saving children from stress

by request from Valerie,  this is an excerpt from my “Front Porch Fellowship” E-zine, currently available by subscription (free) , I will robably put these online at one point or another, but this is timely, so here goes

“But first won’t you grab a cup of tea and come sit on the porch with me for a minute?
I want to share something that the Lord has put on my heart for this month.

For many of us the current economy struggles and the election concerns have us a little worried for our families.
Now I am not going to tell you that worry is a sin, we all know that it is something we should not do.
But frankly, when times get tough, or unstable it can make us uncomfortable.
What we sometimes do not realize though is how it affects our children.
When Daddy says, “the stock market just crashed”, we know what that means.
But a child can envision a store like Walmart crashing down on all the shoppers. Or a plane crashing through the roof.
When we say something like, are folks really going to allow a baby-killer in the White House,
our children may think of a bible video they saw that talked about Herod wanting all of the babies dead.
Especially if we have brought them up without TV or watching the news these statements can be terribly traumatic.
And we may hear even worse. Even at church. Folks seem to get loose tongues around election time.
And the comment, “we are all going to starve if grocery prices go up any more” has probably been said by one too many Mommas.
So I encourage you to carefully watch your words around your children.
And when you are in the company of others, watch your children’s reactions to what is said.
You can usually tell by the looks on their faces if they are misunderstanding something. You can also watch their behaviour at home.
Are they irritated, grouchy, or short? Do they look like they aren’t sleeping well? Have they lost their appetite?
Having a family discussion about current events helps. Explain to them what folks are talking about.
Explain what the terms mean. Let them ask lots of questions and have plenty of taime for them, be available.
Most of the time we don’t really want to keep them in a cucoon, we just want them to understand things from a proper perspective.
Teach them the right way to pray for whatever the problem is. Discuss with them, “what would Jesus do?” 
Then pray about it, together. Drawing pictures also helps children deal with stressful situations.
Take some time to draw with them, or if they are older, write stories.
As adults we sometimes get so wrapped up in how the events of the world will affect the family we love that we forget our own behaviour affects them even more.
Take some time relaxing and just enjoying your children this week. And do your best to stay relaxed right up into the New Year. How is that for a challenge?”

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