Are you proud of your family?
When your family meets you for dinner at a restaurant, are you beaming when they walk in? Do you realize that God has placed you in exactly the family that is right for you right now?
Do you realize that God sees your family and loves them with a joy and a pride in his creation?
Your joy in your family also helps to create the family that is the desire of your heart.
Psalm 37:4 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."
The same is true of our family. As we delight in our family and show our joy at their creation as God does with us, it opens up the hearts of our family to receive what we desire for them.
In contrast, our disapproval and criticism drives them away from our desire for their hearts.
Not to say that we just accept everything they do or say and roll over. That's not the point. The point is that wherever we are in the life of our family, our delight in them (i.e. seeing the best in them, praising their good qualities even if they are hard to find, showing them love, etc.) is one of the most important keys to helping them be all that God wants them to be.
