Love Languages

T and I were contemplating what our kids love languages were the other day, jokingly. Admittedly, neither of us have read the book so we were kind of making up our own titles given the fact the only one we really remembered was “acts of service”. We agreed that our one daughter’s love language had to be “stuff” (not the official title, but the best description we could come up with for her obsession with material items). While I pondered this some more, I was reading a blog and this sentence really struck me: “Growing up I wasn’t looking down at the expensive clothes or toys you bought me, I was looking at you, my role model.” We can get so hung up on the material/activity side of things that we forget that WE are the greatest influence on our children. Not what we buy them or how many activities we put them in. So here is the challenge: Hold up a mirror today and ask yourself: how do I portray myself to my kids? What do my kids see? Do I value myself? Do I value my marriage and show them that my marriage is a priority? Is my life in balance between family time, couples time and other activities? Do I take care of myself, have a healthy lifestyle? Am I showing them the value of friendship through the relationships I have? Am I showing them my faith and love of God? Actions speak louder than words and children are keen observers. We are a reflection of what our children will become and how we live our lives is the greatest example we can provide them, far beyond thousands of lectures, material items or sports commitments. Make sure the reflection you see in the mirror is who you want your children to become. When we value and respect ourselves, our children will learn that lesson through our example. And if you don’t like what you see, take the steps to change it. Be Brave and Love yourself!