Here we are at the beginning of a brand new year. I hope you had a chance to spend some time looking back and evaluating last year as well as look forward to all that is to come in 2022. I posted a free download last week- a few questions that Mika and I like to review at the beginning of each new year. I think it is safe to say that we all desire to start a new year on the very best foot. But starting off on the best foot takes thought and planning. And as much as we want that for ourselves…
Don’t we really want that for our kids even more?
As excited as we may be for the fresh start of a new year, your kiddos may not share that sentiment. You see, they have probably really enjoyed the break from the routine of rules and expectations. Or maybe they have suffered a bit because of the lack of routine and expectations. Some kids thrive and some kids don’t in this space between something ending and something beginning. I am not sure which camp your kid falls into, but I am sure about something I know will help them regardless of where they land.
One of the best things we can do for our kids is to equip them with resources to help them throughout their lives in any season. A tool I have used to help me for decades now is the Forty I Ams. The Forty I Ams are statements from Scripture that remind us of who God says we are. They tell us who He has called us to be.
I read these over and over again. I actually wrote them out on notecards I picked up from our local drugstore. They have been everywhere with me. There are a little worse for the wear but the practice of reading and rereading them over and over has been vital in my fight for mental wellness.
Here’s a simple step you can take for your kid. Read through the list. Ask God to show you which two statements your kid needs to hear the most-which one does he or she need to believe about themselves the most. Then, write them out on a notecard or write it on their mirror. Maybe even have them write it out with you. Help them commit the two statements to memory. Maybe write out the cards for you as well. Keep them with you in the car so that you can read them to your kid while at a stoplight or waiting in the carline. The goal is to find time to repeat these aloud for your kid to hear so that they can learn all the different ways you remind them of what God says about them.
You never know which one of your examples will stick.
But you can know that you are helping them begin to practice something that will help them for a lifetime to come!
Swimming upstream with you,
Toby