What’s the most important thing you want to teach your children so they’ll be prepared to live on their own someday? Is it how to budget? How to cook? How to live within their means and debt-free? Or something else?
Leave your answer as a comment on this post by Friday, March 12, and you’ll be automatically entered into a drawing for a hardback copy of Life on the Edge, one of the books on the Recommended Reading List of my book Life Prep for Homeschooled Teenagers. As I said in that book:
Dr. Dobson discusses important subjects like choosing a career and a marriage partner, as well as just dealing with the ups and downs of life as a young adult in today’s society. His Christian faith is always evident in what he writes, yet his practical advice is valuable for readers of any faith.
Stay tuned for more giveaways!
NOTE: This giveaway is now closed…sorry if you didn’t win. Do try again with the 3/12 giveaway drawing 🙂
Like all the others posted here before me I want my children to trust in and serve the Lord their God with all their hearts. To be Godly men whom not only my husband and I can be proud of but that they can be proud of themselves.
Like the question presented by Barbra I want them to know and be all those things; able to cook, clean, be smart with finances and confident – able to make sound decisions. Be strong in their convictions and if the need arises stand up for those convictions. However, I also want them to know that if they ‘fall’ – make a bad choice or a mistake – that it is okay. Our God is a loving and forgiving God and will be there to help them through anything if they give their will over to him. I have heard so many stories of people both young and old that strive for such perfection that when a ‘failure’ or imperfection arises they are not prepared to deal with it.
Sure we all want to think we are raising the best children out there – ‘perfect’ in our eyes – but the truth is we are human and we are imperfect. I want them to be able to accept that, lift their eyes to the heavens above and know that God the father loves them unconditionally and so do we!
I think the thing I want most for my children is for them to understand that we are accountable for our actions to a higher power. So many of their friends, including the ones in Sunday school are being taught that just being a “good person” is enough. There is such a casual attitude even among the youngest kids that, as long as you aren’t “hurting’ anyone, you can go ahead and be as selfish as you want because God “knows” you don’t mean anything by it.?!?! This attitude stems from a very current and liberal
idea that ‘live and let live’ is a sign of the educated, while believing in a higher power is something that uneducated people with closed minds have to cling to.This arrogance seems to be gaining a real foothold in our town, and I am constantly fighting against it. If my children can already see that this kind of thinking is all wrong, then I am indeed hopeful for their futures.
One of the most important things, I think, is teach them to keep God first~everything else will follow. Along with that though, as far as the world is concerned, I think is is good to teach them good financial skills.
Just found you blog~I’m so inspired. I will be starting my son in homeschooling this fall. It is my first child/first time and I am a bit nervous. 🙂
I want my sons to know there are absolutes. An absolute Savior who died for them, absolute forgiveness, absolute love, and absolutely only one way to know God–absolutely only one true God. It seems anything can change these days if there is enough consensus including our Constitution. I’ve graduated two sons of 3 and I have found the years after high school graduation – age 25 to be the most critical, where we need to bathe them in prayer the most. I’ll have 30 yrs of homeschooling in when I finish. 🙂 8 more to go.
i am not much about relying on the word of god, as much as i am relying heavily on the word of truth based on knowledge and personal experience and opinions. i have grown up with faith and found it to be a step in my way instead of being a step with my way. i don’t impart my feelings about that and my kids in fact my son uses a childrens bible for his printing practice. i do wish for him to learn about the different kinds of religions of the world and how these religions influence the people of the world, and i also wish for this knowledge to help him understand his place in the world. i also wish for him to be confident with his place in the world no matter what his course of study becomes.
Balance is an important part of keeping life in perspective. In order to live a life that is peaceful we want to impart the desire in our children to seek the Lord for the peace that passes understanding as we read about in Phillipians. Knowing how to problem solve will go along way in helping our children deal with daily challenges and trails of this life. How to cope without losing hope, how to persevere in spite of stuggles, how to serve without becoming disheatened or a having a selfish focus of “look at me” and mostly how to love as God loves all people not just those we enjoy. Having the “mind of Christ” in all things is a goal that we want to encourage our girls to strive for and life for throughout their days on this earth. Mortality will be swallowed up in LIFE as Paul told the Cortithians, so this life is temporary but eternity is forever.
Thanks, Joan
The most important thing I want to teach my children is the greatness of God’s grace. It’s why our school is called Grace Academy. We’ve made a lot of mistakes but we’ve always leaned on God’s grace to redeem our efforts. If they understand that they will have a foundation for life.
The most important thing I want to teach my daughter is to always seek God first in everything and to strive to live a life pleasing to Him. In so doing, God will lead and direct her life much better than I ever could.
i want my kids to believe that everything the Bible says is true, and to get it into every pore of their being… to love Jesus more than anything, and to keep their eyes towards eternity.
I want my children to KNOW they can always stand on the ROCK. Despite their situations, despite what others say and do, despite what they have done and said, God is always there, always dependable, always loving them. They will know that the Word of God is always solid and true, not a house on shifting sand as is the current worldly view of personal truth.
I’d like my children to know that God is real. He is available and desires to be involved in every area of their life. I’d like for them to know His voice and to communicate with Him daily. I’d like for them to involve God in all of their life and to trust Him with everything.
If they know these things, they can handle anything with Him as life happens!