For the past several years, I have selected one word to live by for the year. I write about this each year over at JeffRandleman.com. It has been an exercise that I have found to be very helpful in my own personal life.
This year, I decided to challenge my kids to do the same thing. And the response has simply blown me away! First, however, I want to share with you an amusing conversation with one of my younger daughters. She was four when I challenged our kids to do this, and has since turned five.
She didn’t get the concept of picking a word to live by, and asked me what I meant. So I tried to explain it, using the word “courage” as an example. Right away, she interrupted me with, “Courage!?! Do you mean ‘sausage’?”
We laughed about that for a very long time! And after thinking about it, “sausage” might just be a good word to live by for the year…
For my older kids though, this was an excellent opportunity to teach them something. And it went admirably! My oldest daughter chose the words “ignite” and “inspire.” She wants to help people grow in their faith by her own example. She does this well already, but for her to specifically choose this speaks volumes about her spiritual maturity.
My second oldest daughter chose the word “share.” This holds a double meaning for her: she desires to be more bold in sharing her faith. And she wants to become less possessive of her material things this year, sharing with those around her more. Again, this is both challenging for her, and encouraging to me. For her to recognize her need for this clearly shows her maturity and character is growing.
My oldest son is 12. For the past couple of years, we have been working with him in the areas of his attitude and his self-control. He is a pre-teen boy, and I imagine this struggle is common among other families as well. But for us, it has been a tough road for the past months. We have sought as much input into this as we can find, from books, blogs, friends, and more.
When he chose his word, he chose “self-control,” entirely without any prompting from me. I was speechless. And what is more, his efforts have been valiant for the past three weeks as he is striving to work on this area. His desire to be self-controlled is very obvious in his speech and actions. And when he fails, he is very quick to apologize to his mother or me.
His decision to work on this is simply overwhelming, especially for a young man his age. I think he has already learned some lessons from this that will last throughout his lifetime.
We will see how this goes as we move more into the year. But for now, I find it very encouraging. Our kids have identified areas where they long to grow, and are taking steps to do so. And that is a very good thing to see.
I encourage you to give this challenge to your kids. See how it works. And pick a word for yourself for 2016 as well. Your kids will see you making the same effort, and will be even more encouraged to grow on their own, side by side with you.
Be deliberate, Dad!
What word did you choose? What words did your kids choose? You can leave your thoughts in the comments by clicking here.