You is Kind...

You is kind. You is smart. You is important.

If you don’t know where that quote came from, I will tell you. It’s from the movie, “The Help.” It’s an extremely good story line, but the language isn’t so great. But in the movie the nanny tells a little girl, “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.” I wish every child had the opportunity to know this. Jeremy and I have talked about writing a book about parenting. I know, I know- we don’t have any kids so how could we possibly know what it’s like to be a parent. We don’t. But it’s interesting to watch how other people parent their children. I have said before that God hasn’t blessed us with children yet because He is letting us watch and gather information from everybody else that is a parent so we will know what to do and what not to do. I know that parents get frustrated and lose their tempers and don’t handle things right from time to time. They have had a long day at work, they lost their job, somebody they love is sick or their best friend won’t speak to them…there are a million ways that any person can be frustrated and stressed out enough that they take it out on the ones they love the most. I’m not talking about a once in awhile kind of thing. Your kids will grow up to be adults one day…what kind of adult do you want them to be? Or you going to fuss at them for how they raise your grandchildren when they are only doing what they themselves were raised to do. Suicide is becoming a thing of society. Kids are unhappy and their last resort is to kill themselves. I can’t imagine what is so bad in life that could make a child do that. This may not be the case every time, but parents do play a big role in this. How often do you show love to your children? I don’t mean how often do you tell them you love them, but how often do you LOVE them. How often do you take the time to listen to them tell you all about their day and what they did in school? Most importantly, how often do you tell them about God and the kind of love He shows us? That’s the greatest gift anybody could ever give their child- a Christian home. One where mommmy and daddy doesn’t fight. Daddy doesn’t come home drunk and mommy isn’t looking at every other daddy. God took me from all that and that was by far the best blessing. I say that because if God hadn’t given me that gift, I wouldn’t have any of the other wonderful blessings that I have now. Things aren’t always perfect in any household. But you can strive everyday to make sure that you put forth an effort. You may get more out of your spouse or kids than you every thought imaginable. Make sure your kids know that they are important and that they matter. It will change their life and may even change yours. You may see results in your children that you have been looking for. Think about your childhood-do you want your children to grow up like you did? Some of you may, some of you may not. Don’t settle for mediocre parenting. Jeremy said something to me recently that really hit home in our situation, “actions speak louder than words.” You can say it all day long but are you doing it?

Love God, Love your spouse, Love your children(in that order). Again, I know that I am not a parent and I don’t know how hard it is. I understand that, but parents need to understand this-from the outside looking in you, you are taking them for granted. I’m not talking about everybody either, so please don’t get offended. It’s just some thoughts I have had recently. God Bless!