Ever taken an inventory of your spending for a month to see what you spend on? Many times, we blame a lack on money as a reason we don’t do the things we wish we could. Like making our children a priority. Investing into our children pays off in great ways. Starting with time. Investing time into your children as a base for everything else you do with them. Some of the activities made available are assumed to cost a lot without checking into them and getting facts. As a single mother under very difficult circumstances, I realized that prioritizing things in your life make a great difference on the outcomes. If we let life go as it comes, we can live to wish and never have our wishes come to reality. Making a conscious decision to prioritize will bring many wishes to reality including in your children’s life. We must practice asking the question about everything; “What is more important, my child or ….?”

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21 NIV).

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When a child can read, they are advantaged in many ways. Reading is great for our brain and broadens our view point as well as our children’s. It builds their esteem and helps them cope better at school which is good emotionally and mentally. The benefits are more than the cost of doing it. What is a good age to start reading to your child is a question I have been asked several times. Whether it is a parent, a grandparent  or other care giver that gets to read this, it is never too early to start reading to a child. For mothers, reading positive and happy materials while pregnant is helpful because the baby in you starts to recognize the voice and can feel the emotions of the mother. Once children are born, they begin to learn the same day. Reading out softly inspiring reading by the baby is beneficial. Even though they are not talking to you, they can hear you. As they start to follow your movement with their eyes, read baby books while pointing to each word you read. Babies have short attention span and will look away once their attention is worn. It is wonderful to read softly without often even when not directly to the baby. But make a point to read directly to them while pointing at the words at least once each day. You will be amazed how quickly your child will learn to read and love to read. As they get older, they will still enjoy reading with you even when they learn how to read on their own. They will want to share the joy of whatever they are reading. Even though it is usually boring for parents and other adult, do it for the child and keep a positive attitude to encourage them. Out of experience, both of my children were reading completely on their own by the time they entered kindergarten and still love to read. It is worth the commitment. If you haven’t started, it is never too late. Find age appropriate books for your children and take even 15 minutes a day to read together. Kids ted to enjoy what they see their parents enjoying. Making reading a priority for their sake even though you are not a reader currently. Your children will thank you and  you might actually like reading eventually which is great for your brain and life.

“Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

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My mom called me this week because she was in those moments of thinking about her grown children and missing them. She said, “I feel so lonesome and all I have is photos around the house. I look at the photos and really miss you.” I could hear it in her voice. I felt sad! I wished there was something I could do to fly my mom to me immediately. I was reminded in that moment how much I love my mom and how much I miss her. We chat and laughed and also had some tears of joy as mama said many words of blessings on me. In that moment, I thought about my children and how fast they are growing. I felt scared! “Soon I will be in my mother’s position!” I thought. My mother lives many miles away from me but I love her and miss her deeply because she was always close to her children growing her. Every day after work and every weekend was spent together as family. My parents made us their priority and that kept us very close as a family. I heard from my dad countless times the story of how he met my mom and never got tired of hearing it. As an adult, I love my parents deeply in spite of the distance. I make a point to see my parents and siblings as often as God enables me. What I would like to see happen is that my children will miss me when they are grown like I miss my parents and that they will want to see me as much as possible. The conversation with my mom this week left me in deep thought. What can I do with my children now?Children seem to be grown and gone before parents know it. Once they are grown, we can’t undo what we didn’t and can’t do what we didn’t do. The time is now when we can. Let’s make it a priority to spend a lot of time with our children. Let’s us make our children a priority because the 20 years we have them in our house will impact our relationship with them the remaining many years once they are grown and living their lives.  “⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

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