Many years ago I spent a day with Apollo 15 astronaut James Irwin. I was hosting him for a speaking engagement. It was a memorable day for many reasons. One was because it was the day in January, 1986 when the space shuttle Challenger blew up. I heard news as I drove to the airport. When we met, I broke the news to him.  On top of the regular schedule the various media outlets wanted interviews with him because of the Challenger disaster. He handled each event of the day with such calmness.

As we walked through the day I learned he had 4 grown children. Being the father of 4 small children I was looking for advice. In a quiet moment at the end of the day I asked, “You have four adult children, I have four small kids. What advice would you give me?” I remember his simple answer, “Mike, always make sure they know you love them.” I thought to myself surely you have more for me than that!

The profound nature of this advice hit me years later. One of our children was going through a really rough time. They were seeing a counselor. When my wife and I met with the counselor she said, “I can’t tell you what is being said but I can tell you, your child has something going for them that many others do not. They know you love them!”

Words of Wisdom: “Always make sure they know you love them!”

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  – Jesus   Gospel of John 13:34-36 (NIV)

By Mike Woodard
used by permission

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• Praying for Children
• Ways to Spend Quality Time with your Kids
• Top Ten Ways to Teach Values to Your Kids – by Mark Brandenburg

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