Prodigal: I have known you since you were knee high to a grasshopper.

Me: True.

This is from The Strong Family by Charles Swindoll

Our family, while made up of independent-thinking, strong-minded people, is still close. All of us are imperfect and in the process of learning and growing. But the good news is this: We are still having fun, still communicating openly, and still committed to each other. God gets all the glory. As we enjoy each other, our family knows it is because He is the One who has honored our commitment to principles that broke the mold of traditional parenting.

If parents were to ask me, “What is the greatest gift we could give our young child?” I would answer rather quickly: a sensitive spirit. That is especially rare among busy parents who live under the demand of hurried schedules, constantly doing battle with tyranny of the urgent. Nevertheless, my counsel to you would be, give your child the time it takes to find out how he or she is put together. Help your child know who he or she is. Discuss those things with your children. Help them know themselves so that they learn to love and accept themselves as they are. Then, as they move into a society that seems committed to pounding them into another shape, they will remain true to themselves, secure in their independent walk with their God.

Psalm 139:1-2

O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou dost know when I sit down and when I rise up; Thou dost understand my thought from afar. (KJV)

Jennifer Van Allen

www.theprodigalpig.com

www.faithincounseling.org