foundations of joy
One of my greatest joys in life is being a mom. God has blessed me with four wonderful children. Each unique in their own way. Created and designed by the hand of God for a purpose. As a mom my job is to help guide and direct each of them towards that purpose. My parenting style can be summed up in four principles.
The first principle would become the foundation on to which the other principles would build. It would become the strength that would hold us in good times as well as difficult times. Our faith in God became our foundation. Therefore, love became the principal focus for our parenting style. Love would be our guide to every decision and action made toward our children.
The second principal is prayer. According to Oxford Languages prayer means- a request for help or an expression of thanks to God or an act of worship. Understanding this meaning it was easy to add prayer to our parenting. I began praying over my babies while they were in the womb. I would thank God for this amazing opportunity to carry this child as they miraculously formed in my womb. I would pray for their development as well as for their future. I have implemented prayer over my children from conception to adulthood. I have found prayer has helped me through many difficult parenting trials as well as many times of rejoicing.
Early on in my life I realized the importance of valuing others. It has been a part of my character building for many years. It made since to me to incorporate it into my parenting. I believed if I placed value on my children as they were growing up it would encourage strong character and confidence. I listened to their cries, and I responded, I listened to their giggles, and I responded, I listened to their thoughts, and I responded.
The fourth principal is discipline. One of the hardest parts of parenting is having to discipline your child. Children from day one begins to experience and discover the world around them. There will be moments your child will veer from the boundaries which you have established for your family. Here are a few tips from my experience in this area. Never discipline in anger, Make your expectations plain, The goal of discipline is to steer them back to a safe boundry, Reaffirm your Love.
Parenting has been such a Joy filled time of my life. We laid the foundation with love built it with prayer, value and discipline. We had the privilege of a front row seat to four unique lives being developed into their purposes.