Posts Tagged ‘healthy habits’

Healthy Habits, Happy Kids [BOOK EXCERPTS]

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010

“This book is about kids but written to parents. It’s about childhod, but it’s also about the adult world within which childhood exists. This book is about weight, but it’s also about worth and value. It’s about your child, and it’s also about your family. When I say it’s written to parents, I mean to include all those who have had the privilege to care for children, be they grandparents, guardians, stepparents, or extended family. To paraphrase Psalm 127:4-5, children are a blessing from the Lord! And with that blessing comes God’s charge to love and care for them. With that blessing comes God’s promise to be with you. And you’ll need it, because raising kids can be a challenge.” ~Healthy Habits, Happy Kids

Sure it sounds cliche, but it’s true — being a parent is the most challenging job in the world. And especially in today’s fast-paced world, parents need all the help we can get! Not because we are incapable, but because we are imperfect. The SOAR concept is one I have seen transform relationships, not only between children and their parents, but between children and the rest of their world.

14 Excerpts from Healthy Habits, Happy Kids

Healthy Habits, Happy Kids: Helping Them SOAR

Giving Your Kids Whole-Person Health

4 Ways To Keep Your Kids Healthy: What YOU Can Do

How Brad Learned to SOAR: O is for Optimism

A is for Active: Tips for Time-Crunched Parents

A is for Active: Tips for Time-Crunched Parents

R is for Responsible for My Body

R is for Responsible for My Emotions

Parenting Styles: 3 Types to Avoid

R is for Responsible for My Relationships: Teenagers

7 Ways to Instill Faith In Your Children

Healthy Kids: Enlisting the Help of Family

Healthy Living: Staying On Course

SOAR Support Checklist

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SOAR Support Checklist

Wednesday, May 19th, 2010

Our families today are under attack on so many different fronts. Your commitment to implement changes, and to recommit to doing better for your family’s sake are all buffers against the tide of destruction lapping at the shores of the family unit. As irresistible as those forces seem, I wanted to remind you, through the verse below, of the power of God and the power of promise:

Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it. ~Proverbs 22:6

God is a mighty warrior when it comes to protecting and guiding your family! We must communicate to our children their internal worth in God.

As a way to provide you with a quick reference for major concepts I have covered in this blog series of excerpts from Healthy Habits, Happy Kids, I’ve put together a checklist of support regarding the SOAR concept. As you read it, you’ll have a way to evaluate how you and your family are doing. Each will come in a form of a statement. As you read each statement, personally evaluate the truth in your own life.

Commit to living out these statements in the life of your family:

  • I motivate my family to change out of love for them.
  • I am committed to providing my family with the stability of my love through changes.
  • I accept each family member’s pace of change, understanding that even slow pace is progress toward our goals.
  • I expect the best from each member of my family every day.
  • Understanding my own issues, I make sure to examine my motivations.
  • I provide positive verbal support to each member of my family.
  • I visualize these changes as permanent.
  • Through prayer, personal study, meditation, nd godly friends, I plug into God’s support for me and my family.

SOURCE: Chapter 11, “Staying On Course,” in Healthy Habits, Healthy Kid: A Practical Plan to Help Your Family by Gregory L. Jantz, PhD., founder of The Center for Counseling and Health Resources Inc.

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Healthy Living: Staying On Course

Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

Each child is a whole person, created by God to be an emotional, relational, physical, and spiritual being. When these aspects are addressed, your child truly can SOAR! You can do this — in small and large ways, day by day, you can do this! You needn’t do it perfectly, but you should do it consistently.

As your family makes baby steps, walk right with them. Take those steps yourself and recognize you’re in it together.

Above all, continue to communicate your love and support — through your words, actions, your commitment. Lead your family where you want them to go. Embody the qualities you want them to exhibit. You truly have more power for good than you imagine.

Remember the true source of that power for good: “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen” (Ephesians 3:20-21). Yes, God’s power is immeasurable; he is able to do more than all we ask or imagine. So start imagining a healthier life for your family! Keep asking him for guidance and help. Allow his power to be at work within you as you work with your family.

Give all glory to Jesus for positive changes nin your life:

Dear Father, I give you praise for your power to change lives for the better. Be with me each day as this family I love becomes even healthier than it is today. I thank you for your vision of hope, and I acknowledge all the good you have done. When I falter, sustain me. When I stumble, pick me up. When I achieve, accept my praise. In failure and in victory, help me to stay the course and allow my family to SOAR! Amen.

SOURCE: Chapter 11, “Staying On Course,” in Healthy Habits, Healthy Kid: A Practical Plan to Help Your Family by Gregory L. Jantz, PhD., founder of The Center for Counseling and Health Resources Inc.

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Healthy Living: Strength from Above

Wednesday, May 5th, 2010

Our greatest “reinforcement” is not far from us — God is forever at hand. Psalm 16:8 says, “I have set the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” It does not say that the world will not be shaken; rather, it says that I will not be shaken. On this side of heaven, that is often all we can hope for. God has promised it will be sufficient.

