Thursday, December 23, 2010

How Does Your Child Spell Love?

Simple Truths - We Hope You Enjoyed the movie!

Take a few minutes to watch the movie on the link above. It's amazing how we forget that a child's perception is much different from ours. Enjoy and go share your love today.

Monday, December 20, 2010

5 Pointed Star Model for Success

As we were putting up our Christmas tree I began to think about the significance of the star on top of the tree. Then I started to think how as parents we always want our kids to be stars. More so from the day they're born until they're about 7 years old. You see it every Christmas at the number of school shows. The younger kids have their own fan club including parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, and anyone else that wants to be supportive of that cute little kid.

Cuteness doesn't wear off but usually more kids come in to the picture and we start to feel that the older kid doesn't need that fan club anymore. The truth is that these kids need support throughout their childhood. As adults we turn to our family or social circles for support so why do we think that just cause a kid is older he or she is not looking out in the crowd for their fans.

Time and other activities makes it difficult for us to be at every event. It is important that we teach our children a model to follow so that they will always experience success and continue to feel that same support without needing their fan club present every time. I have come up with the following model that I am trying to incorporate with my children.  
Things Needed to Shine like a Star:
1. Spiritual: Recognize that God has created this world and us for his purpose. We all have unique talents and it is our responsibility to use those talents to serve others. We must dedicate time throughout the day to give thanks for the opportunity . It is important for our kids to learn that they are here to serve a higher purpose and the world does not revolve around them. Children now seem to get bored easily even though there is more entertainment products, services, and media available than ever before. When they are able to participate in charitable giving there is more fulfillment and they get to appreciate the simple abundances that they do have.
2. Physical: Exercise & diet is important towards your energy & longevity. Stress has been known to deteriorate your health. Exercise can help reduce the amount of stress in your life or at least help you manage it and improve your mood. One of the benefits from being in a good mood is the quality of our relationships.
3. Mental: Zig Ziglar said "Positive thinking won't let you do anything but it will let you do everything better than negative thinking will." Children must learn how to control their thoughts & actions. Eliminate biases & remember that we all have different gifts to offer. .
4. Social: Not one person can do it on his/her own. Even Jesus, son of God, surrounded himself w/ 12 disciples. Relationships help us grow, laugh, and love. All of these are beneficial to our health also. Studies have shown that there are medical benefits to laughing also, so have a sense of humor.
5. Attitude: A positive attitude allows you to set high goals and believe that you can reach them. Believing in yourself is important for you to take action and achieve your full potential. Having an attitude of gratitude also helps you stay positive. If you can learn to look at what you have instead of what you do not have then you will spend less time moping around. We can allow the media to create a demand for luxury items we do not need or we can use the media to show us how blessed we are compared to the majority of this world.

This is the model that I try to use daily when I speak to my children. My children have lost their mother because of drug addiction and for the last 2 years to incarceration. They were very young when I had to start playing the role of mother and father. I know I still have a lot of work ahead of me but by using this model and being consistent they are growing up to be well rounded children and I have also been able to grow myself. They know that our struggles have helped us grow closer and stronger. Their mom was just sentenced to a total of 4 years with time served for 2 of those years. Although they were sad to hear the news they know that God's timing is perfect and it is not always in agreement with what we want. They continue to stay positive and are very thankful for what they do have.

Good luck with your children and remember the most important thing is to obey the commandment that Jesus left with us, "love one another".