I had an adventure this last weekend with my family.  If you know us well and you know Brian you know that one of his most evident used and appreciated talents is planning and organization.  He is particularly good at planning and organizing family trips.  I love this about him!  When we head for a trip we will get the most out of our time because he has researched it and loved doing it for quite some time before.

This past weekend we took all of our kids and a friend to Texas A& M University in College Station, TX to tour the campus and attend a football game.  We had an absolute ball.
<h2>One of the most impressive aspects of the campus is the Corp of Cadets.</h2>
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They are made up of approximately 2,100 students who are committed to character and integrity.  I asked our kids to describe the Corp in one word and they said, “Amazing.  Awesome.  Strong.  Honor. Unity.”

As I watched the Corp enter the stadium on Saturday, I thought about the simple character qualities that have meant so much to our country, our families and our faith for decades.
<h3>As a parent, are you purposeful in your pursuit of training your children in the way they should go?</h3>
I know that most parents’ sincere hope is that their children will achieve greatness.  I believe that our intentions are honorable and valid.  But it seems that generations before ours learned deep character issues through struggle and hardship.  Though I believe it could be just around the corner, our children have not yet been in that situation.  My thought is this: are values such as these learned only through difficulty or are there things we as parents can do to develop these qualities within them?

For the next week, I am going to just focus on a few of these…
<h2>honesty, loyalty, integrity and strength.</h2>
I hope you will join me in the conversation!  I am anxious to hear of effective ways that you are stretching your child’s spiritual and emotional muscles!

Many blessings,

Candy

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