- Provide for their physical and financial needs. One who does not provide for their family "has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever."
- Spend quality time with them. Quality time is best defined by themselves. Take a look at the Five Love Languages from author Gary Chapman and you will get what I am trying to say - some want time, some want hugs, some want gifts, some want acts of kindness, some want letters...
- Be there for dinner. Nothing was more important in our home than to have everyone home for dinner. Since my wife and I both made it a priority, even our children new better not to make it a priority as they were growing up. Everyone touched base as dinner time.
- Make bedtime a happy time for children. Storytelling skills get honed incredibly, I started to sing a song series and those will be turned shortly into a children's book series. Both my son and my daughter made decisions to follow Christ at 3 and 4 years of age because of the response to the Bible stories we read each night. Now in their early 20s I am thankful to say they are following the Lord closely. Bonus, kids want to go to bed - great - but not to sleep - not so great.
- Be creative in finding time for companionship. It gets harder to spend time with teenagers - with work, school projects etc. Try this - always make sure that one of you are home when your teenager comes home. As you "just happen" to be up - finishing one of your own projects, reading a book etc. this teenager has the opportunity of talking as many times they will be too wound up to go to bed right away.
- View your children's actions realistically. I can still remember the disgusting look my son's kindergarten teacher gave him because he stuck out his tongue while being videotaped. That was my son being my son and carrying on the tradition of all real men at the age of five...major congrats my son, and raspberries for the kindergarten teacher.
- Maintain a private and a public life for your family. Make sure they know the difference - private can be so much fun and so can the public if everyone knows the boundaries and the time lines and it doesn't hurt to use key word phrases to help bring family to reality when they start to act in public what should be only seen when in private.
