How to become your child’s greatest influencer (5 of 6)

HOW TO BECOME YOUR CHILD’S GREATEST INFLUENCER? (Video 5 of 6)

The third way to become — “Your Child’s Greatest Influencer” — is to spend planned time together.

The American home has become like one of those roundabout circular roads where four roads intersect, like they have in downtown New Braunfels. We pass each other while en route to various places and activities. And we are not getting the quality time that we need together, so we begin to drift apart. And occasionally we crash into each other, honk the horn, or run each other off the road.

I heard that the average couple married ten years or more spends only thirty minutes a week in meaningful communication. It’s probably because we are spending 5x that, watching TV and browsing our phones. And we spend even less time in meaningful conversation with our children.

But let me remind you how Moses taught us to lead our children in Deuteronomy 6:6-7, “These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 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)

Here are a few suggestions for helping us improve our time with our family:

• Create times for communication: Take walks together where you can talk. Call your spouse during the day. Call your adult child occasionally to see how they're doing. Meet for lunch or dinner once a week. Offer to drive the kids to sports practice so you can talk.

• Control communication killers: The television and the telephone probably steal the most family communication time. Youth camp went so well with God and others because it was unplugged.

• Encourage honesty and transparency in conversations: Differences of opinion are healthy and normal in a family. Encourage all family members to speak their minds, and when they do, never criticize them.

• Adopt a positive communication style: Be conscious of the way you interact with your family and create an atmosphere that encourages open communication.

Story — I’m gathering my sons, Timothy and Joshua, once a week to read through a book called — “The Measure of a Man.”

The way to become — “Your Child’s Greatest Influencer” — is to:

• Build a great marriage with their mother.

• Express appreciation for your wife and children.

• Spend planned time together.

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