If you could sum up your response to this shutdown – what is one word to describe it?

fatigued, anxious, secretly happy (afraid to tell others you are enjoying it), calm, reassured, or - ________________?

What this shut down has shown everyone is how resilient or resistant we are as individuals. Each person can only be resilient for themselves. A resilient parent cannot be resilient for their child YET – they can teach resilience!

You see resilience is a powerful trait and we are in the best situation  to learn the value of this word.

Resilience is the capacity that allows us to adapt during adversity! It is the power of determining our own personal outcome!

Think back to the biblical days of Daniel, Esther, Abigail, and others. They were in times of distress yet their stress was controlled by  two things: they all knew God was in control of their situation and they had learned how to control their response. They demonstrated TRUST!

Resilience is taught by those who have learned it.

Resilience grows each time difficult situations arise such as trauma, relationships, sickness, shutdowns, job loss, homeless, depression, etc.

BUT – depression and resistance are also taught and can also grow each time we are in difficult situations. It is a choice.

So the objective is to teach our kids:

“I am sorry you missed your dance recital, piano guild, senior prom, graduation ceremony, school track meet, senior trip, etc. But you see this experience is teaching all of us to depend on God and not look to these temporary celebrations as being overly important.”

“God is preparing us for greater things to come! Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.”

Daniel was taken as a youth and put in a foreign land, forced to learn a new language and they tried to remove all his 'Jewishness'. Yet Daniel was resilient because of how he was taught as a child.

Train up a child in the way he should go.

Daniel was resilient – he knew God would provide. Daniel stuck to his upbringing. Daniel was resilient.

Imagine if we used this situation of wearing masks, being lead single file through stores and even our churches and we teach our children and ourselves – yes, God is working and the less we are stressed the more available we are for Him to use us.

Join me in rearing our children and grandchildren to be resilient!

Here are 7 steps to Help Our Kids be more resilient 

They need to see resiliency demonstrated in us!

1. Reflect – keep teaching stories from the Bible of how God provided. Currently we are in the counting of the omer and the days of First Fruits. Each of the Lord’s Festivals are to be a dress rehearsal for God’s story line. This story line is how Jesus came and fulfilled the first three festivals and how He is coming again to fulfill the last festivals.
2. Rehearse – teach  kids how to rehearse difficult situations and how to work through them before they happen. If this happens,  then we can  ________.
3. Resist – teach kids and perhaps ourselves to resist the urge to speak too quickly; instead take a moment to breathe and think before speaking or acting.
    
4. Restrict – Eating processed foods and sugary foods will make building resiliency 100% harder than designed to be. Sugary foods cause disconnects in our minds which leads to greater anxiety and loss of focus. 
   
   We add fertilizer to our gardens, so they produce a large bounty. We would never think of throwing gasoline on our garden and pretend it helps it grow. Same is true for feeding our kids. Feeding our kids sugary foods and then expecting them to act appropriately is insane. Instead feed our kids healthy foods and expect them to succeed.
    
5. Refresh - our mind with everything good happening around us.
    
6. Rebuild – rebuild our microbiome with foods that build a covering and healing. As we build the microbiome with healthy foods it leads to healing inflammation. Inflammation causes disconnect especially during times of stress. Disconnect causes anxiety, depression, and lack of focus.
   
   FOODS matter when it comes to resiliency.
    
7. Resupply – supplements can be critical for children and adults who are not able to work through situations.

Here is a list of MUST in a supplement program to help build resiliency and everyday physical and mental health:

1. A very good multi vitamin – bonus is one that helps build the microbiome
2. Omegas – a good fish oil is powerful for helping remove inflammation and healing the brain  - plus hormones! Kids need omegas and high fat diet to build a brain that is easier to be resilient.
3. Vitamin D – through various labs you can order this blood test for all members of your family. Get tested through these private channels and then get the family on a healthy dose.
4. Mentabiotics – this is a personal choice as it is a blend of prebiotics, probiotics and phytobiotics I personally use. It is designed (all non-GMO) for gut healing, vagus nerve healing and also the brain. It is a daily must in my personal regime

Every day we live with choices. Each choice leads to greater resiliency OR greater resistance.

Let’s help each other choose resiliency. We don’t know what tomorrow holds but we know who holds tomorrow. As we learn to trust in that truth the happenings around us no longer affect our attitude.

To God be the glory for the great things He is doing.

I love you all so much, I desire to help you build this amazing health that has resilience as a pillar!