In these uncertain economic times, you may wonder if your employer will retain you, if you are valuable enough to stay on the payroll. Today, focus on this: you’re hired to do one of civilization’s most important tasks and you are irreplaceable.

As a father or mother, your job of loving and teaching your children is vital to their well-being and our culture’s endurance.  That single child in your home, or that little group of 2, 3, 4, 5 or 15 children are our heart and soul. We’re all relying on you to love, educate, and equip them.

You’re hired to teach them the importance of honesty by speaking truthfully to them.

You’re hired to teach them the necessity of kindness by being kind to them, and to all people.

Teach them the dignity of human worth, of all colors, classes, and countries by reaching your arms out to others.

Teach them how to resist cruelty, rudeness, and abuse. Teach them how to speak up for the destitute. Teach them how to be brave, to do the right thing, and to keep their word.

Make time to go to your public library and check out books about our country’s history and dignity. Make sure you’ve read the Declaration of Independence aloud. As a family, read through the Constitution, bit by bit, with mugs of hot chocolate and minds toward understanding. Tell them – show them – how important it is to understand and participate in our noble government.

Check out books about historical heroes and imagined heroes – the kind who fight for what is right and have teachable hearts. Snuggle up on the couch and read about people from other countries and cultures. Read about truth, beauty, and goodness.

Join your children in serving your neighbors and benefiting your local community. Let them know that their hard work and sacrifice is an important part of building an entire country, and blessing the entire world.

Teach them the irreplaceable value of understanding our human frailty. Teach them the greatness of God, who made us – each one of us – with infinite value, dignity, and worth.

Read aloud from the Bible, seeking to understand the story that is greater than all of us, but includes each of us.  Teach them how to forgive and how to ask for forgiveness. Teach them how to love in word and deed.

You’re hired to do a job that requires time, energy, heart and soul. We need you now more than ever, and you cannot be replaced.