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Lost: A Battle for Character – Part 2
Posted by: | CommentsIn this series LOST: A BATTLE FOR CHARACTER, we will be taking a closer look at the pillars of character that has been shaping our world since God created it. Character are those qualities built into your life that determine your response, regardless of circumstances. And like the brilliance of a diamond, success in every area of your life will be enhanced as you develop each facet of your character. As imperfections are cut or polished away, you can reach your full potential.
Have you Lost the Character of….
Faith: The first step in restoring honor is to honor God. And, the way you honor God is by placing your faith in Him to the extent that you commit your life to his service. Hebrews 11:1 defines faith as: “The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” But, it is in context of the entire chapter that we come to understand that when we place our undying faith in God, we can accomplish great things. Read the entire chapter to your family tonight. And, then point to people in our time who have accomplished great things in the face of insurmountable odds by being people of faith. The Character of Faith: FOUND
Honor: This character quality goes hand in hand with Faith. The reason our culture is dishonoring today is because there is little honoring of God being done, even though America was founded on such. Isaiah 29:13 “These people come near me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me…”. Honor is to value, to respect, highly esteem, or treat as precious. While respect can be earned, Honor must be given. Are you freely giving honor to those you value, respect or esteem? The Character of Honor: FOUND
You won’t want to miss our next installment on these lost qualities of character, so make sure to subscribe to the feed above, and connect with us on Twitter and Facebook as well. In part 3 of this series we’ll look at the next two pillars of character nearly lost on this generation.
Social Media Parenting – Part 4
Posted by: | CommentsSetting Appropriate Usage Limits
As with any digital pastime, too much social media use can become a distraction, especially for kids. Yet locking them out of the social web (either partially or entirely) would be doing them an educational and cultural disservice. The key is to find balance.
“It’s stunning how many hours per day kids spend with some kind of screen,” said Rayworth. “I think if most families step back and really do the math, they’ll find a lot of consumption even among little kids. One option is requiring that for every hour your kid spends online … they then spend an hour doing non-screen things and hanging out with live people in person. That can be eye-opening.”
“Technology is changing the landscape, the demands, and the context for [children’s] educational experiences,” said Blaney. “Again, without a real understanding and appreciation for how technology is being used and the fundamental impact that it has on their child’s future, parents run the risk of being a hindrance in their teen’s education.”
Be fair but firm, and have a good understanding of the technologies to know when it’s becoming too much.
Good Parenting? There’s No App for That
There will always be a technology and culture divide between parents and children. But with a little extra effort, perhaps it doesn’t always have to be so big.
“Much like driving a car or going off to college, parents have to hope that they have instilled good values and have taught their kids enough to handle situations they will encounter on social media,” said Giarrusso.
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Once again, a special thanks for this great article by Matt Silverman and courtesy of the folks at Mashable.com
What Do You Expect From Your Kids – Part 3
Posted by: | CommentsWhat drives a kid to sell-out to a coach or teacher or even their friends, but rebel against their parents?
Kids don’t rebel against authority, they rebel against lack of relationship.
Yup R-E-L-A-T-I-O-N-S-H-I-P is the key to what drives and directs your kids, good and bad. In fact, I would say there is no more important a factor as to who your child becomes as an adult, than the development and health of the parent(s) to child(ren) relationship. Are you treating it as such a priority?
One of the intentional steps we’ve done is to have a family night weekly. We’ve set the expectation for our kids that this is the 1 day a week we say no to absolutely every other activity or offer from others, and say yes to our family. They know before they ask now, the answer is always “no” to other interests on that day…. At least 1 day a week we eat dinner at the table together, we share stories together, we talk hopes and dreams together, we share struggles together, we laugh and cry together, we serve each other, we build each other up, we pray together, and we believe in each other. We play games, we read together, we write things down together, we keep each other accountable, and we love each other deeply. This is just 1 of the ways we make relationship building between parents and children a priority in our family, but there are many other ways.
Most people equate relationships to time, but time only plays a supporting role. It will always be a combination of quality and quantity. Can you build relationship watching the new release at the movie theatre, or sitting in the bleachers cheering on your child? There are all sorts of relationship counterfeits out there. If you are a parent who keeps score with time only, please re-think that for your child’s sake.
Relationships take effort, consistent and intentional. As a parent, you take the role of the initiator. Even though relationships do take two people, the burden of the relationship building rests on your efforts. The only thing keeping you from building relationships at all, let alone consistently, is Pride.
If I may, let me play the role of coach for you…. You can do it! Yes, it’s hard, it take effort, but you can do it! Quit making excuses, or using past failures as a crutch for future failure. Stop projecting fears of your own strained parent relationship, or rationalizing with cliche’ “kids will be kids” answers. You want something different, so you are willing to do something different starting now. You are the only one who can control your own attitude and effort in this process, but you’ve already chosen what that is. Now get in there, and expect to build a rock-solid, stand-the-test-of-time, amazingly wonderful, most rewarding relationship with your kid(s).
Assessment time: On a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being “desperately need” and 5 being “best it could be”, where would you rate your relationship with each child? What is the 1 intentional thing you could initiate this week, and do consistently to build quality relationship with your child(ren)?
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