Author: Thereasa Winnett

Thereasa Winnett is the founder of Teach One Reach One and blogger at Parenting Like Hannah. She holds a BA in education from the College of William and Mary. She has served in all areas of ministry to children and teens for more than thirty years and regularly leads workshops for ministries and churches. She has conducted numerous workshops, including sessions at Points of Light’s National Conference on Volunteering and Service, the National Urban Ministry Conference, Pepperdine Bible Lectures, and Lipscomb’s Summer Celebration. Thereasa lives in Atlanta, GA with her husband Greg, where she enjoys reading, knitting, traveling and cooking.

The Happy Christian Family

The Happy Christian Family - Parenting Like HannahWhen I was little, one of my favorite songs in Sunday School was the “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart” song. I loved life, loved church and was a pretty optimistic kid. Talk to some Christians though and it’s like God is trying to make them swallow some bitter medicine in order to get to Heaven. They look miserable and they make everyone around them unhappy. Why would anyone want to be a part of that?

Needless to say, I was interested when offered the chance to review 60 Days of Happiness: Discover God’s Promise of Relentless Joy by Randy Alcorn. Evidently this is a companion book to the original Happiness book (which I have not read). The book contains a series of sixty short essays on the subject of happiness – specifically as it relates to Christians.

Each day begins with a quote from scripture and a quote from a person who may or may not be familiar to the reader. The essays are three or four smaller pages long. They cover a huge number of topics, not just various angles of three or four as one might expect. Some deal with personal happiness, while others deal with the happiness of God. Many have a practical slant like to feasts make God happy or is it selfish to want to be happy.

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Fun Ways to Teach 5 Important Listening Skills to Your Kids

Fun Ways to Teach Five Important Listening Skills to Your Children - Parenting Like Hannah

 

In 5 Important Listening Skills You Should Be Teaching Your Kids, I shared the five types of listening skills you should be helping your kids master. The best way to teach kids almost anything is to find ways for them to have fun while they practice. Some of the listening skills we covered overlap the others a bit. Since they have a slightly different focus though, you should do activities focusing primarily on each particular listening skill.

You can probably find lots of fun things to try, but here are a few of my favorites for each listening skill:

 

 

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5 Listening Skills You Should Be Teaching Your Children

5 Listening Skills You Should Be Teaching Your Children - Parenting Like Hannah
Greek Bell

Did you realize there are dozens of verses in the Bible about listening? Whether it’s listening to God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, parents, wisdom or instruction, it is clearly important to God that our children listen and listen well. If you have children, you have probably been frustrated more than once with their ability to listen – and we won’t even talk about the obeying part!

Strong listening skills are essential to any Christian who wants to make an impact on the world for God. Yet parents, churches and schools spend little time training children how to listen well. Oh, a few may have children practice repeating what they have heard or even answering questions about it, but the listening skills your kids need go far beyond merely recalling details.

So what are the listening skills you need to help your children learn to master?

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Join Our New Parenting Like Hannah Community

Join Our New Parenting Like Hannah Community - Parenting Like HannahWe are so excited about our latest free resource for Christian parents! Many of you have been asking for a private community Facebook group. We heard you and it’s live now! The Parenting Like Hannah Community is a safe place for Christian parents to be encouraged and challenged on their Christian parenting journey.

 

Community members will have access to special content including:
– live chats
– in depth discussions of blog content
– first look at new resources
– priority registration for learning intensives
– opportunities to have your parenting questions answered by more experienced moms

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New Christian Parenting Resource

New Christian Parenting Resource - Parenting Like HannahAs you can imagine, I try to read as many parenting and especially Christian parenting books as I can. I want to help you find resources I feel will help and not hamper your parenting journey. Just because someone can get published (and sometimes self-published), has a degree and or considers themselves an expert, does not mean their advice is helpful, wise or godly.

Thankfully, the most recent new parenting book I was sent is full of great, solid Christian parenting advice. Parenting With Grace and Truth by Dan Seaborn is a great Christian parenting primer. The author chooses to organize his book into eight truths about Christian parenting. He covers everything from developing character in your kids to parenting through a crisis to parenting in blended families and more.

I would call this a primer because while his advice is generally excellent, it covers the basics in somewhat broad strokes. He discusses attitudes and behaviors, but tends to steer away from lots of tips and creative ideas. Personally, I think it is important to have books like this one available to Christian parents. Whether they are new to parenting or new to Christian parenting, this book spells out a lot of important parenting basics without overwhelming the reader with lots of minutia.

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