Tips for Raising Children That Every Parent Should Hear.

Michael Mitchell an American father gives tips for fathers, mothers, and children.

1. Do not overdo it with gifts. The best gifts are the experiences you share with them.

2. Pick your kids up, it’s a great workout for your arm muscles.

3. Let them into your bed after a nightmare, a few minutes of cuddling will make that nightmare a distant memory.

4. Take your kids to the playground and when they ask you to push them on the swing higher and faster, remember that everything is relative.

5. When you want to comfort them after a difficult experience, don’t forget to hug. Touch is a human need, don’t forget that.

6. At some point, your kids will want to marry you, as weird as it sounds. Let them down gently.

7. Let them roll around in the grass and get dirty. The clean shirt that’s worth telling them no has yet to be invented.

8. Don’t miss their birthday parties. They might not remember the toy you bought them but they’ll never forget your presence.

8. Don’t be late when your children are waiting for you to pick them up from school or activities, which will make them anxious and stressed. If you are going to be late, always try to let them know.

9. Don’t be afraid to act silly and look stupid when you play with them. Your children will free you from the seriousness of the adult world.

10. Let them grab the wheel. Obviously not while you’re driving, but if you let them sit on your lap and grab the wheel for a few minutes, they’ll never forget how big they felt in that moment.

11. Once they learn how to kiss, kids will plant kisses all over your face. Don’t discourage this.

12. It's never too early to teach them about the value of money, think of it as a preparation for adulthood.

13. Let them sit on your shoulders. They will love to look at everything from above.

14. Praise them for their beauty, but remember to make clear that intelligence will take them further than how they look on the outside.

15. Teach them about the difference between "bad" and "good" and remember that they will imitate your actions and less what you tell them to do.

16. Take them for walks, go camping with them, and light a bonfire. This experience is irreplaceable and will teach them a lot about leaving their comfort zone and loving nature.

17. Teach them to change a flat tire, install shelves in the house, fill holes in the wall and anything else that will serve them in the future.

18. There’s going to come a time where they will ask for a puppy, just say yes!

19. Learn to say "no" to some of their requests. Your children may be angry with you today, but in the future, they will be able to say "no" themselves, when someone crosses their boundaries.

20. Teach them to reach out to you in moments of distress and prove that you’ll be there for them when they need you.

21. Dance with your children, jump around and play with the music turned up, and they will learn from you about the value of happiness and not caring what others think.

22. Walk with them to the park and play some ball. More than being just exercise, it will be a lesson in self-confidence.

23. Teach them to say a prayer, it doesn't need to be a religious prayer necessarily, but only faith and aspiration for the best that they can ask from themselves and others.

24. Love the other parent of your children and show it. The world will be a much safer and understood place if they know that Mom loves Dad and Dad loves Mom.

25. Take them with you to work at least once. They’ll learn about the person you are and what you are doing to raise and support them.

26. Come up with a secret sign you can use when in a crowded place so they know you always see them.

27. Don’t pay too much importance to their grades, but to their behaviour. That’s more important for their future then how they do on tests.

28. Don’t tell them to hurry too much, one day you’ll hope that they will slow down for you.

29. Share your mistakes and teach them that no one is perfect and that pride should not prevent anyone from recognizing a mistake and apologizing for it.

30. Carry them to bed over your shoulder! This will make bedtime much more fun and looked forward to.

Is there a Leader among us ?

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’ Isaiah 6:8

As I got on an airplane recently I overheard the man ahead of me tell the stewardess he was on his way to a reunion of those who had fought together in Vietnam. Regardless of how we understand that catastrophe, the reality for these men was and is, they served their country and are proud of their service. During that time millions more accepted the call to serve in the Peace Corp and many other ways. In a time of great pain, it was a time of great service of others.

               Be that as it may, as one looks around church attendance, involvement in Service Clubs, the number of people involved seems to be dropping steadily. One could be justified in asking: “Is there anyone who is selfless enough to step up to the plate and serve the country?” “Is there anyone who is willing to say “Here I am send me?”

