Loving Our Kids Well Continued
Last time, we started talking about what it looks like to love our kids well, and part of loving them well is meeting the needs they have. In her book, A Confident Mom, Simple Ways to Give Your Child What They Need Most, Renee Swope identities several needs all kids have, and one of those needs is to feel known, understood, and completely accepted for who they are. We were reminded of how intentional God was when He created each of our kids and how He gave our kids qualities that are unique just to them. These qualities that make our child unique are to be valued and celebrated, and it’s important to know, understand and accept our kids for who God created them to be. Another need our kids have is to feel loved and pursued. This one is so important. For our kids to go through this life well, they need to believe without a doubt that they are loved. We looked at the Five Love Languages of Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Gifts, and Acts of Service and were reminded that it is important to be communicating all of these love languages to our children. The reasoning behind this is that it can be difficult to identify the primary love language of our child much before the age of five, but it is also important that our children observe us modeling how to communicate love to others in different ways. This will help them understand how to love others whose love language may be different from their own. Today, I want to talk about some other needs that our kids have. The first, is that character matters. Character is defined as the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual, and is built over time…