Author: Administrador

How do you assess your child’s attitudes? What they say doesn’t always reflect what’s in their hearts. You ultimately know a child’s attitude by behavior, not words. Watch both their overt behaviors and their non-verbal communications. Note the following: •     Facial expressions •     Eye contact •     Body language—movement and position of hands and legs, gestures, etc. •     Tone of … Continue reading “11 RIGHT BEHAVIOR REFLECTS RIGHT ATTITUDE.”

Look into a mirror. Tug on your ear. Say out loud to yourself, “This is an ear, not a garbage can.” The same is true for your child’s ears. Refuse to dump your negative feelings about your spouse, your spiritual leader, or your boss into your child’s ears. Never dump profanity into a child’s ears. … Continue reading “6 YOUR CHILD ISN’T A GARBAGE CAN—NO
DUMPING!”

Too often I would ask, “What do you think?” Instead, I meant to ask, “What do you feel?” Feelings speak to the heart while thoughts and opinions rattle around in the head. Feelings get at our emotional responses, our raw gut-level reactions to people and situations. Feelings may arise out of temperament or conditioning. We … Continue reading “7 ASK YOUR CHILD TO SHARE FEELINGS, NOT
JUST OPINIONS.”

“I’m going to beat you until the sun goes down,” the angry parent yelled at the abused child. Punishment purposes to hurt because of hurt. When a child misbehaves, we discipline. Discipline corrects and teaches. Mr. Spoon is a resident at our home. He is a wooden spoon with a happy face on one side … Continue reading “8 DISCIPLINE CORRECTS AND TEACHES;
PUNISHMENT HURTS AND CRUSHES.”

“I’m tired of hearing myself talk.” I can remember my mother frequently making this comment. Frankly, she was talking, but I wasn’t listening. I had all of her “sermons” memorized. So when she turned on the message, I tuned out. Failing to learn anything, I began preaching to my children. Then I discovered my children … Continue reading “4 TALKING AT CHILDREN IS A MONOLOGUE WITH
THE PARENT DOING ALL THE TALKING AND LISTENING.”

“I can’t stand it when he just sits there and looks at me.” The teenager made this comment about the unbearable pressure he felt when his dad just sat silently in the room with him. No TV. No radio. Nothing else was happening except one-on-one relating. How long will you wait to hear from your … Continue reading “5 WANT A CHILD TO TALK? LISTEN! WILLING
SILENCE WITHOUT INTERRUPTIONS PRIMES A CHILD’S FLOW OF COMMUNICATION.”

It’s impossible to parent part-time. Parenting requires our full-time attention, love, care, discipline, effort and excellence. Too often we try to squeeze parenting into a rushed, stressed schedule of work, recreation, personal development, entertainment and overlapping activities. We confuse taking our children places and involving them in extracurricula activities with involved parenting. Yes, part of … Continue reading “1 CHILDREN REQUIRE TAKING NOTICE, TALKING,
TRUTH, TRUST, TOGETHERNESS, TOUCH, THANKSGIVING, TIME, TEACHING, TRINITY.”

“I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to say that.” Excuses after we have spoken death will not undo the damage of poison deposited into a child’s heart. Jesus reminds us that out of our hearts, our mouths speak. If we don’t mean it, then we should not say it. Think before you speak. Be certain … Continue reading “2 SPEAK LIFE, NOT DEATH INTO YOUR
CHILDREN.”

“Where did that comment come from?” Ever wonder what the source of some of your remarks is? I often found myself simply parroting to my child the stuff my parents repeated often to me. Some of it was positive, but other comments really did more harm than good. Jesus gave us a good model to … Continue reading “3 ONLY SAY WHAT THE FATHER TELLS YOU TO
SAY; ONLY DO WHAT THE FATHER TELLS YOU TO DO.”

“We’ll never get all these credit cards paid off,” moaned a distressed spouse. Yes, you can and must. Some financial counselors advise no debt whatsoever, including mortgages. But it’s impossible to get to that utopia without first destroying credit card debt. Decide to cut up your cards and close the accounts. Begin to live within … Continue reading “76 GET OUT OF DEBT; GET THE DEBT OUT OF YOU”