             My experience tells me we do not have a shortage of volunteers.Rather, what we are experiencing is the absence of a leader, an individual who can inspire a country to greatness, one whose witness and message can override the negativity of the airways and outline a vision and a challenge to direct the energy of those who want to serve, who do not know where to spend their energy and so their energy is spent on survival in a fast-paced world of negativity. 

             I am not looking at a half-empty glass. Rather I am looking at a glass that is full of people of good intentions; people who are caring and compassionate, people of all ages, religions, denominations, cultural backgrounds. I see people who want to dance and sing and know that all is well, that God is with us in all we do. These individuals are not unlike dots on a page; they are present and waiting for that person who will take the initiative, connect them, and show them to be larger than they imagine themselves to be.

               That leader is among us today. He or she does not as yet know it and so it is upon us to pray for that individual to be like Isaiah and, despite his or her doubts, will let the fire burn their lips, open their mouth and respond “Here I am Lord, send me.”                                      

               Creator God, Great Spirit, send me into the world in peace to love and serve you wherever and how best I can with my gifts and talents. I pray for that individual who will one day lead us again to greatness in service. May the Holy Spirit continue to enkindle in us a fire for service and for that quality of leadership necessary to lead. Amen.

Moments in Life

MOMENTS IN LIFE..!

 There Are Moments In Life When You Miss Someone
 So Much That You Just Want To Pick Them From
 Your Dreams And Hug Them For Real!

 When The Door Of Happiness Closes, Another Opens
 But Often Times We Look So Long At The
 Closed Door That We Don't See The One
 Which Has Been Opened For Us.

 Don't Go For Looks; They Can Deceive
 Don't Go For Wealth; Even That Fades Away
 Go For Someone Who Makes You Smile
 Because It Takes Only A Smile To
 Make A Dark Day Seem Bright
 Find The One That Makes Your Heart Smile

 Dream What You Want To Dream
 Go Where You Want To Go
 Be What You Want To Be
 Because You Have Only One Life
 And One Chance To Do All The Things
 You Want To Do.

 May You Have Enough Happiness To Make You Sweet
 Enough Trials To Make You Strong
 Enough Sorrow To Keep You Human And
 Enough Hope To Make You Happy.

 The Happiest Of People Don't Necessarily
 Have The Best Of Everything
 They Just Make The Most Of
 Everything That Comes Along Their Way.

 The Brightest Future Will Always
 Be Based On A Forgotten Past
 You Can't Go Forward In Life Until
 You Let Go Of Your Past Failures And Heartaches.

 When You Were Born, You Were Crying
 And Everyone Around You Was Smiling
 Live Your Life So At The End
 You're The One Who Is Smiling And Everyone
 Around You Is Crying.    

Paulo Coelho

My 25 important points
 by Paulo Coelho
 1. When you want something, the whole universe conspires to make it happen.
“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”

2. Detach from all things and you will be free.                                                                               “When I had nothing to lose, I had everything.”

3. We are all here for a purpose.
“No matter what he does, every person on earth plays a central role in the history of the world. And normally he doesn’t know it.”
“Everybody has a creative potential and from the moment you can express this creative potential, you can start changing the world.”

4. The only thing standing between you and your dream are your fears.
“Don’t give in to your fears. If you do, you won’t be able to talk to your heart.”
“There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.”

5. Mistakes are part of life.
“Everything tells me that I am about to make a wrong decision, but making mistakes is just part of life. What does the world want of me? Does it want me to take no risks, to go back to where I came from because I didn’t have the courage to say “yes” to life?”

6. Really important meetings are planned by the souls long before the bodies meet.
“Really important meetings are planned by the souls long before the bodies see each other. Generally speaking, these meetings occur when we reach a limit, when we need to die and be reborn emotionally. These meetings are waiting for us, but more often than not, we avoid them happening. If we are desperate, though, if we have nothing to lose, or if we are full of enthusiasm for life, then the unknown reveals itself, and our universe changes direction.”

