Positive Parenting in a negative world

The speaker starts by thanking God for his blessings and asks for his help in the troubled world. They emphasize the importance of families coming together, communicating, and listening to each other. They acknowledge that parents can be tired and overwhelmed but encourage them to seek strength from God and prioritize their activities. The speaker also discusses the benefits of setting goals as a family and staying committed to them. They end by reminding listeners to have an eternal perspective and trust in God's control. Father, we thank you right now for your blessing. We thank you, O God, because you say that we can cast all of our cares upon you. God, there's so much going on in the world today that we can't even begin to just name and identify all the hurt and the pain that's going on in families these days. It's from you, the author and finisher of our faith, O God, that you would just bless each family right now. So I think it's very important and I think it's good that we have an opportunity to be able to share with people how important it is for families to come together and work together and to pray together so that we can, even if we have to do it one family at a time, begin to eliminate all of the sad news that seems to be going out on a daily basis. Amen to that. You know, something else, too, Matt, that I was just, the Lord brought to my attention was families need to come together just like, and then give the kids a chance to give feedback. You know, maybe they didn't appreciate something that, you know, maybe a punishment or something. You know, give them time to verbalize that and to families take the time to just listen to each other. I think that's a good thing for a family to do, just to come together, instead of watching TV, you know, you were talking about that TV fad, that radio fad, that internet fad, just have a rest session and like that the parent can know how to deal with the child, you know, maybe with the scriptures and the parent will know how to pray with that child. It's just something about communication, the kind, not where you're just passing each other, you know, in the hallway, how you're doing, fine, how was school, fine, but sitting down and really paying attention to what that child is trying to tell you. Constructive dialogue with each other, that's true. I know, Matt, that is one, probably a complaint of some of our children. Maybe they feel that we're really not interested in their day, interested in their problems, interest when, they know he's sincere about our communication. If you're at the same time watching TV and the child is trying to talk to you, that child knows that it's not genuine. That's true. So we really need to make that eye contact and really, really give that child what that child needs. That's very true. That's a good point, Robin, and something that we're hoping that those listening will really adhere to, and if you have been in a situation where, you know, your children have been trying to talk to you and you feel you really haven't been giving them that attention, we hope that it's something that you'll, a behavior that will be changed and altered so that that child knows that they're being listened to and that they are the focus of your attention. That's true, Matt. You know what? Before we go on, that is the reason why some of our kids are angry. Yes. They're very angry. They close up, find alternative ways to get rid of that which is in them, and so I think we really do need to be sensitive to our kids, and then, Matt, sensitive to each other, too, as a couple. Yes. You know, Robin, one thing, and a lot of times this is really not mentioned, but some parents, you know, with what goes on in the workplace, the pressures of having to keep a family going, some parents are tired. That's true. They're very tired. They go to work. They go through, a lot of them go through a lot of drama at work just to keep that job going, and then they have the, you know, the chores of going shopping and, you know, providing food for the family, paying bills, some of them being harassed by bill collectors and the uncertainties of their jobs, and you can almost say it's understandable in some cases, but this is where we have to really, where the spiritual strength really has to kick in, knowing that, like Jesus said, all these things will be passed away. Those children are going to need you, and you have to, you have to take the time, even though, you know, it can be tired, you know, you can be tired and it's frustrating sometimes trying to balance, you know, the weights of family and work and just really ask God to give you the strength and the wisdom, knowing, you know, just how much, you know, you need to put into certain things, because sometimes, you know, you can put all your efforts into making money and trying to make things work out financially, and then when your children just go haywire, you know, all that really becomes worthless, you know, because you, you know, end up putting up money for, to bail them out of jail and take care of, you know, a bunch of illegitimate children, so, you know, there's something you have to really ask God for wisdom for, so we're not knocking you if you've been trying to carry all these different, you know, weights, but we just want to encourage you to know that, put God first, and ask God to give you the wisdom to prioritize your activities, to work things out on your job, seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things will be added unto you, and He'll give that to you, okay? We've been talking about families being positive in a very negative world, and dealing with negative situations in a positive manner, and we've talked about taking shelter in God's word, we've talked about taking comfort in the family, we've talked about going on a media fast so that you just kind of get away from all the negative news that's going forth, and Robin, our fourth one, we're going to talk about is setting goals, and I guess, just listening to it, you probably say, well, what does that have to do with it? But it's very good, because that gives the family a sense of purpose, a sense of direction, and many times when you, well, most times, when you're working together toward a goal, you don't get distracted by a lot of things, because you have a set focus in mind, and you do those things that will help you to attain that goal, and I think that's why this is very, very important, and it says, having a worthwhile goal to work toward fills you with a sense of power and purpose, working toward a goal that also glorifies God will not only take your mind off of all gloom and doom, but will energize you as you become part of the solution, as opposed to part of the problem, so I think that's very important, you know, that family set goals, it can be educational goals, it can be financial goals, it can be just family goals of, you know, as a family, we're going to do this on a regular basis, or we're going to, you know, come together and do that on a regular basis, just setting little things, you know, little goals so that, you know, it keeps your mind, your spirit on one accord, so that you know that the family is working together, you know, toward a common goal. You know, Matt, that is excellent, and to add to that is to be committed to the goal. Yes. And sometimes a family will, you know, set the goals, and then something comes along, and six weeks later, it's like, okay, what was the goal? So we encourage our families that when you set the goals to stay committed, and not only that, Matt, it teaches your children to be committed, and to me, that's something that we really do need to put an emphasis on, because so many times, our kids are disappointed. That's true. Husbands and wives are disappointed, families are disappointed because they started something, and for some reason, it just kind of fell by the wayside. Right. So even being committed to God, you know, if you learn how to be committed to each other, and committed to the family, committed to your children, when it comes to God, you know, it won't be that hard for that child to learn to be committed to God. That's true. So it's important. Right. And you know, one goal I think that we all should set is that all our family members be saved. Yes, exactly. Saved, and you know, really you know that God is their source, that God is the foundation and that Christ is the one who ultimately will make the decision, you know, as we pray and seek his will. Right. Okay, we're coming to the end of another program. We thank you so much for tuning in, and we just pray that we said something this evening that will really encourage you, encourage your family. As we talked about taking shelter in God's word, we talked about taking comfort in the family, going on a media fast, setting goals, and also taking an eternal view. All these things are very important so that we can really have families that trust and believe that God will bring us through any situation, and that in spite of all the gloom and doom that we hear on the news, God is still in control, and that we're going to lift him up and glorify him regardless of what may come our way. This is Robin and Matt. Thank you for listening to New Generation Family Matters podcast and music by Michelle Love. Please reach out to us if you need prayer, or if you just have something to say, we will listen. Thank you.