Overcoming Failures
Email 1
Copy/Paste the following email:
Subject Line: Nobody’s perfect…kids included, Part One
Parents,
Hi.
Nobody is perfect—you and your kids included. While I know this doesn’t come as a big surprise to you, intellectually, I also know that all too often parents choose to focus on their child’s imperfections instead of tending to their hearts.
The video this month covers the topic of allowing our children to be their unique and special self instead of what we think they should be. This is invaluable to parenting the way God intends you to. Click on the link below to watch the video on Overcoming Your Kid’s Failures.
After watching the video, please feel free to contact me with your thoughts and questions. I would also be happy to have you share with me specifics on how I can pray for your family.
https://vimeo.com/parentministry/review/147477223/f8d4d3891d
Made In God’s Image,
Preschool Pastor
Email 2
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Subject Line: Fearfully and wonderfully made, Part Two
Parents,
I hope you’ve had a chance to watch this month’s Online Parenting Class, Overcoming Your Kid’s Failures.
A recent blog post by “Momma D” (www.mommadsayslblogspot.com) was titled “Who Decides What Different Is, Anyway?” The point made was that we’re all different, but that ‘different’ is nothing more than one’s perception of another.
I want you to see your children not as different, but rather as unique—just the way God intended them to be. So you love golf and your son would rather be hunting and fishing! And is it really the end of the world that your daughter is a girly-girl but that you don’t own a dress? These differences don’t make your kids weird, and they certainly shouldn’t be seen by you as obstacles to be overcome.
God gave us several verses in the Bible to remind us of this important truth. Take a look at a couple of them given below. Use these verses as reminders of just how uniquely wonderful your children are.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. ~Psalm 139:13-14
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. ~Genesis 1:27
Now let’s take a minute to think about some ways you can let your children know just how much you treasure their uniqueness….
Spend time on an individual basis with each of your children doing what THEY like to do. Clean a fish, paint your nails, play a (non-violent) computer game, eat sushi…whatever gives you the opportunity to share precious one-on-one time to discover just how fearfully and wonderfully made your child is.
I’d also like you to think about the fact that your words have the power to either build up or tear down your child’s self-esteem and their drive to succeed…or not.
1.Teach your children how to do things before you turn them loose with a project. Without instruction and teaching you’re simply setting them up to fail.
2.Your kids are going to make mistakes (screw some things up). You did, didn’t you? But when you teach by doing together, you not only teach your children new skills, but you enjoy quality time together. Instead of focusing on what your kids can’t do, provide them with more opportunities to do what they are good at.
3.If math doesn’t come easily to your child, trust me, they know about it. Shaming them into doing better won’t help—it will only make matters worse. So empathize with them and find ways to help them do their best.
4.Never compare your child to anyone else. We are all created in God’s image and in the words of Christian author, Darla Noble, “ God don’t make no junk!”
I hope this class was beneficial to you in your parenting journey. Your family is a blessing to this ministry.
Partnering with you,
Preschool Pastor
Video Script
One of the hardest things as a parent is seeing firsthand the repeated failures of your chile, especially when they might be an accurate reflection of us and the things that we do. As parents, we can succumb to emotions about not wanting them to do the same things we did, mixed in with a bit of guilt and we’re somehow passing it in, or maybe it’s the opposite scenario and that they are nothing like you, and you cannot understand why they won’t take those simple steps that are so easy for you to see.
As parents, it is important for us to recognize that different is not bad. Just because your child doesn’t do it your way, it does not mean that it is wrong or a failure. Each time you feel yourself get tense because of what your child just did, ask yourself if what your child is doing is it wrong or is it just different.
Next, we have to separate the behavior from the person. Don’t like the behavior but always, always like your child. They will always go to the, “Well, you don’t like me” feeling rather than, “You don’t like my choices.” Acknowledge the potential strength in that poor choice. It helps identify the bits that you want to keep around for the future.
For example, if you have a child that can be very stubborn and when there’s something that needs to be done and they just refuse to do it, well, it may be difficult to deal with as a parent in the moment but it will be an incredible strength if you focus in the right direction.
TIP: Choose a hashtag for your tweets and use it consistently. That will tell Twitter to store a list of your tweets on one place for later reference.
Tweet One: We are fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image #differentisgood #urchurchparentministry
Tweet Two: Children are people…not puppets #differentisgood #urchurchparentministry
Tweet Three: Get to know your kids…grow your family bonds #differentisgood #urchurchparentministry
Tweet Four: Nobody’s perfect…including your kids…including you #differentisgood #urchurchparentministry
Tweet Five: Mistakes don’t have to define you #differentisgood #urchurchparentministry
Tweet Six: Who decides what different is, anyway? #differentisgood #urchurchparentministry
Tweet Seven: Guide your kids to THEIR destiny…not yours #differentisgood #urchurchparentministry
Tweet Eight: Teach your children & let them teach you #differentisgood #urchurchparentministry
Tweet Nine: God’s image is so big it takes us all to see him #differentisgood #urchurchparentministry
Tweet Ten: Be the parent who embraces each child’s uniqueness with love #differentisgood #urchurchparentministry