Blessing Your Family, Trust and Safety
Welcome to Day 6 of our Journey through “31 Days to Bless Your Family”!
Today’s theme is Trust and Safety. It is a topic added to our list for these 31 days after speaking with my son. He mentioned each of these separately as he unpacked his thoughts and experiences about our home, and I have combined them here for us. For him, sandwiched in between those two were, teamwork, love and family fun and memories shared together. Then he added more to our conversation, but the core for him seems to have flowed from these, and that’s what I want to share with you.
[shareable cite=”@Eric_D_Jackson”]I want to share with you the intention that an environment can be created to protect your marriage and family so they might experience blessing.[/shareable]
At first this topic seemed to me so complex to wrap a simple message around. Trust and Safety are actually quite natural to grasp, at least conceptually. It’s when they are broken that life can be so complicated, deeply painful, and often very tragic.
When I was a teenager I recall a conversation with an adult who tried telling me that trust was not a starting point, it wasn’t given, and it had to be earned first over time. I disagreed. Like above, I believe trust is natural (for most people) and we can’t be in relationship or feel safe in a relationship without it. When Trust and Safety are missing in a home it becomes almost impossible for your family to give and receive any blessing.
[shareable cite=”@Eric_D_Jackson”]Trust and Safety create an environment to thrive in, and are essential for our survival.[/shareable]
Trust and Safety are critical to our entire society:
- when we are driving and only a painted line protects our lives
- when the fabric of our economy depends on it and the markets drop without it
- when we leave our kids at school
- when we choose a neighborhood to move into
- when we are at work, all day, every day
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Growth thrives in conducive surroundings. – #6 The Law of Environment, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, by John C. Maxwell
If you are reading this then you are interested in your marriage and family growing and thriving. Trust and Safety are what creates the environment for that to happen. All “31 Days to Bless Your Family” depend on it. Every good blessing you hope for your marriage and family will need to be built on trust and safety. Maybe you have already started building that foundation, or maybe it’s time to start re-building it. In either case, you are building something with the permission of your family, and that permission is based on your character. Are you actually trustworthy? Do they feel safe because you are present, protecting them from risk and peril?
As a leader for your family, you might ask, “how important is trust for a leader? It is the most important thing.” – #6 The Law of Common Ground, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell. “Trust is the foundation not only of leadership relationships, but of all relationships. You cannot influence people who don’t trust you. You cannot build positive relationships with people if they perceive you negatively. Trust is the glue that holds people together.” – Level 2, The 5 Levels of Leadership, by John C. Maxwell.
Trust and Safety are incredibly fragile, and they can be threatened or in put in jeopardy so easily. I can only imagine how many different ways that anyone reading this may have had experienced both of these broken in the past. And I know that any unresolved hurts will cloud present and future relationships, drastically diminishing them from the potential those relationships could possibly have. “Hurt people hurt people.” The good news is that there is always hope, so please get help if this is your past, because it does not have to be your future.
I have included some additional videos from my preparation for today’s post.
The first video is from Family Matters and it emphasizes the home you may desire to create and the qualities and characteristics you may want to intentionally bless your children with. I included it in this post because it will take a Trust and Safety environment for your family to thrive in and to receive these blessings. The remaining videos address trust in the marketplace or everyday life but the principles can be applied to the family as well.
“Grace Based Parenting” House Model by FamilyMatters.net
“Safe and Protected, Inspired Trust and Cooperation” – quote from TED Talk, by Simon Sinek
“Speed of Trust Summary” – Business Book Academy on “The Speed of Trust” by Stephen M.R. Covey
[shareable cite=”The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M. R. Covey”]… if the results [the outcomes, the environment, the behaviors] aren’t there, neither is the credibility. Neither is the TRUST. It’s just that simple. It’s just that harsh.[/shareable]
Today’s “Dares and Prayers” shared in the video:
- Love Dare – “not Irritable“
- Love Dare For Parents – “not Selfish“
- Power of a Praying Husband, Pray for – “Her Marriage“
- Resolution – “Chain Breaker“
- 31 Days of Building Your Family Values, Bible App Devotions – “Honesty”
- “Relationships thrive under trust, and trust requires honesty.”
- FamilyMatters.Net
<YouTube video coming soon>
Daily Resources and References
Please review the Welcome to 31 Days to Bless Your Family post if you missed it. There are some starting resources and recommendations there. Your best resource will be a local Bible teaching church to plug into with your family, and be surrounded by a thriving and supportive community.
Special Thanks to Kendrick Brothers Productions for their books The Love Dare, The Love Dare for Parents, and The Resolution for Men. You can check out their movies, books etc on their site. Their site recommends a local church finder at:
- TrueLife.orgwhich also links to a prayer online, chat or text site – ChatAboutJesus.com
For prayer from KLOVE Radio staff:
- Positive, Encouraging K-LOVE Radio – Submit a Prayer Request
- “You can also call [the] prayer line at 800-525-5683”
If today’s topic resonated with you please leave a question, or share something positive that is working for you in the comment section below.
Here’s to your family’s “purpose-filled and on-target day”!
God Bless You and Yours!
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