Children's Book Recommendation

These are two of my favorite children's books!  My friend Sarah, of Wildflowers-Growing Character, recommended them to me last year. 

I'd Be Your Princess, by Kathryn O'Brien  is about a little girl imagining her life as a princess.  Her dad plays along and uses the opportunity to admire each godly quality of his daughter's royal character. There is also a scripture verse that references that certain character on each page. One of the young girl's stories is that she would cheer for the knights as they practiced jousting. Her father replies with the scenario if one fell off his horse she would help him up because she's a good friend.  The scripture used is "A friend loves at all times." Prov.17:17

I'd Be You Hero, also by Kathryn O'Brien is about a young boy who imagines his life as a hero.  His mother supports his tales of adventure by delighting in his aspirations and godly character.  One of the young boy's adventures is to protect the castle, to which his mom applauds his bravery. The scripture used is "Do not be terrified...for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."  Joshua 1:9

Both of these books teach your children the importance of developing godly character at a young age.  It encourages the parents to inspire and encourage their children's imagination and increases their self-esteem.

These books can be purchased at your local bookstore or by clicking HERE.

Growing Character

Hello fabulous mommas!!!  I am so excited to tell you about a valuable resource to use...Wildflowers Character Resources!  My friend, Sarah Holmes, started this amazing ministry to moms a couple years ago.  She emphasizes how we should be intentional about the character training of our children.  Statistics state that 80% of character has already been developed by age 6!  How important it is for us to plan and equip ourselves with solid teaching. 

Part of Sarah's ministry is to provide free email consultation about the character needs of your family. She has a wide range of resources available to address many character traits.  My favorite resource she provides is a monthly WILD IDEAS e-newsletter spotlighting a certain character trait. These are filled with goodies! They are only $1 per month ....and believe me, they are worth a million dollars far more than that!  Sarah has invested an enormous amount of time researching ideas for these different traits.  Her newsletters include:  family traditions, crafts, games and activities, songs, object lessons, conversation starters, stories, book/multimedia resources and scripture training.  How can you pass up this great resource at such a low cost??!!  If you would like to see what an e-newsletter would look like, Sarah has graciously allowed me to show you this month's letter addressing Obedience.  Just click HERE to view.

Sarah will be visiting towards the end of the month to share with other moms encouragement and direct them towards valuable training resources. You will leave feeling encouraged - with new resources and methods under your belt!  Please contact me directly if you would be interested in attending!

Welcome!

Hi there!  I am so excited about starting this blog about being encouraged as a momma!  I've felt like the Lord has been laying it on my heart for awhile.  I believe it is so important to have fellowship w/ other women who are in the same stage of life as yourself.  We can really learn from, inspire and encourage one another!  That's what my hope is for this blog.  When I come across resources, workshops, books, websites, activities, (and even recipes!) I will be sure to pass it along to you!  I named the blog Intentional Legacy because I believe we have to be intentional about what we want to teach our children....about the Lord, about life.    I want them to see me responding in faith, trusting in God's promises, reading His word throughout the week, showing forgiveness, praising His name, ministering to others.  I want my legacy to be a Godly one so my children can model Godliness for their children.

I would love to share w/ you a workshop I attended this past weekend in Dallas.  It was called the Mom Heart Conference with Sally Clarkson of Whole Heart Ministries.  So encouraging to my soul!  Here are some of the great things I came away with...

• My children need to see in me what I want to see in them!  (convicting!!!)  We must show them our love for the Lord and our love for His Word. Our children need to see us living by faith!
• My discipline needs to be consistent.  To train their will to be obedient I need to work on developing their conscience! I had honestly never thought much about that!  So, for ex., If my daughter disobeyed I might tell her to go sit on the stairs and I will be there in a few minutes to speak with her.  All the while, her little conscience is telling her right from wrong!
• Enjoy life w/ my family!!! Set out candles on your table for dinner, use your "good" dishes, put out fresh flowers.  Make the time to have tea w/ your girls w/ some dishes you bought at a garage sale or the dollar store (just in case one gets dropped!).  Wear fancy boas and invite their dolls to join in!  With your boys, build a castle out of legos or go outdoors and have a scavenger hunt.  Make home a place your family LOVES to be!  Fill it with good smells of a nice candle or cookies baking in the oven...let them help!  Sally told us if we don't spend quality time w/ our children they won't respond to our discipline.
• Inspire our kids!  Read to them, encourage their imagination!  Tell them, "maybe you'll become a great _______ !  Get their wheels turning of what they could be!
• Praying...  pray specifically, creatively and confidently!  Ask your child if you may pray for them.  Then pray for them outloud.  Pray outloud, taking turns, on your way to school.  My girls love to practice their bible verses on the way to school.  It really is amazing how much they are able to memorize!

I plan to do at least one post a week, so please come back to visit!!!  Up Next...  a spotlight on my friend Sarah's character resources!

Be encouraged this week!  Changing the world....one diaper at a time!!!!
~Kristin