A Healthy Thrive Family
God created us in His image and He commands us to parent children in His likeness and love. He
also says in James 1:27, “what God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to
take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the
world.”
A Thrive family should have:
Spiritual Integrity…
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A personal relationship with Jesus Christ
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A commitment to make Jesus Christ Savior and Lord in your daily life
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Regular involvement in a community of believers
Financial Stability – Financial maturity, including responsible budgeting, and have sufficient savings
for emergencies. This also includes good stewardship of Thrive’s budget and spending.
Good Communication – A commitment to develop good relationship skills which include: listening,
sensitivity to others, ability to resolve disagreements, assertiveness, and conflict resolution skills.
Clear Motivation to Minister to children – Thrive looks for individuals who are committed to
providing a safe, nurturing environment for children they parent. Therefore, each family member
must have a clear and healthy motivation to serve and an understanding of their commitment.
Parenting Awareness – Understanding of (a) the effect your childhood parenting has on who you are
today (b) how you presently parent children and (c) how you intend to parent Thrive children.
Effective house parenting includes: protecting, nurturing, providing unconditional love, building selfesteem, using approved discipline, and encouraging physical, emotional, educational, social and
spiritual growth.
Respect for Birth Heritage – A commitment to supporting the relationship between Thrive children
and their biological families if safe. Thrive believes identity and family heritage are important and
encourages Thrive house parents and families to support, preserve, and enrich a child’s Thai or other
heritage.
Ability to Work with Loss – House parenting requires knowledge and application of the grief cycle –
as it relates to the Thrive child, birth family, and each member of the Thrive family.
Physical and Mental Balance – Thrive believes Thrive families need to be physically healthy.
Nutrition, exercise, balanced work habits, a positive attitude, flexibility and a sense of humor are
important to successful parenting.
Team Participation – House parenting requires a willingness to participate in ongoing education,
supervision, and case planning. In order to meet the needs of the Thrive child, cooperation with
Thrive staff is necessary.