Do not Turn Off your Kid's Imagination

Many times, as a father, I've focused more on "the orden and neatness" of my kids than others more important things, such as, their imagination. Order has to be at the service of imagination and not in the other way around, because imagination gives you the goal, and order helps you to get there. When I realize this, I felt so bad as a father, because it was like I gave them a car, but they don't have a place to go, and that, in time, make the order becomes a goal in itself.

The picture illustrates perfectly this message. I recognize that a "go-order-your-room!" still comes out of my mouth before I ask them what there was in their imagination. Thanks be to my lovely Father for His grace because I really need it!, because He reminds me not only to ask them first for what they were imagining, but also makes me to be interested in what they are telling me: in the galactic war that took place in their room, in the martial tournament with new characters, in that aventure with a superhero, etc., so that they may grow with the confidence of what they imagine isn't nonsense.

AND AT THE END, after making sure that what was in their mind was important, I help them to form one of the tools that will help them in the future to materialize their imagination: order.

Our kids have a great imagination. Let us not turn it off! That imagination will turn into dreams and goals, which will make their lives to make sense and they'll feel fulfilled as persons. Our job as parents, is to give them the tools that will help them to reach those dreams that our heavenly Father will put in their hearts!

"Imagination is the preview of life's coming attractions" 

"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination" 

"Imagination is more important that knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world" 

Albert Einstein

Hope it helps! 

The Honor to be a Parent

Something we can highlight in the chapter 5 of Genesis is that, for God, the most important and transcendent thing in the life of every man mentioned there is the children they had. Realize that their achievements, victories and feats are not mentioned, only the fact that they had children.

Dr Edwin Loius Cole taught that this modern society honor, recognize and value achievements and titles: "the great and award-winning doctor in medicine with Phd in such prestigious university", "the recognized scientist with 5 different specialities discoverer of this radioactive substance", "this sport record breaker 8 times world winner", etc., but it doesn't honor, recognize nor value a good father.

Sadly, we invest a lot of time and energy to build a great name so we can be recognized and remembered for generations, but we don't give the due importance to the great privilege we have to be fathers or mothers.

How many of us remember our great great grandfather's name? I think just a few of us. How about our great great great great great grandfather's name? I think none of us. Why do we think, then, that we will be remembered? Why that stubbornness of magnifying our name when the only ones we should be great for is our sons and daughters?

The only name we should magnify is Jesus. If we do that, He will make our name great (Genesis 12:1-3), but even in that, do not get too excited, because it won't be forever. Besides, when Jesus magnifies your name isn't for the sake to make you known and that you may be gloried, but for making Him known and that He may be glorified.

Don't work for being recognized by society, but by your kids. Do not work to be great for society, but only for your kids.

To be great for your kids isn't hard: Spend time with them, listen to them, play with them, get interested in what they are interested in, know them. The only difficult part of this is that we have to put our selfishness aside, that desire to be highlighted over others, but its reward goes much beyond of that ephemeral satisfaction of receiving praises from others, because what you'll feel is the filling with the sense of permanent satisfaction, that sense for having accomplished your most important task entrusted by your heavenly Father Himself: to be His reflection before His son or daughter, because, after all, they never were ours, they just passed by us.

Don't you know how to be a good father or mother? Your heavenly Father does. He is more interested in helping you than yourself, because He loves your children more than you ever will, He know them before you do and better than you. Let yourself to be loved by Him, let yourself to be filled with His love, His words and His embrace, because remember, more than being father or mother, you're His child. That will be the best way to learn to be a good father or mother.

Hope this may helped you!

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For more good teachings for parents take a look to this link: Enseñanzas para Padres (Teaching for Parents). The teachings are in English and Spanish ;-)

"Are you crying just for that?!" - An advice for parents

How many of us, parents, have ever told our kids: "You cry just for that!"? Big mistake! Do you know what we're actually telling them? We're telling them: "The reason you're crying for is nonsense", and worse: "what is important to you isn't to me".

If you've been telling that to your kids, this is what you have to do:
- Tell them you are sorry for doing that. Tell them: "Son/daughter, forgive me because so many times I looked down on what is important to you".
- Promise them that you'll try to change. Tell them: "I promise you to consider as much important the things you tell me as they are to you".
- Ask for help to your heavenly Father to change that as soon as possible.

