Parenting Children Today

Author: Dr. Wayde Goodall

Dr. Wayne Goodall talks about parenting children

Hello my name is Dr. Wade Goodall and I want to thank you for this little bit of time. Because I want to talk to you about your children, your family.

Every family wants to have children. My wife and I were married for about 9 years before we had our first child. And I remember when the doctor presented me our son Jeremy. I fainted! I was holding him in my

arms and they had to set me down in a chair very quickly because I realized all of a sudden this was another human being that God had given me and I had responsibility.

Well raising children is one of the most challenging things that you can do in your life. But it’s a gift of God. The Bible tells us that blessed is the family that has a quiver or many, many children in their marriage. Children are a blessing, they’re not a curse. Children are something that you can just appreciate very much in your life and you can look at your children as an opportunity to pour truth into another person; that you can form to do great wonderful things on this earth in your community, in your village, wherever you are.

Let me tell you a few things that your children want from you as a parent. These are things that I didn’t know for a while but these are things that work. Lots of surveys have been done on this topic all around the world and there are basic things that every child wants from their parent… from their mother and their father, this relationship that God has given them.

• One, they want unconditional love. They want to know that there are two human beings that love them; always will love them. That no matter who disagrees with them or who rejects them, they will have parents that believe in them. So love your children. If you don’t love your children, who’s going to love your children? And so they want unconditional love.
• Two, they want better communication between you and your spouse, but also between them and you. They want to talk to you and they want you to listen to them and understand what’s important to them.
• Three, children all over the world want to spend more time with their parents. Someone said, how do you spell love to a child? You know how you spell it? T-I-M-E. Give me a little time. Spend some of your precious time with me. Fathers with their sons, mothers with their daughters, fathers with daughters, mothers with sons. They want time from their parents.
• Four, they want to be respected. Every human being needs some respect and I’m not talking about in an egocentric way. I’m talking about in a way that they need to know that their parents respect them for who they are. They need to know that you authentically respect them for who they are.
• Five, love them even when they fail. And I want to remind you of something you already know. All children make mistakes. All children will disappoint you but you know what? There are times that you’ll disappoint them too because there is no one perfect on this earth. The Bible tells us that no one is righteous, no not one. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And we’ve all made mistakes. We’ve all had failures, but you know what we do when we make a mistake? We learn from it. When we have failed in our life, we get back up and we try again. Our children will make mistakes. They’ll even fail us or someone else, but we still respect them. We’re their parents.
• Six, they need to know they have a purpose in life. Every human being wants to know that the reasons they’ve been created. What’s their purpose? What are they supposed to do? And parents can help their children understand that they have a unique purpose, that God created them, they’re important. They have something divine in them because they’ve been created in the image of God.

Our children need to hear that we believe in their purpose. That they have something special about them. That God can use them in their life. They have been created for a reason, they’re not a mistake.

• Seven, they need a sense of purpose and they need to feel acceptance from you as their parent. The Bible tells us a story about what is called the prodigal son. One of the sons left the home and he lived in all kinds very bad ways. He wasted the money that he had and he returned back to his home. The story tells us that when he returned the father accepted him and he restored him. Your children will make mistakes. My children have. I did as a child and I still make mistakes as an adult. But I have a God that cares about me and He’s accepted me and believes in me. And you are like that. You can do the same with your children.
• Eight, they want to know that you accept their friends. You’re not against every friend that they choose, but that you’re trying to help them have appropriate friends. But if all they feel is rejection of all their friends they won’t talk to you about it. They need to know that you accept their relationships.
• Nine, another thing your child wants is they don’t want to feel all kinds financial stress in the home. They want to know that their needs are going to be taken care of. That mom and dad will find a way to help them eat, be protected and they need to know that they’re physically safe. They’re not in danger where they live. On many occasion my wife and I have moved to another home or apartment but one of the things that I do as a father, I make my sure my children will feel safe. My wife will feel safe because I’ll protect them and so I look for a location where’s the safest the most secure.

Well these are just a few things that every child wants. Every child needs in fact. And you as a parent have been entrusted with this wonderful gift of another human being that you will help form to make a great contribution wherever you live. To help people to do good and not evil. To make right decisions and not wrong. What a responsibility. God will help you. Trust Him. Ask Him to help you. Every day as you raise this wonderful gift or the gifts that God has given you called children.[end]

I want to thank you for listening to me as I’ve talked to you about your family.

And I also want to remind you that God created your family and God created you. The best way to make your life work is to be connected to your creator. The scripture tells us that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved. When you do this you’ll get connected to the creator. I want to pray with you right now to be connected to the one that created you and your family. Would you pray with me?

Father, I give my life to Jesus Christ today. Help me to be different. I believe that he died for me and he rose physically from the dead. I ask you to forgive me of my sins. Thank you and I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen

Now if you’ve prayed that prayer with me and you want to pray even more with another person, hit “yes” on your computer screen and you’ll be able to pray with another person. If you have more questions, and all of us have questions, God’s good with your questions, I want you to hit another button, “I still have more questions.” We would be thrilled to answer you. Thank you for praying with me today.

God bless you. I’m Dr. Wayde Goodall.