"I'm Proud of You"

Last evening we, as a family, were reading Ralph Moody's compelling biography, Man of the Family. In it, Ralph remembers back to when he was eleven years old and responsible to hold together his family of seven (Mom and five siblings) after his father died unexpectedly. As an entrepreneur, Ralph cooks up a variety of jobs to help raise funds for the family. I love how he strategizes and plans on how best to do a task, and then works it diligently.

As Ralph takes on a new job, he tries to reason out how his Father would have done the task. If you are a parent, may I encourage you to carefully demonstrate to your children how to do work and live life? Your children are watching. Let them learn from you how to live excellently.

When Ralph earns necessary cash, he gladly brings it home to the family. His mother always responds with, "I'm so proud of you, Ralph."

Ralph wrote Man of the Family when he was fifty two years old. And, while the challenging events from his childhood would be memorable, I find it fascinating that those words from his mother stuck in his mind all those years.

May we as parents learn from Ralph's mother's example and encourage our children!