You Can Only Give What You Have...

I have observed that as I used different relationship “tools” to build my marriage and other relationships to be strong, I was in fact equipping my children with those very same tools to build their relationships! Picture each of your children having a large empty toolbox at the end of their beds. As you go through your days with them, you are filling their toolboxes with the tools you use for life situations. When your children leave your home, they take their “toolbox” with them, equipped for their lives and their futures with what you have given them.

Physically, this concept is easier to comprehend than spiritually. For example, when my baby began to cry because he was hungry, I knew that I needed to feed him. If I didn’t have anything to feed him, I knew I had to go get something right away.

I have found the same principle applies spiritually and in character attributes. When my toddlers began to become impatient or easily angered, I realized that in order to equip them with the character attributes they needed to get through their frustrations, first I had to demonstrate the attributes I desired to pass on to my children in my own life. As I taught him how I walked in victory in the areas he struggled with, I saw that if I had not learned how to deal with my frustrations correctly, there would be no way I could teach my children how to deal with their frustrations correctly.

Challenge:  As your children observe you, are you equipping them with the right tools to handle situations?  This week, count each situation you come across as a training ground to equip your children as they observe how you handle things.  Every little frustration, every set-back, every time YOU don't "get your own way," use as training to equip your child(ren) and put the right tools in their toolbox!