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In sports, who sets the tone for the team?  Who establishes the teams attitude and personality?  It is generally the coach.  Hi this is coach Doug Flemming, trying to encourage a winning attitude on this edition of Take Five, brought to you by the Church of the Nazarene.  For the next few programs we are taking tips from Joe White’s book, “Faith Training” on how to successfully raise Christian kids.  Good coaches can win no matter who their players are.  Good coaches have the ability to bring the best out of even mediocre players.  That’s because a good coach sets the priorities for his team.  The priority for a successful coach is winning.  In the realm of parenting, we are much like the coach.  It is up to us to set the priorities for our family.  When we make family a priority, then are children will follow that example. But if our work or our friends or our hobbies take priority over family, then our kids will learn that family really isn’t that important.  Before long, they’ll be looking outside the home for meaning, purpose and fulfillment. Just like a good coach uses tools and strategies to win, we also need tools.  A calendar and a watch can be useful tools to help us prioritize family. For instance, you can create a family calendar, listing all family activities and dates.  That calendar then becomes top priority.  So, when a work or outside event comes up, we first check the family calendar to make sure there are no conflicts.  I use my watch and cell phone to constantly remind when it’s time to go home, or when it’s time to pick up my children at school.  By placing family events on my watch and cell phone, I show by my actions that family takes priority.  Here’s another example.  Bedtime at our house is prime family time.  We guard it closely.  Each night before bed we read to our children, then we pray with them.  If the phone rings during this time, we tell them to call back.  In this way, our children know they are more important than our business, or our friends. We are intentionally establishing a winning team spirit in our home that family is first.   

Today’s Music: Your Love is Life to Me, FFH

When our kids feel happy to be on our winning home team, when they look forward to coming home, when they feel that are family is special, then we have created an environment where true “coaching” can take place.  It’s never too late to become a faith trainer.