Finding Mentors for Your Child

When I try to analyze Hannah's decision to leave Samuel at the temple, I always wonder if she thought about who would train her child as he grew. She could have been tempted to dedicate Samuel to God without leaving him at such a young age. Even though we know Eli wasn't exactly a great parent (at least if you judge him by his children), I have to think Hannah was comforted that Eli would encourage Samuel to follow God's ways. Perhaps she thought Eli would mentor her young son. The one time we see Samuel turning to Eli for advice as a boy, Eli tells him to listen to God. I am sure that was what Hannah wanted Eli to do for her precious son.

When my daughter was born, I decided to make sure I had some influence on the adults she might turn to for advice or counsel. From infancy, she has had several "aunties". They are friends of mine who I know love God and won't undermine what we are trying to teach at home. These "aunties" have all been wonderful about giving our daughter special times and attention. Most of then have probably even put on a few pounds from all of the Girl Scout cookies they have bought from her over the years.

Life Really is a Marathon

A few years ago, I decided to walk the Avon 3-day for breast cancer. The 3-day part involves walking sixty miles over a three day period. If you are familiar with the Atlanta area, we started at Lake Lanier and ended up in Piedmont Park! The organization gives you a very useful training schedule. That ten month training period was the most intense exercise period of my life. Motivated primarily by fear, I walked from when my daughter left for school until she returned home almost every day.

I would love to say that every year, I get up almost every morning and do my strength training and an hour of cardio. The truth is that a lot of the time life gets in the way. I am gradually learning that it is okay to drop the ball once in awhile. The trick is to remember to pick it up again as soon as you can.

Memorizing Scripture Can Be Easy

I have vivid memories of my third grade Sunday School class. My teacher was a sweet older woman who took scripture memory work very seriously. She would make us write long passages like John 1:1-14 in a special notebook and then take it home and memorize it. Did I mention it was in King James English? (I think I had to walk five miles in the snow to do it!)

I have to admit I probably memorized more long passages of scripture in those few months than I have at any other point in my life. However, I still feel a slight chill when someone says to turn in your Bible to John 1:1-14 or any of the other passages we had to learn.

Transitioning Your Child to Independent Bible Study

As our daughter became older, I wanted to find a way to help her start reading the Bible independently on a regular basis. She was a strong reader, so at first I encouraged her to read Genesis in her new student Bible. I soon realized that was a mistake. As with most people, she quickly got bogged down with the "begats" and other concepts that were not stories she could follow.

After numerous trips to Christian book stores, I finally found the perfect transition "Bible" for her. The Student Discovery Bible: A Journey Through God's Word (Thomas Nelson), pulls over one hundred stories directly from scripture. What I really liked about it, was that in the margins it provided definitions for key vocabulary words, answers to common questions, archaeological discoveries and cultural and historical notes.

Reading to Little Ones From the Bible

One of my weaknesses as a Christian has always been that I am inconsistent in my private Bible study. I will go sometimes as long as a year with consistent personal Bible study, but then I get distracted and am not nearly as faithful in my study times. ( I am sure it hasn't helped that most Bibles when I was a child were of the King James variety.) I have worked hard my entire life to try and make daily Bible reading a consistent habit. I wondered if I could find a way to make it a more natural habit for my own child.

I began reading a Bible story to her every day when she was an infant. I can picture sitting in the rocker holding her before she could even sit up on her own and reading the Bible story to her. I used the Baby Bible Storybook by Robin Currie and Cindy Adams. You can choose any baby or toddler Bible, but preferably one with lots of bright pictures and few words. ( I have not really found them to be inaccurate, but you may want to read through it quickly to make sure that there are no glaring errors.)

Finding God at the Zoo

I have a confession to make. My family is addicted to zoos and aquariums. We enjoy seeking out new ones when we travel. We have ridden a camel, fed a giraffe and touched sharks, sting rays, sea squirts and numerous other slimy and furry "critters".

We live in Atlanta, home of the fantastic Georgia Aquarium. My daughter and I love to go there and just soak in the wonder of their largest tank. It houses several whale sharks (they grow to be the size of a bus) and thousands of other fish, rays and sharks. They have a classical music piece playing in the background that was especially composed for the exhibit. I always feel so close to God in that room. As my daughter and I sat there a few weeks ago, I realized that she has probably heard the same dialogue from me a thousand times.

Baptism Study for Parents to Use

Over the years, I have had numerous discussions with parents about what to study with their children when they start asking questions about baptism. A few years ago, my own daughter began showing an interest in baptism. Over the course of a week, I wrote a study as we talked about what she knew and what concerns she and her friends had about baptism. I based the lessons not only on scripture, but on the common questions she and her friends had on the subject.

Over time I have lengthened the study. I did this for two reasons. One to provide meaningful support activities for parents to use to help their children grow spiritually either before or after their baptism. The second reason was to provide a subtle way for parents with children who really aren't ready for baptism to continue the dialogue with their child over a longer period of time. The leader's guide gives you guidelines about shortening the study for children who are ready and lengthening it for children who are not quite ready. The leader's guide also has additional scriptures that can be used with children who need further study in a particular area.

I am making this available here for free to any parent who may find it helpful. Just click the floppy disk in the upper left hand corner to save it to your computer.

May God bless you as you study with the children in your life.

A Fun Way to Introduce Sermon Listening

When our daughter was about four or five years old, we decided we wanted to make sermon time more relevant and not just a quiet play time. Realistically, she was not old enough to listen to or understand an entire sermon. We wanted her to learn however,that the preacher was trying to teach Bible lessons during sermon time.

I went to the school supply store (I believe you can find them in office supply stores also) and found a spiral notebook that has story paper in it. The top of the page is just white space and then there are a few lines in the last third to use for writing.

Steps For Developing a Heart for Missions

Our daughter is currently working on her Silver Award project for Girl Scouts. She is collecting hundreds of books and setting up libraries and a reading incentive program for the children in a children's home in Mexico. Although the award only requires a service project of 40 hours, her completed project will take probably three times that amount of hours to complete. Yet she is excited and has managed the project with a flair and maturity well beyond her years. I believe this is not only because she has a passion for the project, but because of her love for the recipients.

When our daughter was two years old, she went on her first mini mission trip. We were vacationing in Mexico and went for the day to encourage a missionary family we knew in another town. Since then, we have been on numerous full length mission trips to help with a children's home that was established in that city. Our daughter would move to Mexico in a heartbeat to help with the mission. The worst punishment we could give her would be to lengthen the time between our visits. In fact, we often joke that one day she will live with her husband in Mexico as full time missionaries.

Why do I Try to Parent Like Hannah?

When I gave birth to my daughter, I kept thinking about the Bible story of Hannah. Like Hannah, I was having my first child later than many women. I meditated on the verses in I Samuel chapter one. I marveled at the grace of Hannah as she not only dedicated her young son to the Lord, but left him to be raised by Eli.

I longed to have the attitude of Hannah. While I have no desire to send my child to be raised by someone else, my husband and I wanted to dedicate her to the Lord. I prayed to the Lord that He would give us the wisdom to train her heart and mind to long to follow His path for her.