The car phone rang just as I was stopping on my way home to pick up my daughter from her after-school basketball practice. "I know this is short notice, but could you please give Tina a lift home from practice tonight?!" The voice on the phone sounded more than a little frantic, a feeling I know well. "Sure, no problem," I replied. "I just pulled up to the school." It was a parent of one of my daughter's team mates. It's great when parents are able and willing to help each other. Others have done the same for me more often than I can count. Working and raising children can easily burn your candle at both ends. Fortunately, most of these parents try to help each other by providing rides, especially when emergencies crop up. Showing a child that you care about their friends is a great blessing that parents can give to a child. I remember how my dad could seemingly move mountains if a friend or loved one was in trouble or needed help. He could always summon the assistance and cooperation he needed because he had cooperated with so many others. In many ways, children grow up modeling their life and attitudes after ours. I believe we can give many blessingsvaluable principlesto our children both by example and by involving them directly in the experience. Cooperation is only one of these blessings. Here are six more blessings that come to mind... The Blessing of Consistency: Providing an atmosphere that nurtures mutual trust while allowing for reasonable flexibility, where children can expect to feel protected, respected, and loved, knowing that we will live by the principles we teach. The Blessing of Trust: Communicating that we expect the best of our children, allowing them the freedom to learn from mistakes as they grow, and motivating them to expect the best of others, follow their internal compass of right behavior, and become dependable and trustworthy. The Blessing of Faith: Teaching children the love of God and how they can recognize their worth as human beings as well as their special talentsnurturing the self-esteem and courage to make use of those talents to fulfill God's plan for their lives and to help others. The Blessing of Knowledge: Teaching and empowering children by acknowledging our own errors as well as success stories, recording for them our thoughts and experiences that will benefit them and their children for generations. The Blessing of Unconditional Love: Communicating and showing that no matter what the circumstances, children can come to us with problems, that what is important to them is important to usthat even though we disapprove of hurtful behaviors, the child is always loved. The Blessing of Personal Responsibility: Teaching children to defer gratification by saying "No" more often today so they can say "Yes" more often in the future, and showing through example that responsibility involves setting boundaries, admitting and learning from mistakes, and moving on with self-respect and increased confidence. We may not always see immediate gratitude for all we try to do for our children, but they sure can surprise us. My youngest daughter, after celebrating her 8th birthday, ran up to me and handed me a card. She had drawn out little thank you cards for her sisters and me to thank us for her birthday presents. She was beaming at my obvious surprise and delight at her creative expression of gratitude! As fathers, we know that our children are among the greatest of our blessings. Plus, we receive from them one of the greatest blessings and privileges possible, the title of "Dad". That one is really hard to beat! |
