This Is My Son Whom I Love

As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased." -- Matthew 3:16-17

Reading that verse, you get a real sense that God was in Heaven running over with pride that his Son was down here among His creation fulfilling the destiny set before Him. This is a father full of pride making sure everyone knows how proud he is that his son has chosen the path of righteousness!

My son is 16 and while he isn't quite finished growing into an adult yet, he's awfully close. More and more I see in him the man he is to become. I've felt that God had special plans for him since before he was born. He has the character traits that make younger kids congregate around him and love him. I can't wait to see how his life unfolds.

Yesterday in particular, he made me a very proud father and I wanted to share that this morning. One of my major goals while I've been on vacation was to get the old, nasty carpet pulled out of my bedroom. It's the last room in the house to get this treatment and it's years overdue. I had hoped to have gotten to it last week, but for many reasons, it hadn't happened. So yesterday I buckled down and started in on it while also needing to get several other chores done that we didn't get to over the weekend. I want you to know that my son handled several loads of laundry and got our kitchen, which was a wreck, cleaned up and the dishes washed. Because of his help, I was able to get my room completely done and put back together before Suzanne got home from work.

The message today is that you should go out of your way to celebrate your kids when they make you proud. It's easy for us to fall into the devil's trap of criticizing and disciplining without end, but it takes conscious action on our parts as parents to make sure they get praised and built up when they do right, and especially when they go above our expectations. Don't be afraid to be brimming with pride and adoration for your kids! I promise, adding praise and adoration to your parenting will transform your kids and affect your family tree for generations to come.