May is a time for honoring mothers. June is a time for honoring
fathers. This July lets take the time to honor our Children. School
starts in about 6 weeks. This may be disappointing news for some
students but joyous news for some parents. As little league ends and
school begins we need to remember what kinds of pressures our
children are under and how much they need our love and support.
Remember the time you missed the fly ball that cost your team
the championship, or the time you studied extra hard for the test only to
end up with a C, or the time your fingers got tangled up while trying to
perform in a recital. These times can be devastating to a child. It is so
important that our children know we love them. We must encourage
and praise them not only for their accomplishments, but also for who
they are. When a child asks, "Who am I?" Our response should be,
"You are our gift from God." Each one of our little gifts is wrapped
differently but each one was labeled "Precious Cargo/Breakable."
As parents we don't always praise and encourage our children
enough. Of course we tell them they are doing a good job when they
complete a major task, but what about the little everyday stuff that may
get overlooked? Peter Goldenthal in his Book Beyond Sibling Rivalry
suggests that children need at least 50 praises a day in order to feel good
about themselves and produce positive behavior. Lets challenge
ourselves this month to try to give each one of our children 50 praises a
day. The bulletin board in the foyer has two days worth of praises.
As we prepare our children for the upcoming school year we
must remember our children, like everyone, will have their ups and
downs. Let's remind them that there will always be 2 things in their
lives that will remain constant, our love for them and God's love for
them. If, during the times we extoll our praises and encouragements, they are not
enough to get our children through the bad times, remind them that they
can lean on the strength of our Lord for Paul wrote "I can do all things
through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13