Dear custodians:

Sure you are doing well today.

So painful that I have not been able to keep my promise to be here with you every day of the week. There are many factors responsible for my inability to be with you here as promised. I think it may not be ethical for me to bother you with the details. All I should say is that I am doing my best to turn a new leaf.

Today, I want to begin to share with you what I call ChildPLUS: The-Best-Interest-of-the-Child Family Constitution. It will be in form of an interview between a child and dad. It is to raise our consciousness about the principles we need to establish in our families in the best interest of the child. Here we go:

Preamble

“THE CHILD’S NAME IS TODAY

We are guilty of many errors and faults

But our worst crime is abandoning the children

Neglecting the fountain of life

Many of the things we do can wait

The child cannot

Right now is the time his bones are being formed

His blood is being made and his sense are being developed

To him we cannot answer, ‘Tomorrow’

His name is TODAY.”

– Gabriel Mistrel

Nobel Prize winning poet from Child

Child: What is the Spirit of the Constitution?

Dad: 1:1       Commitment of Parents to The-Best-Interest-of-the-Child

This is a moral document which seeks to guide the life of our family with the goal, among other things, that in all our conducts and conversations as the custodians of the lives of our children, we will be conscious of The-Best-Interest-of-the-Child as the acceptable measuring standard.

1:2  The Goal of Our Commitment to The-Best-Interest-of-the-Child

The goal of conforming our conducts and conversations to The-Best-Interest-of-the- Child is to raise children, who are complete spirit, soul (mind, will and emotion) and body.

1:3     Commitments to a Mission, Principle, Values, and Roles

We shall work with a sense of mission, establish values, operate principles, and   identify specific roles aimed at carefully determined goals.

Child: What are the foundational Principles of the Constitution?

Dad: Commitment to God and His Will

We believe in the existence of a God, who created all men and to whom all men are accountable.

Demonstration of Our Commitment to God and His Will

We align ourselves with the provisions of the Holy Writ that ‘train a child the way he should go, when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ In line we the foregoing we share and make a firm pledge to follow the example of the parents of the world renowned evangelist, Billy Graham as shared in his autobiography, Just As I Am thus: ‘When they (my parents) read the family Bible in our home, they were not simply going through a pious ritual. Mother told us that they had established a family altar with daily Bible reading the very first day they were married. They accepted that book as the very Word of God, seeking and getting heavenly help to keep the family together.

Every time my mother prayed with one of us, and every time my parents prayed for their sons and daughters, they were declaring their dependence on God for the wisdom and strength and courage to stay in control of life, no matter what circumstances might bring. Beyond that, they prayed for their children, that they might come into the kingdom of God.’         

Our Lifestyle is Our Most Potent Tool

We believe that our lifestyle, predicated upon clear-cut values is our most potent tool in achieving the spirit of the constitution

Our belief as expressed above is predicated upon the universally accepted principle that ‘children hear what you say, but do what you.’

I will like end the discussion here.

I look forward to hearing from you. Do have an INSPIRED weekend.