To view the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Zviq_iqrolM
SHOW NOTES
Welcome back to another week of the Hope Rescue Podcast! If this is your first time here, hello! We are excited to have you with us! Last week we started our new series on parenting and we discussed the question, “What are your priorities in parenting?” If you missed that episode, go back to episode 41 to hear the beginning of our series. Let’s get into today’s topic, which answers the question: How do you develop values within your children?
Tim’s first tip to answer this question is to actually discuss your values out loud with your children. Tim brings up the Nancy Reagan's 'Just Say No' campaign which aimed to discourage children from engaging in illegal recreational drug use by offering various ways of saying no. Although people originally mocked this campaign, it actually had a widespread impact because it sparked the conversation that was being silently ignored for so long. By talking out loud about your values with your children, they won’t have to wonder what values you meant to imply. We can’t just hope that our children catch on to our values or expect them to fully agree with our values, but if we talk about them openly and allow questions and conversations to be had, our children will have a solid grasp on what values they believe in. On top of talking about your values, you have to live them out. It is two fold because our children won’t want to hold onto the morals we talked about if we never lived them out in the first place.
Not only do we want to raise children with solid values but we also want our children to develop the character to follow through with those values. You can grow up with great values but never develop the character to follow through.. It’s important that we teach our children how to hold to their values, especially when push comes to shove.
As a reminder from last week, the scripture we are camping on through this series is Psalm 127 which says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”
Tim says, “We are so worried about our children, but are we involving God in our child-rearing? Are we praying for our children?” Psalm 127 says, “Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” All of our worrying and stressing over our children is useless if God is not involved. Kimberly explains that it is easy to become a “helicopter parent” because we want to control our children’s lives and prevent them from harm and making mistakes, but this is actually damaging to the child. At some point, we have to realize that we are never actually in full control of our children’s lives, and we have to trust that the Lord has our children in His grasp. Kimberly says, “We can attempt to go to extremes to become the watchman over our children's lives but it is all in vain unless you have the Ultimate Watchman on the clock.”
To wrap up, Kimberly suggests praying for wisdom to make sound decisions in stewarding our children's lives. On top of that, recommends praying that God will allow us to release control and trust that the Lord is ultimately in control. Next week we will be answering question three which is "How do you deal with negative or positive behaviors?" Thanks for tuning in to another week of the Hope Rescue Podcast! We love you guys!
QUOTES
“It's so important to not just champion our children to follow our values but to actually live them out as an example everyday.” -Kimberly
“We undermine our values to our children when we don't acknowledge where we messed up.” -Kimberly
“Parenting becomes unhealthy when it goes from wanting to nurture your children to wanting to control them.” -Tim
“Parents try to control their children when nurturing slips into fear.” -Tim
“We can attempt to go to extremes to become the watchman over our children's lives but it is all in vain unless you have the Ultimate Watchman on the clock.” -Kimberly
REFERENCED SCRIPTURE
Psalm 127 “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.”