7. Every experience, either good or bad, comes with a lesson.
“There are moments when troubles enter our lives and we can do nothing to avoid them. But they are there for a reason. Only when we have overcome them will we understand why they were there.”

8. Do not seek for love outside of you.
“Love is not to be found in someone else but in ourselves; we simply awaken it. But in order to do that, we need the other person.”

9. When you change, the whole world changes with you.
“When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”

10. No reason is needed for loving.                                                                                  “One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.”

11. Mind your own business.
“Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own.”

12. When someone leaves, it’s because someone else is about to arrive.
“No one loses anyone, because no one owns anyone. That is the true experience of freedom: having the most important thing in the world without owning it.”

13. Love is an untamed force.
“When we try to control it, it destroys us. When we try to imprison it, it enslaves us. When we try to understand it, it leaves us feeling lost and confused.”

14. Wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.
“Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure.”

15. Judge not.
“We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It’s one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it’s another to think that yours is the only path.”

16. Children have valuable lessons to teach you.
“A child can teach an adult three things: to be happy for no reason, to always be busy with something, and to know how to demand with all his might that which he desires.”

17. Appreciate the contrast of life.
“Never be ashamed,’ he said. ‘Accept what life offers you and try to drink from every cup. All wines should be tasted; some should only be sipped, but with others, drink the whole bottle.’ ‘How will I know which is which?’ ‘By the taste. You can only know a good wine if you have first tasted a bad one.”

18. Nobody’s responsible for how you feel or don’t feel.
“In love, no one can harm anyone else; we are each responsible for our own feelings and cannot blame someone else for what we feel.”

19. Your beliefs shape you and make you who you are.                                                “You are what you believe yourself to be.”

20. Let go of the need to explain yourself.
“Don’t explain. Your friends do not need it, and your enemies will not believe you.

21. Love changes everything.                                                                                                “It is not time that changes man nor knowledge the only thing that can change someone’s mind is love.”

22. Don’t mistake elegance with superficiality.
“Elegance is usually confused with superficiality, fashion, lack of depth. This is a serious mistake: human beings need to have elegance in their actions and in their posture because this word is synonymous with good taste, amiability, equilibrium and harmony.”

23. When you do work from your soul, the critics won’t hurt you.
“I write from my soul. This is the reason that critics don’t hurt me, because it is me. If it was not me, if I was pretending to be someone else, then this could unbalance my world, but I know who I am.”

24. Each day brings a miracle of its own.
“You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It’s just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.

25. Embrace your authenticity
“You are someone who is different, but who wants to be the same as everyone else. And that in my view is a serious illness. God chose you to be different. Why are you disappointing God with this kind of attitude?”
“You must be the person you have never had the courage to be. Gradually, you will discover that you are that person, but until you can see this clearly, you must pretend and invent.”
“If you want to be successful, you must respect one rule – Never lie to yourself.”
  

Some day I'll Tell my Children

Some Day I’ll Tell my Children.

Erma Bombeck

"You don't love me!" How many times have your kids laid that one on you? And how many times have you, as a parent, resisted the urge to tell them how much?

Someday, when my children are old enough to understand the logic that motivates a mother, I'll tell them;

I loved you enough to bug you about where you were going, with who, and what time you would get home.

I loved you enough to be silent and let you discover your hand-picked friend was a creep.

I love you enough to make you return a Milky Way with a bite out of it to the drug store and confess "I stole this."

I love you enough to stand over you for two hours while you cleaned your bedroom, a job that would have taken me 15 minutes.

I loved you enough to not make excuses for your lack of respect or bad manners.

I loved you enough to ignore "what every other mother did."

I love you enough to figure you would lie about the party being chaperoned, but forgive you for it..after discovering I was right.

I loved you enough to let you stumble, fall and fail so that you could learn to stand alone.

I loved you enough to accept you for what you are, not what I wanted you to be.

But most of all, I loved you enough to say no when you hated me for it. That was the hardest part of all.