What I want for my children

I have been giving alot of thought lately to what I want my children to be when they grow up. My children are ages 26, 22, 22, 21, 17, 16, & 14. And this list of Mom wanna-be's is for all of them...

I want them to be HONEST. Honest in their replies to their Dad & I. Honest in their dealings with other people. Honest about their where abouts and with who. Honest about their grades. Honest about their job searches. Honest about everything. Their Dad & I may never know when they are dishonest (but we usually have a really good idea) but God always knows.

I want them to be HARD WORKING. In their chores, school work, for pay work, etc. Being lazy is not acceptable. Everyone has a down day, but many days in a row without a medical reason is just plain lazy. When they are given a job, they should do it in a timely manner, not draw out the process. Work hard and be rewarded for that hard work.

I want them to act like the CHRISTIANS that they are. Watch where they go, who they hang out with, what they watch on tv or at the movies, what they listen to with music, how they act when we aren't there. I want them reading their Bibles, listening to Christian music, attending church services, and behaving. Again, God will know! There are many statistics on young adults permanently leaving the church in their college years...up to 75% of them. I don't want my children in that %.

I want them to be able to PROVIDE for their future families. I want the boys (5) to be able to fully provide for their families so that their wives don't have to work. I had to work so that we could survive, its very tough with little ones. And by provide I mean...housing, power, food, clothing, the fancy stuff can be acquired little by little.


I want them to be DEBT FREE. A home loan is ok, but not to have one would be fabulous. They don't need car loans, credit cards, payday loans, etc. to survive. Save up money and pay cash (I wish someone had banged this into my head way back when). Greg and I do have one credit card, its the Kroger card. We get a discount on gas and rebates quarterly for our grocery shopping. But, we've only had it 2 years and both of us have agreed to give it up at anytime. You have to be really self-controlled and accountable & we do pay it off every month.

I want them to be SELF CONTROLLED. Self controlled in their speech, clothing, habits, etc. I don't want them to follow after the crowd. If they know something is wrong, use that self control and NOT do it.

I want them to GROW UP. They need to be self supporting, lead adult lifestyles, take responsibility for themselves, be Adults. So many in todays society are still "teenagers" even when they are in their 40's or 50's. I found that out on Facebook with some folks I went to highschool with. The phase "teenager" is less than 100 years old. In the "olden days" children 14 & 15 years old were working all day in the fields with Dad or in the house with Mom, their family survival depended on it. (Actually younger than 14 or 15) Look at the Amish lifestyle, while I don't agree with their theology all the time, I do applaud their lifestyle and work ethic.

I want them to be SELF-SUPPORTING. Pay their own insurance, rent, cell phone bills, groceries, etc. They all have cars, they need to be responsible for them. We don't mind helping in an emergency, but every month isn't an emergency.

This list will grow as I think of more things.

I want them to be happy, healthy adults. I want to have adult relationships with all of them. They are all great young adults.