As parents of little children, we are in danger that if we don't change, they will grow with the idea that their problems aren't important, that they shouldn't bother us with their nonsense, that they aren't as much important as us, and consequently, they'll unconsciously seek to feel important in other places and ways, and many times it'll be with people that will demand from them something in return.

How does our good and loving heavenly Father treat us? Have you ever read in His Word something that says or suggest that what is important to us isn't important for Him? Have you ever felt looked down by Him? Have you ever felt when you cried out to Him for help that He says to you: "Are you crying just for that! Seriously?"?

On the contrary, He cries when we cry, He gets happy when we get happy, He is familiar with our pain, and in His Word says that He has even numbered the hair of our head (Matthew 10:30), and if He pays attention to that, something that isn't important, how much more attention will He pay to something that it is actually important to us, to what makes us cry, to what keep us awake at night! So, when we go to Him burdened by something, He will NEVER tell us: ""Are you crying for that! Seriously?", but He'll hug us, comfort us and guide us by the hand to the answer that He'd already prepared.

If there is somebody authorized to despised any of our issues, that'd be God, because for Him there is nothing impossible. But our Father, far from doing that, understands us perfectly.

So then, if you've been despising your children's problems, run to your heavenly Father, because He won't condemn you for doing that, but hug you, comfort you and guide you by the hand to the solution that He'd already prepared.

Hope it helps!

When my boys went through a hard time at school

When my Juan Esteban started the first grade, there were a few boys that bothered him. It's hard when your son tells you that he doesn't want to go to school anymore, and then you find out that other kids were bothering him because he was skinny. The same happened to my Juan Pablo, but in his case kids bothered him because he was a little chubby. Other than talking to his parents and teachers, what else to do?

My wife and I prayed for our Heavenly Father's guidance so we may know what to do, and we felt that we should talk to them about their identity, and also that they should know that, unless in that age, kids don't do that with malice.

About their identity.
We told them that they aren't what other people say, but what their Father says, that He was the One that created them so He is the only One with the right of saying what they are, what they can do and what they have. We told them that they're sons of the Most High, that He loves them, that He will never leave them, and that they can claim to Him and He will answer them.

Kids don't do that with malice.
When they when through this, they were 6 years old. Our Heavenly Father made us understand that those kids didn't do it with malice, but they just copied it from somewhere else: family, TV, other kids, etc. So, we asked our boys: "Do you guys want your friends to feel bad because of you joke around with them, or you just do it for fun?" They answer: "We joke around with them just for fun, we don't want them to feel bad". Then we said to them that it is exactly the same when they joke around with you. And then, we added: "If it's a joke, then just laugh! Do not take those joke so serious! Laugh at yourself!"

Thank God that we know they took those words because we saw the results!

If you are going through something similar with your kids, do not react in your own strength, but rather seek your Heavenly Father's counsel!, because He'll give you the guide you need to overcome that situation.

I hope this helped you!

The Power that Jesus gave to my Son

When Juan Esteban was two years old often suffered from nightmares. My wife and I were so worried because we saw his little face full of fear when he cried and called us at nights.

One night, I run to his room because he was crying once again, and when he saw me, he hugged me, and then he was frightened as he pointed to one corner of the room. When my wife and I looked at that direction, we saw nothing, but it was obvious that he could see something.

We prayed for many weeks until one day we talked to him about the authority that Jesus has given to him. We could feel that Jesus was talking to him in that moment. We said to him: "Son, Jesus has defeated the devil, he has no power and no authority over you. You can kick him OUT of that place because you have the power of Jesus!"

To be honest, we didn't know how much he understood us until that night, because we didn't wake up anymore because was crying or because he called us, but because we heard him yelling: "Out! Out!" Our son, being only two years old, was kicking the devil out of that place.

(this picture is when he was two)

I am absolutely sure that the answer of our prayers for him was that we felt to talk to him about the authority and power that Jesus gave him. I would never thought to do that because by natural instinct I myself was to defend him, specially at that age, but I can see that my Heavenly Father, who loves him and takes care of him more than me, wanted to defend him Himself. Instead of Juan Esteban depends on me, my Heavenly Father wanted him to depend on Him.

Moral: Better than worrying to take care of your kids all the time, let's teach them that the Almighty One, the Creator of everything, is their Father and that He Himself defends them.

I really hope this may bless you!