If you face difficult circumstances, you may not be able to see great leaps of progress or frequent milestones. Your efforts will require longer amounts of time, increased patience, decreased personal freedom, delayed gratification, and little appreciation for your efforts. With an acceptance of this reality, you become more like God, who since the fall experiences daily these constraints where we, his children are concerned:

  • We require greater amounts of time. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
  • He must show us infinite patience. “What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath — prepared for destruction? What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory? (Romans 9:22-23).
  • He allows us to affect his plans. “So the Lord changed His mind about the harm which He said He would do to His people” (Exodus 32:14).
  • He must wait for the fruition of his plans. “But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe (Hebrews 1:2).

Because God knows about and understands dealing with difficult situations and challenging children, he will bless you in your efforts. He will give you strength for each battle. He will grant you his Spirit of patience sufficient for each day. He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. If all of these sound on some days like hollow platitudes, remember what God deals with on a daily basis. This is not so you will try to compare yourself to God; rather, it is so you will understand the source of his empathy and recognize his power to empower you.

You are not alone. Your children and family are not yours alone. Have faith through your special circumstances that God is able to triumph. Keep praying. Keep working. Keep believing. Keep watching. May his blessings pour down upon you and your family like rain.

SOURCE: Chapter 10, “SOAR-ing Above Special Circumstances,” in Healthy Habits, Healthy Kid: A Practical Plan to Help Your Family by Gregory L. Jantz, PhD., founder of The Center for Counseling and Health Resources Inc.

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Healthy Kids: Enlisting the Help of Family

Wednesday, April 28th, 2010

With so many families working full time in today’s society, children are often in the care of the larger family — ex-spouses, grandparents, or extended family. A circumstance may arise where those assisting in the care of your children do not agree with or acquiesce to the concepts of SOAR:

Supported – provided intentional guidance, direction, and nurturing

Optimistic — assured of a bright hope and future ahead for them as they grow

Active and Achieving — finding success in their personal and family endeavors and in active, energetic pursuits

Responsible — understanding and accepting their own part in healthy living and choices

Some members of your family may not want to invest the time and energy into putting SOAR concepts into action. They may not have a personal faith. Or they may resent your input into how the children are treated.

One of the hallmarks of SOAR is a commitment by the adult caregiver to adopt these concepts on a personal level. All along, you’ve been asked to examine your own heart, mind, and soul to determine what barriers or obstacles you are erecting to your family’s overall health and well-being. This is not an easy task, and some family members helping care for your children may choose not to engage in this level of self-examination. If this is your situation, please do not allow their reticence to derail your good intentions.

EX-SPOUSES

Children are always best off when ex-spouses work together for their good. In the real world, this doesn’t always happen, as envy, strife, and division can continue long after the marriage ends. Such a divisive relationship is devastating to children. I urge you to do whatever you can to try to be at peace with your ex-spouse. When you present the SOAR concepts to them, guard against appearing condemning or self-righteous. Plead and exhort form the platform of your mutual love and concern for your children.

GRANDPARENTS

As you integrate SOAR into your home, you will naturally expect that your desires will be honored by the grandparents. My children receive support, care, and nurturing from my parents, which is a blessing beyond calculation. Something is uniquely comforting about seeing your parents love and care for your children. It affirms the love you remember as a child and provides you with your own backup and support as you’re raising your children. So don’t sell these grandparents short! Sit down and explain what you’re hoping to achieve in your family and the positive changes your implementing. Many of this older generation will understand and support these changes, as they in many ways mirror what might be considered “old-fashioned” values.

EXTENDED FAMILY

As in other family situations, give extended family the benefit of the doubt. Share with them what you are doing in SOAR and why.  Adults can feel uncomfortable insisting on a different style of care from their parents than they received. This shouldn’t be the case with extended family. Their help is wonderful — from aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings — but insist that your parental direction be honored by those caring for your children.

With any of these care situations, share as much as you’re able about the positive environment — emotional, relational, physical, and spiritual — you desire for your children. As you contemplate your presentation, remember the admonition from Proverbs 12:18: “There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”

You can find the complete SOAR concept outlined in my book, Healthy Habits, Happy Kids, and highlights from the book in the following blog posts:

4 Ways To Keep Your Kids Healthy: What YOU Can Do

Right Words are Healing Words: How What You Say Affects Your Family

How Brad Learned to SOAR: O is for Optimism

A is for Active: Tips for Time-Crunched Parents

R is for Responsible for My Body

R is for Responsible for My Emotions

Parenting Styles: 3 Types to Avoid

R is for Responsible for My Relationships: Teenagers

7 Ways to Instill Faith In Your Children

SOURCE: Chapter 10, “SOAR-ing Above Special Circumstances,” in Healthy Habits, Healthy Kid: A Practical Plan to Help Your Family by Gregory L. Jantz, PhD., founder of The Center for Counseling and Health Resources Inc.

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