Thankful for Good Kids

Thankful for Good Kids

 

   With all the trouble and travail around us these days it becomes easy to overlook our blessings. We spend so much time surviving and getting by life’s obstacles that we fail to fully see God’s greatest miracle in front of our eyes. Today, I am feeling especially thankful for my own two good kids and for my  two grown stepsons, PJ and Michael, who have grown into successful men, husbands and fathers. I am also a proud 'Poppa Joe' to three wonderful grandchildren.

   My beautiful and wonderful 21 year old daughter is a passionate nursing student. My amazing, soon-to-be 15 year, old 9th grader and his sister are two of my greatest gifts in life. Their mom is my full partner and she and I have invested our lives into their lives and inot the lives of P.J. and Michael.

   Regardless of your wealth, position or station in life; to successfully raise children who know how to love, how to respect and how to give something back in life ultimately measures your own success in life. When those good kids make good choices and make great friends and learn new things each day and want to change their world for the better; they are singing your praise to God.

   Raising great kids in today’s culture and with all the stimuli from our carnal world being blared into their faces each day only makes the task tougher. When our kids exemplify spirituality and sacrifice for others, then the return on our investment of time, money and prayer invested into their upbringing is totally validated.

   Raising good kids isn’t just an 18 or 21 year project. It is a project of a lifetime. At age 51 I still rely on good love and advice and goodwill from my own parents who are 90 and 87. I feel so blessed to have them around and also that my own two children can sit with them and share their budding lives with their grandparents.

   It is raining and overcast in my city today. My plate is piled up with opportunity and problems alike. But nothing life throws at me can trump the joy and thankfulness I feel for my own good kids. I give prayerful thanks today too for your good kids and for all the good kids of the world who excel and succeed, despite the odds. There are a lot of kids that with love, time, attention and opportunity can also become great kids. Let each of us find a way to help a kid that is not our own and who needs a break in life.

   No earthquake, tsunami, war, debt or challenge will dampen the love, joy, hope and sense of satisfaction I feel for the good kids we are all sending out in the world this very day! Peace.