The power of our words for our children

This is a story from the chapter I read in Growing Grateful Kids by Susie Larson:

One day while ministering in a prison, Ed asked the inmates, "How many of your fathers or mothers told you that you'd end up in a place like this?"  Guess how many prisoners raised their hands?  Every single one of them.    p.194
                                                                
Later in the chapter she shares about a time in a store when a lady in a store said about one of her sons that he would end up in jail some day.  She got down right that minute next to her son and told him that the lady was wrong and that God loved him and had great plans for him.

It breaks my heart to think of some lady speaking of a young boy that way.  Even now it brings tears to my eyes.  That story spoke to my heart about how powerful the words are that we speak to our children and how much they need to hear instead how much God loves them and so do we!