Our middle child broke down in bed last night. He was distraught, as much as an 11 year old boy can be. He told me that he didn’t enjoy school, because children were just mean. He just didn’t feel like he had any friends. He gave the impression that it was almost impossible to make friends. His heart was breaking. I could tell he wanted to say more, but he just didn’t know how to communicate it.

As a mom, I just want to hold him and tell him it will all be okay. I want to be a fly at school and see just how horrible it is and what exactly it is that makes it hard to make friends. I want to protect. At the same time I want to give him the chance to become a wise young man who realizes that friends come and go and that when all is said and done, God is our only true blue Friend.

I am so grateful that my son opened up, as little as it may have been. It is imperative that we create a safe haven for our children in this tough world. We don’t want to push our children to seek out others or destructive habits to fulfill their desire to belong. When our children feel safe, they can endure the hard times.

This safe place starts with a solid foundation and that can only be found in Christ. My husband and I must make sure that our children know their Creator and His love for them. Then they must be able to see Christ in us. Then and only then will they be able to make it through all the difficult times that will come their way.

Parents, your children need you—at every stage of life. We must make our homes a soft place to land.
It’s tough being a kid.

Home should be a retreat to which children
can return in triumph or defeat, in victory
or disgrace, and know they are loved.
Author Unknown (Lists to Live By for Every Caring Family, pg. 162)

There are things that surround me every day that I do not agree with and that I don’t want my children exposed to. What do I do when I am bombarded by this stuff? Well, I run the other way. I teach my children the difference between right and wrong and I surround myself with the things that matter.

We live in a great country, but so many are intent on destroying what makes this great land of the free just that, free. We must stand up and not back down. God did not say to stand idly by and allow others to steal our freedom. We must stand up for the innocent and we must stand up for the truth.

Thank goodness for many American citizens who are willing to do just that.

What has happened to America that we could get this far. Is nothing sacred anymore?

Obama wants to appoint him to the Education Department’s head of the Safe and Drug Free Schools.  Sounds innocent, but let’s keep it real.  We all know how our President works by now.  This man will have the power to change policy and influence how and what our children are taught.

We will likely find our children being indoctrinated into the lifestyles of the gay community.  Instead of learning the 3R’s, they will be learning about GLTBs (Gays, Lesbians, Trans-genders, and Bisexuals).  They will be told things that will make them question who they really are sexually.  Does this disturb you?  I hope so!

We as parents must protect our children.  If it means I pull my children from the public schools, I most certainly will.  God has entrusted them with my husband and me.  We will not tolerate any of this nonsense.  We have two boys and one girl and that is who God made them.  That is the way they will stay.

I don’t like the way I see things heading here in the U.S. As a conservative and a Christian mom I want to preserve our heritage as believers and Americans. My children can’t receive that in the public school setting. It’s my husband’s and my responsibility to ensure that our children learn what is true!

As parents, we must be completely engaged in our children’s lives at home and at school. We did not have children so others could teach them right from wrong. We cannot drop our children off at daycares, public schools or private schools and expect that they are being taught our values, morals and ethics.

In today’s educational environment we must take an active role in educating ourselves as to what is being taught in the classroom. I must confess, I often wonder if they are being taught anything at all. The way they teach anymore seems to lead to chaos and confusion. Do they even teach the fundamentals anymore? You know, reading, writing, and arithmetic. Oh and how about spelling. Heaven forbid we circle a misspelled word in red and have the student look the word up in a dictionary and spell it correctly.

Things sure have changed and they haven’t changed for the better. Take for instance teaching children how to read. You might be excited to see your child come home and read some words, but do you really know how they are being taught to read? It probably isn’t by using phonics. Our children are taught to guess, to think about what would make the most sense, to sound out the first part of the word and then finish it with what they think fits. Whole language at it’s best.

I saw this effect my oldest child’s reading ability and I wasn’t about to let it happen to my other two, so I preceded to reteach my oldest and then teach my younger ones how to read. I used Turbo Reader by Phyllis Schlaffley. It was easy and precise and my children can read excellently. Unfortunately, my oldest got a bad taste for reading and still struggles, but I hate to imagine where any of them might be had I not intervened.

We must be involved and educated ourselves. Parenting takes hard work, but it is so worth it.

I am always looking for little gems of wisdom to help me as a mom. I don’t like psycho babble or “modern” ways of relating to and disciplining my children. I am all for the tried and true ways.

I always strive to hold all that I read and learn up to the Bible. God, after all, is the author of life and Creator of all. He will guide through His Word and I also believe that He uses many great men and women to proclaim the truth and give us those little gems of wisdom.

I came upon a small booklet written by Dr. David Jeremiah, How to Encourage Your Children, that had some great little gems of wisdom.

Four Ways to Encourage Your Children

1. Focused Attention: Make each child a priority in your life, no matter how busy your life.
2. Individual Affirmation: Every child needs to know that they are unique and special.
3. Genuine Appreciation: Don’t walk around looking for what they do wrong, but for what they do right.
4. Physical Affection: Love your children in a tangible way letting them know that they are important.

This is just a very condensed version. I would recommend reading Gifts from God by Dr. Jeremiah. It is a very good book on remembering that our children are precious and encourages parents in raising godly children.