As a family, you often have so many things to organize before embarking on a journey. To help you with this, I would like to suggest three different checklists for your next holiday. All the best! Your Christian Pälchen
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Encouragement and family rituals that will grow your family spiritually
Let us give thanks to our God in Heaven who creates the family environment as a place where we can be real and encourage one another and our children. Family is one of the greatest ideas from God! Encouragement of your children is a duty for all parents and should be a priority. The Bible talks about this important issue a lot:
“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
1 Thessalonians 4:18 “Therefore encourage one another with these words…”
Today, I would like to give you some thoughts on how to practice encouragement and spiritual growth in your relationship with your children. Here are some ideas:
- Write a short message and place it in your child’s lunchbox, for example: “We are so proud that you are our son/daughter!”
- Give your child a big hug before they go to kindergarten or school.
- Bless your child before they leave the house for a test or sport event etc.
- Pray before bed time
- Start a Thanksgiving and Prayer Request book for the whole family to write in.
- Let your child have a turn to pray at dinner time.
- Be honest about your Christian faith and live it out as an example to your children (Be authentic during the week!)
- Start a family ritual where your family visits a children’s hospital at Christmas eve or on Christmas day. Sing or read to the children.
- Reading the Bible together at the breakfast table and start a daily exchange of Bible verses (maybe use a children’s Bible).
- After church, talk about the service over lunch: What was the topic at Sunday school? What was the topic at the service? Etc.
What does your family do to grow spiritually together, please share your ideas with us? Thank you very much for your ideas, may God bless you!
How often do you communicate positively to your partner?
Positive communication: When was the last time you talked positively about your partner to others?
We are often more focused on the negative aspects of people; we can quickly forget all the positive characteristics of a person. This thinking and behavior needs to change, especially when it comes to close relationships and marriage. Let us take a look at what God says to us in His Word on this topic.
By looking at the Bible, we can see that a positive mindset and heart attitude is good for us and our partner. I encourage you to set a new goal for today, a goal that starts with talking positively about your partner, giving them compliments directly and then also talking about them boastfully in the company of others. Once you create a habit of this behavior, you will see that it will be a blessing for you and your partner.
May God bless you! Your Christian Pälchen
Homesickness in Kids
In the January edition of Pediatrics, Thurber and Walton offer these 14 tips on preventing kids’ homesickness:
- Talk with kids about the upcoming separation.
- Tell kids that it’s normal to feel homesick.
- Talk with kids about coping with homesickness.
- Involve kids in the decision to spend time away from home.
- Send kids on a “practice” trip, such as few days at a friend’s or relative’s house.
- Have kids practice writing letters before leaving.
- If possible, help kids meet at least one person (adult or child) from the new setting before leaving.
- Encourage kids to make friends and seek support from trusted adults when they’re gone.
- Be enthusiastic and optimistic about your child’s away-from-home experience.
- No negativity. Don’t say things like, “I hope you’ll be OK.”
- Give kids pre-stamped, preaddressed envelopes and notebook paper when they leave.
- Don’t make a deal with kids to get them if they don’t like being away.
- Don’t use the experience as a drug holiday for kids on medications.
- If kids have special needs, confirm in advance that those needs will be met.
Thurber and Walton also recommend these seven ways for kids to cope with homesickness:
- Do something fun, like playing with friends.
- Do something to feel closer to home, like writing a letter home.
- Go see someone who can talk with you to help you feel better.
- Look at the bright side, such as activities and friends in the new setting.
- Think that the time away is short.
- Don’t dwell on home.
- Think about what a loved one would say to make you feel better.
What about calling home?
During short separations, “old-fashioned letters may be the best way to maintain contact with home,” write Thurber and Walton. They note that writing letters tends to be less emotional and requires more personal reflection than calling home.
SOURCES: Thurber, C. Pediatrics, January 2007; Vol. 119: pp. 192-201. News release, University of Michigan.
By Miranda Hitti
Reviewed by Louise Chang, M.D
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/tips-to-ease-the-sting-of-homesickness/
A special gift idea for your child
Why not open an e-mail account for your child?
When your daughter or son is born, start to write them e-mails containing your thoughts, dreams, desires for them as well as writing about any special memories. Those special moments fly by so quickly and it will be a valuable gift to give them when they are older; perhaps you can give them the password for their account to read their emails on their 18th birthday.
This can be an especially great way for a father to express themselves to their child. All it takes is 3 or 4 minutes to write a short email from your phone. This is also an enormous gift for yourself as you will value your child through your writing. One day when they are given access to those saved letters, you can also re-live the beautiful moments that might have been forgotten.
Be blessed, your Christian Pälchen