Read Psalm 139:14

The next time you pick up your little baby or grandbaby, look into the face of that marvellously made child and say, "You are fearfully and wonderfully made."

And it wouldn't hurt to repeat that statement throughout her childhood.

Children need to know how valuable they are in God's sight—and ours. Nothing gives them greater security than a strong sense of self-esteem.

Hear this well, busy parents—especially you who tend toward impatience, who are always on the run.... Your children have been put together in an altogether unique fashion, like no one else on earth.... They need you to help convince them they are unique persons, each one different, each one his or her own person.

Children arrive in our arms longing to be known, longing to accept themselves as they are, to be who they are. So when they wade into the swift current of their times, they will be able to stand firm, and won't depend on peer pressure to give them their standard.

Excerpted from Charles R. Swindoll, Wisdom for the Way (Nashville: J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2001). Copyright © 2001 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.