Fun Activity Teaching Kids About Satan’s Tricks

Fun Activity Teaching Kids About Satan's Tricks - Parenting Like HannahTeaching kids about Satan can be a bit tricky. You want your children to be watchful and prepared, but you also don’t want to make them overly fearful. Younger children can usually understand there is a being we can’t see named Satan or the devil. They can begin to grasp that Satan tries to trick them into disobeying their parents and God.

Older elementary aged kids need to begin learning some of the most common tricks Satan uses. The story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness is a good place to start (Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13). Older readers might also enjoy reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. Begin having talks about how your kids see Satan trying to trick them and their friends using some of those same techniques.

For a fun activity to reinforce how Satan can use people to help trick them, start by reading or telling your (older) kids the story of the Witch of Endor.  (1 Samuel 28:3-25) Explain that the Bible doesn’t make it absolutely clear, but it appears this “witch” had made money tricking people into believing she had access to spirits. Often, people would use the “advice” of the spirits to make their decisions. Using spirits as a guide for making decisions is wrong, because God wants us to have Him guide us.

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9 Ways You Should Be Your Child’s Friend

9 Ways You Should Be Your Child's Friend - Parenting Like HannahIf you have been a parent for more than five minutes, you have probably heard the old adage, “Be your child’s parent, not their friend.” There is some truth to that. You have to be able to set firm, but loving boundaries and enforce them in order for your child to grow.

If you only view yourself as the authority in your relationship with your child though, your relationship will miss some of the closeness it can have. Contrary to popular belief, you can be both a parent and a friend, if you know when to play each role. It’s when the roles get confused that problems arise – not the fact that the parent and child are friends in some ways.

So how should you be your child’s friend? These are qualities I have found in my best friends, that I believe will enhance your relationship with your child, too.

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Giving Your Kids the Gift of Parents With a Great Marriage

Giving Your Kids the Gift of Parents With a Great Marriage - Parenting Like HannahI do a lot of research as part of my ministry. Studies tracking the causes of problems facing children and teens often list one important factor. The quality of the marriage of the parents has a direct affect on their children. If parents have a healthy marriage, chances are their children are doing well, too.

Which is why I am always searching for resources to help parents improve their marriages. Friends, Partners,  & Lovers: What It Takes to Make Your Marriage Work, by Kevin Thompson is the latest. The title reveals Thompson’s main premise. To have a strong, healthy marriage, the spouses must have a strong friendship, partnership and love life.

Thompson spends time going into thorough detail of what works in each important area of the relationship. His advice is practical and explained in ways that are simple to understand. He manages to hit almost all of the “hot spots” that can throw marriages off track. He even gives plenty of tips for getting back on track in areas that may be weak in the reader’s marriage.

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Fun Way to Teach Kids About God’s Love

Fun Way to Teach Kids About God's Love - Parenting Like HannahWhen adults think of God’s love for us, we immediately think about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. For young children though, those concepts are very abstract. It’s important they hear them even though they can’t quite understand it fully. When you want young children to understand God’s love for them however, you want to also use some very concrete things. Things they can see, touch, smell.

One of the best ways to explain to a young child about God’s love is to help them experience the great variety in God’s creation. Tell them the story of creation found in the first part of Genesis. Explain God could have created anything he wanted to create. He could have decided one kind of fish or tree or flower was enough for us.

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Does A Mom Have to Worry?

Does a Mom Have to Worry - Parenting Like HannahIt seems natural for a mom to worry. You feel so responsible for those precious little lives and so many things can go wrong. In fact, if you read too much, you may have swirled yourself into a constant state of worry and anxiety.

That’s not the life God wants for His people though. Why else would there be so many scriptures advising us to not worry? Yet, knowing God doesn’t want us to be anxious and actually pushing those worries aside can be two very different things.

So, I was interested when offered to review the book How To Overcome Worry by Dr. Winfred Neely. Although the book generally gives good advice, I’m always a little annoyed when asked to pay almost ten dollars for a book of less than one hundred pages (the add-ons at the end make the final total 112 pages.) It’s not even a beautiful gift book, which frankly, it should have been. Instead it’s a small paperback with no illustrations.

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