If you have children, or even if you know any children, then you know the importance of being a good example. From eating right, to speaking politely, it’s all going to be mimicked whether we like it or not. I’ve heard that it’s usually our bad habits that our children will pick up. The old adage “do what I say and not what I do” does not work. If you want your children to grow up and have an active lifestyle, then you ought to demonstrate how it is important to you. You need to be involved in some sort of regular physical activity. If you want your child to grow up eating healthy foods, then you need to choose healthy snacks… at least while the munchkins are around heehee.
All of this has been on the front burner of my mind for some time. See, my daughter beleives in Jesus. She prays. She has a very sweet, gentle spirit. But how do I make this faith REAL to her? How do I make it come alive? I’m talking beyond reading the Word, beyond praying…. even beyond “works”, because works should be an automatic reaction to an inner change, not a way to gain merit. So… how do I really make it real? How do I make it more real?
I’ve decided to focus on character training via some amazing books. Pearables, William J. Bennett books, Kingdom Stories… there are so many good character focused resources out there. So fine, we’re adding reading. What about the walking? What about making it real? What can I do to live it out, to show that walking the walk is important to me? It will never be important to her until she sees it in my life. I need to make this more intentional.
We have decided to adopt a grandparent. There are many seniors who are lonely, who wish for nothing more than someone to care for them. We are so excited about this, and can’t wait to meet our new grandparent. The anticipation is comparable to a new baby arriving! So many adventures we’ll share!
There are many things you can do to make it real for your children. Adopting a grandparent is just one of many ideas. There are countless ways you can make a difference, ways to love others and make it a part of your everyday life. I believe we have no higher calling than to prepare our children to make a difference in this world, to impact people, to be salt and light in this generation and beyond. What about you? How are you showing your children that this is important in your life?
I challenge you to not only think about this, but to move with this… start walking and your children will walk too.
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I love the idea of adopting grandparents. What a sweet blessing.
You are right about that thing that children will copy their parents. For example my father uses lots of curses, but when I used those at home, I get a hit. Or he yawed at me for words he taught me. The child do not know the rules in society when it is born and most of the parents somehow forgot it. I hope, that I will not forget…