13 Promises . . .

13 Promises from a Father to his 6 Kids* (under the age of 10**)

 

1.  I will point you to God and his glory.

2.  Despite my repeated statements that life isn’t fair I will nevertheless try to be fair and explain myself when you don’t think I am.

3.  I will remember that tickling can be abuse. If you want me to stop, tell me and I will. If you want me never to tickle you, tell me and I won’t.

4.  I will not shame you. If my laughter at your behavior bothers you, tell me and I will stop.

5.  I will avoid saying bad things about you to others.

6.  I will consider what is in your heart, not just your actions, when I consider whether (or how much or in what way) to discipline you and what you should learn from the situation.

7.  I will not expect you to be like your brother or sister.

8.  I will recognize and point out when you do something well.

9.  I will be reasonably discrete in the way that I discipline you.

10.  I will bring you into life experiences that enrich your knowledge of life.

11.  I will expect more from you tomorrow than I did yesterday.

12.  I will pray for you and expect miracles.

13. You will not want for food, shelter, clothing or safety nor will you experience too much convenience. 

 

Any suggestions?

 

* I should be careful here – I don’t want to make it sound like I always do this. Many of these are things that I am constantly working on. But this title sounds more catchy than “12 things that as a parent I think I should do, and want you (my children) to have confidence that I will do, but please don’t consider me to be a liar if I fall down on one of these every once in awhile, which is probably going to happen.”

** My thought is that these might change over time? But some of you know that better than me.