4 Secrets to Strengthen Your Family

Posted April 17, 2020

In Articles, Happy Life, Marriage & Family

Good parenting is all about being intentional.
Here are a few secrets to strengthen your family and help you make the most of your time as a parent!

1. Trust yourself.

Our culture is filled with distractions, opinions, offenses, and debates. It’s exhausting!

Parents today are bombarded with worry and criticism, and it can be easy to start doubting:

Am I choosing the right school?

Am I doing enough to further their faith?

Am I buying and preparing the right foods? Organic? GMO? Gluten-free?

Stop! Read these words carefully, so they sink in:

You. Are. Enough.

You are doing a great job.
Don’t let things like approval seeking or people pleasing stand between your family and its purpose.

2. Tune in to God.

Tune out the voices and demands of the culture, and tune into God’s voice. Go to His Word to seek clarity. His Word always produces returns! Get in His presence with any concerns about your children, and He will provide answers.

Proverbs 3:6 tells us, “In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”

The enemy uses distraction to get us away from the truth and knock us off our purpose.

Don’t let that happen! Your children are counting on you to give them security, and there is no real security apart from God!

3. Know and pursue God’s purpose for your family.

Part of providing your children with security is having a vision for your family. The vision should be the compass for all of the decisions you and your spouse make.

Gary and I raised our children to know God, to be secure in His love for them, and to have faith in His purpose and assignment for their lives. Of course, we still made our share of mistakes, but we always taught them that their security, and their identities, are safe in Christ.

Go HERE for my full YouTube teaching on how to build your life and family right.

The culture is raising scared kids—kids who don’t believe there is a purpose for them, kids who feel lost and hopeless and angry because they are getting fed lies.

I want to encourage you to get clear on God’s vision for your family, so you can truly enjoy each step along the way.

You can’t be present in the moment unless you are trusting the outcome.

Trust God. Allow the Holy Spirit to move spontaneously through your day, and you will see amazing results.

4. Never pass up an opportunity to laugh.

I have so many amazing memories of sitting around the table and just laughing with my kids. I mean sides-hurting, tears-streaming-down-cheeks—mascara-stained tears/please don’t post that picture on Instagram—laughing.

Laughter solves a myriad of problems. Did you know that when you laugh, it releases feel-good endorphins in your brain?

There was one night my kids and I, who are all grown now, started talking about what we had learned over the years, and we just laughed and laughed! I went to bed feeling so happy.

God is so good!

Ecclesiastes 3:4 reminds us that there is “a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.”

So today, put down your list of to-dos or expectations for the perfect frameable photo and let go! Show your children your silly side. I guarantee your family will experience amazing joy and, hopefully, some belly laughter of your own!

Never miss the chance to enjoy those moments; they are memories in the making.

5. Be an example.

You can preach to your children every day about what they should or shouldn’t do, but…

The greatest influence on your children’s lives won’t be what they hear you SAY—it will be what they see you DO!

Build your family right by being an example.

If we want our children to have a relationship with God that extends beyond church on Sunday, then we need to model a relationship with God that extends beyond Sunday in our lives.

Now, this doesn’t mean that you have to be a perfect parent. Your children can learn from your mistakes as well! If you lost your temper, take accountability.

Admitting to your family that you’re not perfect is a good thing: it’s an opportunity to show your children that we all need God’s grace.

There are always going to be tough seasons as parents. I want you to know I am praying for you, and God is more powerful than any circumstance!

Leave the mistakes in the past, where they belong.

Be present today and every day.

Be the example of joy to those around you.