Encouraging your kids

For whatever reason there are those of us who have a natural ability to encourage and inspire others. In fact it is even attributed as a gifting that God gives some and it doesn't take long to realize who those people are. But for the rest of us (fortunately) we're not necessarily off the hook in this department, especially when you have kids. It becomes our responsibility to be our children's greatest encouragers. This doesn't mean that we become unrealistic or unauthentic in the way we encourage them, but we do need to realize the importance and even the power of encouraging others. Recently I came across this blog by Carey Nieuwhof about his struggle in learning a balance in encouraging his kids. Check out his post How to encourage your kids to read more.

If you need some help getting started, here are 101 ways to praise your child.