Leaving the world nicer than you found it, making a commitment to a lifetime of learning, paying attention to what you learn from life’s experience so that you are more valuable to others, and being committed to developing the potential of as many people as you can are general purposes that are good to install in the hearts of each one of your chil

wise parents teach their children how to love, how to be forthright, how to be transparent with close friends, how to confront, and how to forgive. All that said, it must be added that building a significant purpose into your children invariably guarantees that some people won’t like them. People of purpose annoy—even infuriate—those who want to co

God is mighty! He is powerful. He had the first word (“I am the Alpha”), and He will have the last word (“and I am the Omega”).7

You have been singled out to do a favor for God. He is asking you to be His representative to a small but vital part of the next generation. He needs someone to be His voice, His arms, and His heart. He chose you. He chose you to assist Him in a miracle. He gave you children and then said, “Now go, and give these precious lives meaning.” It’s a man

→ “You are a gift from God; go make a difference.” → “You may struggle doing the right thing sometimes, but you’re forgiven.”

If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? . .

Fathers and mothers have lost the idea that the highest aspiration they might have for their children is for them to be wise—as priests, prophets or philosophers are wise. Specialized competence and success are all that they [most fathers and mothers] can imagine.6

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9) It was in God’s grace that Paul figured out how to feel secure, significant, and strong. His personal weaknesses and points of vulnerability weren’t removed, but he had the necessary grace to face them and accept them.