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| Life I believe being &/or becoming a parent is the greatest assignment in life. You may ask why I use the term assignment? and not gift? Of course children are gifts. It is not necessarily the child itself that is the gift but the gifts you receive aka life lessons. I believe that God has entrusted us to properly raise up these little souls, that belong to him, to do his will and encourage them onto their destiny. What is God's will? Simply...to LOVE one another! Sound too easy?...could be...if/when you understand.FIRST, you must know and understand the definition of LOVE in it's pure and simple form: Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand it's own way, it is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices when truth wins out. If you love someone you will be loyal no matter what the cost. You will always believe in them, always expect the best of them, and always stand your ground in defending them. (I Corithians 13:4-8) To truly understand this definition takes time and maturity. Reading and comprehension of this can be confusing at times. Do not confuse LOVE with co-dependency. LOVE does not hurt, co-dependency does and often a fine line people get trapped in. SECOND, you must know, understand and accept that you are human and will fail at LOVE sometimes. Forgive and have mercy on yourself. Believe in the Serenity Prayer: God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change (ie: others & their choices), change the things I can (ie: myself & my choices) and the wisdom to know the difference.You must learn to know and understand yourself so you can learn to completely LOVE YOURSELF FIRST! This should not to be confused with narcissism. Because, it is the capacity in which you LOVE yourself that you will LOVE another. & That's it! FROM BIRTH: - Study, observe and learn your child allowing them to show you who they are (their personality, talents, strengths, weaknesses, etc.) Then support, encourage and assist them in developing all their areas of strengths. Teach and encourage them to overcome the obstacles of their weaknesses and show them how those very weaknesses could be used as strengths. - Expose them to LIFE - sports, dance, art, music, nature, science, culture - observe and let them show you what interests them. Let them try everything they want to! Don't be disappointed if afterall they discover they don't like it. Support and encourage them in their interests as that's the path to their destiny. - Communicate with them - talk with them (not at, down to, or baby). Be present and listen to them even when they are telling stories...you could be encouraging the next best selling author! ( Your awesome, Ashlee S =D ) Discipline them only when needed - teach them what respect looks like by respecting them while simultaneously not allowing them to be disrespectful. Lovingly correct poor behavior and focus it as only a behavior not a personal charateristic..."that behavior is improper" - not - "you're a bad boy/girl." - Understand your approval means everything to them! - Lead by example! I'm by no means a perfect parent nor an expert on the subject. I've spent my life observing various parenting styles, the results, read books and coupled with my foundation in Christ have collectively developed it into my own parenting style. My result thus far?...I can only tell you..."so far so awesome!" I am a very proud parent! I am truly blessed, I love you Katie, Kristin and Kyler).. My children have ultimately been the greatest gift in my life. It is by my desire to LOVE them as they deserves to be and to be the best parent I can that I ultimately discover how to LOVE myself...a gift...a lesson learning (as I'm still learning everyday!). It is my prayer for ALL to know, understand and feel this LOVE I've come to learn (and continuously learn). More importantly, to have LOVE for yourself first...that you may then go out into the world and truly LOVE others and be truly BLESSED because of it! =D
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