Keeping Up Morale In Your Family

It seems that many families that I know are in some kind of adjustment. Financial conditions, moving, graduates leaving home for college, new babies and changes in job situations force us to adjust. Change is usually painful in one way or another. How do we as parents cope? How do we help our children keep encouraged along the way, too?

*Keep perspective- Life is not only where you are today, but it is going somewhere. I can be patient through difficult times if I know we are working towards the better. Chemotherapy taught me that.

*Keep plugging at it- Discouragement can easily cause us to change quit, and in some things there needs to be a weighing out of the results. How often though do we quit when success was just around the corner?

*Keep remembering- God knows and cares about everything we are involved in. We can give to Him the burden of our circumstances, and find peace in the realization that we belong to Him and He will see us through. Trust in Him. He will direct your path. Even if you cannot see it God is working.

*Keep showing it- Our kids are not only suffering at their level, but their watching you for lessons on how to deal with it. Show them that our joy is not determined by our circumstances. There are gifts from God that are great blessings. Be joyful in trials. Be real. Talk of faith in God and back it up in your conversations and in your outlook.

*Keep celebrating- Past victories make great songs for the present trial. Look at the psalms. many of them are reminders of God's faithfulness through the past. They are encouragement for the present.

So as a parent lead the way in pointing out the good, having fun and creating good memories out of the hard situation. Remember, the current difficulty will be a opportunity to thank God in the future.

Keep looking up!