Dear Mama,

Have you ever tried to get your kids to do something they have no interest in doing, especially when it's good for them? A few months ago, I tried just that. I decided to start eating healthier and thought I’d invite my family to join me on my journey. Well, the rest of the Patton family was NOT on board with that ... at all!

And you know what? I was OK with that. Imagine trying to persuade three young kids and a husband to eat different foods. Yeah … I don’t think so. This was my decision, and I was on my own.

Then something surprising happened. No, we didn’t all change our eating habits and live happily ever after, but when I ate my healthy snacks, my kids would often ask for a bite. Even baby carrots and cashews! Y’all, I promise you, I didn’t demand or plead with them to eat anything I was eating. As I regularly ate healthier foods, they just wanted to eat some of them, too.

Yes, it started with me, but now my family enjoys healthy snacks.

Change can happen in our kids if we moms go first. Go first in saying sorry. Go first in admitting we messed up. Go first in sharing that God loves us no matter what.

What happens if we stop pretending we have it all together? What if we confess that some days we don’t? What if we talk with our kids about Him rather than yell or threaten them to believe in Him? What if they catch us praying or reading the Scriptures more than once in a while? What if we share our stories and allow God to do the rest?

Let’s do this, Mama. Let’s go first. Let’s pray and invite our kids into our journey. That’s how we leave space for God to work on their hearts. Our kids are His kids. He’ll do the heart work.

See you next week!

Love,

Brandy