Raising Successful Kids

1.) Purpose: That God has a purpose for their life. They need to hear that God loves them, accepts them and is preparing them for something great.
1 John 5:14, Phil 4:13

2.) Honor: They must learn to honor and show respect for others and that starts with mom and dad. Honor needs to branch out to siblings and extented family, then to friends,neighbors, authority figures, etc. Children need to be taught that all others are created in the image of God, just as they are.
Exodus 20:12, Romans 13:1b, Phil 4:8, Prov 1:8-9

3.)Wisdom: If we teach our children to make wise choices and exercise good judgement, their way in life will be much easier. Included in this category is helping them make wise choices about the friends they keep.
Prov 12:15, Proverbs 23:19, Prov 13:20

4.)People and Communication Skills: We need to teach and demonstrate these effectively. All things being equal, people choose to business with people they like. Employers promote those with good people skills over those whose people skills are lacking. Key skills here: respect, eye-contact, attention, forgiveness, encourager, conversation starter.
Romans 15:2, Luke 6:45, Prov 16:24

5.)Work Ethic: We must teach our children the motto, "Work Before Play". Our outcome in life depends on our value to the "marketplace" so to speak and people admire, repect, and promote producers.
Colossians 3:23, Prov 10:14, Ecc. 9:10, Prov 10:26, 2 Thes. 3:11-12

6.)Proper Attitude: A proper minset is crucial to success. Children need to believe in themselves, trust in God, and think on positive things. They need to 'be transformed by the renewing of their mind." They need to be respectful of authority and treat others honorably. It all starts in the grey matter.:-)
Phil 4:8, Romans 12:2

7.)Stewardship: This of couse includes good money management skills. It also includes the areas of managing one's time, possessions, ministry, activities, and talents.
James 1:22, 1 Cor 4:2, Matt 25:14-30

8.)Excellence and Order God is an 'excellent' God and is a God of order. Kids need to be taught not to cut corners and do sloppy work.

9.)Sevice: Our kids must be trained from a young age not to be selfish. They need to help with chores around the house. Get them involved with outreach projects, teen missions, adopting a family/child, etc.
Gal 5:13
10.)Teamwork: Family chores, missions projects, game nights, and sports teams can teach this.

On August 28, 2007, UPS celebrated it's 100th Birthday. My husband works for UPS, and so I knew this. What I didn't know was that UPS was founded by teenager Jim Casey in 1907. The original company, called the American Messenger Company, was started by Casey, 17, and employed other teen boys who delivered packages via bicycle.

Casey started the business with $100 and through a series of mergers added a motorcycle fleet in 1913, vehicle delivery in 1916, and United Air Express in 1929.

Casey's business plan in 1907: (according to author Mike Brewster)

"Take message on new telephone gadget. Deliver message. Impress customer. Repeat."

I am a firm believer that leaders are readers. Below are some character building books and more that I highly recommend. I have and have read and used all but two (we did not read the girl books as I have only sons) of these with great success. I've organized them for you by age group. At the bottom is a section just for you, mom and dad.

Enjoy!

Maureen :-)