{"id":21305,"date":"2017-07-27T18:03:03","date_gmt":"2017-07-28T01:03:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/?p=21305"},"modified":"2017-07-27T18:03:03","modified_gmt":"2017-07-28T01:03:03","slug":"ways-to-raise-caring-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.worldvision.org\/christian-faith-news-stories\/ways-to-raise-caring-children","title":{"rendered":"Ways to raise caring children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I remember sitting at our family’s long wood dining table. I was 5 years old, and I had squeezed onto the bench between two of my five brothers with my feet dangling, not touching the ground. My mom showed me a National Geographic<\/em> photo of a girl, and I asked, “Mom, why is her tummy so big?”<\/p>\n

My mom answered, “There are children in Africa who don’t have enough food.”<\/p>\n

I pushed my plate to her. “Can I send her mine?”<\/p>\n

Maybe the idea of ditching liver and onions inspired me, but I did long to help. This was a golden moment for my mom. Either she’d show me I could make a difference — or discourage me, perhaps inoculating me against a world in need.<\/p>\n

What did my mom do? What would you<\/em> do?<\/p>\n

Every parent gets hard questions, but we can be ready when those questions come. In my doctoral project with more than 30,000 families, I found keys to unlocking goodness in the hearts of our kids and principles to help our children serve and grow. You can use conversations about difficult issues to help your child grow in faith and character.<\/p>\n

Match your family’s mission and realities<\/h2>\n

My mom did not let me give away my dinner. But she and my dad had a mission for our family and told us over and over that “our goal is to raise you to be lovers and givers.” I heard it so often I thought I blocked it out, but the message stuck.<\/p>\n

You’re likely familiar with Joshua 24:15 — “… As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” But how does your family and household do that?<\/p>\n

To begin, how would you complete the sentence, “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD by _________________.”<\/p>\n

You might consider these question as you try to finish that statement:<\/p>\n