Expose them to the culture they will be living in, working in and hopefully making a difference in.

Help them learn to be resilient as they experience how unfair our world is and how disappointing it can be.

Teach them to be good winners and even better losers.

If they live in a city so they need to be city-smart.  They need to watch for danger and know how to react.  They need to get to know the city and be comfortable in it.

Train them to become independent and self-sufficient at a young age.

Help them learn how to handle the truth – the good and the bad.

Give them tools to overcome their fears and feel confident in facing each day in our uncertain world.

Teach them about God – his love, his grace and his strength as he walks beside them every day,  He is light and they will need light in order to find their way in this dark place we live in.

These are some of the strategies my husband and I used raising our children.  Our son, David Glasser, was a Phoenix Police Officer who was killed in the line of duty on May 18, 2016.  These strategies helped make Davey an awesome son, a great friend, a wonderful husband and a fantastic dad.  They also helped him become an excellent police officer who made a positive difference in our city.

Davey was tough.  He understood his culture and was not scared of facing down the evil that prowls within it.  He experienced how unfair our world is and didn’t let it stop him from being passionate about what he did.

The truth was extremely important to Davey – he didn’t hide from it.  His integrity was rock solid – that’s how he lived his life.  He challenged others around him to also live with integrity and he was disappointed when anyone he cared about missed the mark.

All of his life, Davey always wanted to know the rules.  He thought following the rules was very important.  His fun-loving, adventurous side also liked to stretch the rules and bend the rules, but he didn’t break the rules.  Even as a kid, he did whatever it took to avoid getting into trouble.  As a police officer, he wanted to work in the worst parts of the city so he could take the people who broke the laws off of the streets and put them behind bars where they belong.

Davey loved God.  He identified himself as God’s soldier as he went out to battle each day.  He understood that he was fighting evil in the name of God – trying to push back the darkness to help make this world a safer place for you and me.

Davey put himself on the front line because God had given him a warrior’s heart.  We found this scripture on Davey’s phone after he was killed.

Miss you, Davey.

#8144loveyou