Bored 13

Mom of 13 year old:

Help! My 13 year old is bored all the time!

Answer:

Think of the future. What does she want to do or become? Start working on it now. 

And have her shadow you and dad.

Kids are kids

Mom of 6: 

Help, kids won’t do chores! Even if they do them, they do them half-heartedly.

Answer:

They’re kids. Kids are kids. Even if they do their best, we might have to redo. Don’t take it too hard on yourself or your family. Don’t be too serious. Let go a little. It’s not easy for anyone, not even adults. At the end of the day, what matters are relationships and godly values. Yes, you can teach them about the spirit of excellence, responsibility and integrity. But like it or not, they need to be carefully supervised. 

Shower them with praise. Even employees are motivated by a salary. Kids are motivated by praise and relationships. Sometimes even money and rewards don’t work (unless that reward is more time spent with mom or dad doing something fun— that seems to work with us).

And if you’re too hard on them, it will definitely strain your relationship with them. So put lots of time into building that relationship through games and play with them before laying a whole bunch of chores on them. The foundation of highly responsible kids is strong relationships. And strong relationships can be achieved through playing with them. After all, kids are kids.

Purposeful time

 Purposeful time together pays off. Don’t just drag them along on errands but make an appointment with them with a plan in mind. If you do take them on errands, drop by McDonald’s

Returnable goods

She gazed down at the shattered pieces in her hands, "I'm sorry,... every time you give me a present, I break it." "Just pass them over to me.." "You've got to be careful, they're really sharp. They can cut."

"Don't worry... I've been cut many times before." "Okay.. Here..." She poured them into his hands. "I'm sorry.."

"It's okay. I can give you a new one..." he reached down, gently pulled out his own heart and held it up to her.

"Thank you... I'll... I'll try not to break it this time... but.. I know I am just going to break it again."

"I know... that's why I'm here."

"I'm.. so sorry..." "Don't be,..." he said as he put it in. She smiled, "It feels great!" He smiled back at her. Still beaming, she looked up at him, "Thank you,... Jesus."

Funeral Dating

Some women find that their dates with their husbands can be just as sorrowful as attending a funeral service – the only difference is that a funeral service has much more love in it.

God sense

Question:

My 13 year old is questioning her belief in God. What should I do?

Answer:

When I was 14, I wanted to taste what it was like to be 'unbelieving'. Like God did not exist. But then, He was all around me and I could not deny Him.

As real as the screen in front of your face is God. How do we know the screen in front of us exists? Because we can see and touch and feel it. We use our five senses to experience it. So is the same with God – we sense His presence. There is no denying Him. To deny Him is to deny existence.