The Five Non-Negotiables

After a week of stuffy noses around here, I think everyone has recuperated. The antibiotics did the trick for Adam; within about 24 hours of taking his first dose, he was breathing better and acting way more like himself.

I am still amazed at how God worked it out that David would be off this week. I know that babies get sick, and as parents, you do what you have to do to take care of them. But I have barely built up one sick day since being back to work, so I have been praying that we could wait until I had enough time built up before he was sick enough that he couldn't go to daycare. Way back in the fall, before Adam was born, we planned that David would have this week off, which would be right before I would go back to work (if Adam had been born somewhere around his due date in January). We thought we could spend a week home together or take a trip together while I was still off work (if we were feeling brave and adventurous). As it turned out, I was back to work but David was able to be home to wait on Adam hand and foot while he was sick. I am so thankful for that; if I couldn't be there, I am so glad Adam was with David.

Now, I have been wanting to post our non-negotiables for some time now. We have just finished the 5th week of Revolutionary Parenting, a class we are attending at church through our Sunday school class. We have been talking about life transformation, and thinking ahead to what we want our children to look like character-wise when they leave our home. Seeing these end points, we decided on our 5 non-negotiable qualities that we want our children to possess. Sure, there are other things, too, but we have learned that if you choose a few, you are more likely to focus daily on instilling them in your children.

We have been tweaking and developing these over the weeks. Ours are:

1. Love God - learn about God, believe in Him, accept grace and walk with Him throughout life

2. Be well mannered - be respectful to others, follow the Golden Rule, have integrity and selflessness in their relationships

3. Love of learning - Knowlege and wisdom create the best combination for education; education can take you far but learning should be a lifelong goal

4. Be wise with money - Understand the value of money and the importance of hard work, the blessing of genorosity, and to learn responsibility by being a steward of what God has given you

5. Strong sense of self - know that they are loved & adored, and therefore confident to be true to themselves & comfortable in their own skin