The shortest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 117. I have often wondered what was going through the Psalmist’s mind when he recorded his thoughts for this Psalm. Was he finished? Did he get interrupted? Was there something else he wanted to say? Was he satisfied with his work? (Obviously God was.) This shortest chapter has huge meaning. If we were to memorize just these two verses and implement them in our life, I think it may make a difference in our perspective on the world and the situations in which we find ourselves.
When communicating with children there is an old management axiom of communication that works well with children also. If you want your children to respond well to your instructions for them, try these steps.
What an experience today! Nate, our 17-year-old son (soon to be 18), had a minor traffic ticket for failure to yield to a yellow light and had to appear in juvenile court. We went to court and paid the ticket several months ago. I posted a blog about the first experience. Read it HERE. Today we had to reappear to prove he had been to traffic school. After 3 hours of waiting (attorneys get to go first), they saw our case, which took no more than 2 minutes, and we were on our way.
Recently some friends of ours 12-year-old pug was lost in their neighborhood. The dog has numerous health problems, so they naturally assumed the worst. They were obviously upset about it and asked us to pray. Thankfully a few days later they found their pug. I wanted to share the story of how their 3-year-old son reacted to the dog’s disappearance.
This year, instead of another card that someone else wrote, I decided to make my own Happy Mother’s Day tribute. My mother is one of the greatest women I know. I am blessed to have her for a mother. She is the picture of a Proverbs 31 woman. She is strong, hard working, loving, and kind. Here are 20 random things I love about my Momma:
My advice to parents is to surround your children with kids they can be encouraged by later in life. Pick your children’s friends, while you can, based on their parents. Look for people who share your values, share your discipline philosophy, and are heading their children in the same direction you want your children to go. Then get your children around those children as much as you can. Hopefully you will instill in your children the skills of picking the right kinds of friends wisely that will carry over into other periods of their life.
I always said that I wanted to be a father deserving of those corny plaques displayed at the Christian bookstores. If my boys ever gave me one of them, and I deserved it, then I would feel I had accomplished what God called me to do as a dad. I’m thinking now that I may need to contextualize that standard with the culture of the day.
As a counselor and pastor who teaches on parenting issues, I can’t help observing the parenting I see in public. Tonight at the supermarket I saw an extreme example of bad parenting. Thankfully it presents some lessons and reminders all of us need.
I was reflecting this week about how much my family has shaped the person that I am today.
People always ask me about my relationship with my boys and what I did to cultivate it. I have two amazing sons who I deeply love. I am certainly one of their biggest fans. Thankfully, I think they like me too. It is a privilege to have them continue to come to me for wisdom now that they are 20 and 17 years old.