✨Who made them.
✨Who loves them.
✨Their confidence in mom and dad’s relationship with each other.
✨Their importance and value to the family as a whole.
✨That this world is not their true home.

Things I pray will be more important to them than where they lived or the house they lived in. Obviously I only have toddlers right now so I’m not pretending to be an expert.. but these are things we set at the forefront of our family, and I pray it’s what they remember about their childhood!

Things that help build this confidence…

1. Family dinners / family worship. As much as we can we value the time at the table and the time before bed. We learn hymns together. Dance in the dining room together. Memorize scripture together. And read the Bible together.
2. We commit to date nights. It’s expensive. It’s hard. We go after bed time so the babysitter doesn’t have to do bedtime routine. But it’s worth every penny!
3. We read books about who made them and who loves them. They aren’t just hearing me say it the same way over and over. They’re hearing it in stories about God’s magnificent creation, His power over the storm, His forgiveness toward Peter, His care for the animals etc etc.
4. Phrases we repeat often: “I love you no matter what.” , “You’re my favorite Freeland“ “I love you too much to let you have a hard heart” “You’re very important, but God put mommy and daddy in charge,” “People are more important than your things” (another @abbeywedgeworth )

📚 Two books that I recommend:
Third Culture Kids – Growing up Among Worlds.
Family Worship by Donald Whitney

✨Moms with older kids… can you share your wisdom with us too!?✨