and watch them
i. Most of us learn by watching.  Watch your child as it will better
help you understand their temperament and abilities.

Children who have healthy self-esteem generally lead happier, more hopeful, and more productive and more fulfilled lives than those who do not. Those with a healthy sense of who they are look to the future with greater confidence and enjoy more satisfying relationships in the present.

The challenge for parents can  seem insurmountable because no one can give self-esteem to another. But parents have the opportunity, like no one else, to create an environment where love is unconditional, responsibility is shared, virtues are rewarded and mistakes are forgiven. These are the foundations of a family built for nurturing self-esteem in children.

What is self-esteem?

It’s hard to define. At its core, self-esteem is the way we view and value ourselves. It’s the inner confidence and trust that says we’re important, that others accept and even love us, that we’re capable of making a significant contribution to the world, and that we have a purpose in life. All children possess a powerful, innate need to feel connected to others in a significant way. It gives us a reason to get up in the morning and supplies the courage to take risks, persevere when we fail, and to pursue meaningful friendships and healthy intimacy with loved ones. Healthy self-esteem comes from knowing that you are loved, have value to others and a purpose in this world. Self-esteem gives a child the confidence and the strength to deal with life’s ups and downs. Kids who have healthy self esteem shine like a bright light.

The foundation of self-esteem: unconditional love

The essential ingredient of healthy self-esteem is unconditional love. All children need to know that someone loves and accepts them just as they are–the bad as well as the good, the weaknesses as well as the strengths, the failures as well as the successes. Children need to know that no matter what they do, no matter how smart they are or are not, and no matter what they look like, at least one person in this world will always stand by them, believe in them and love them unconditionally.

In early life, children who feel safe and warm in the warmth of their parents’ arms, develop the belief that they are worthy of love and attention. They learn to love themselves because their parents loved them first.

This sense of security translates into the courage and confidence they need to try new things, overcome frustration, master challenges, and develop satisfying friendships. When they accomplish these things they simply “feel good” and act happy.

God’s gift

All children wonder about things like “Where did I come from?” and “Why am I here?” You can boost a child’s self-esteem by explaining that God has made them to be one of a kind and has a special plan for their life. If your family attends church or synagogue, tell your child what you believe and why. Knowing that they are connected to others with the same beliefs and values will instill an appreciation of traditions and the importance being part of something eternal. Pray for, and with your children. A  study reported in The Journal of the American Medical Association confirmed that children from families who place a high importance on personal prayer and religion are less likely to use drugs, become sexually active or suffer from low self esteem.

Children draw tremendous strength and comfort from their family’s faith and in knowing that God loves them and has a plan and purpose for their life.

Copyright Dr.Drew Edwards.