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.

Theme Bible Verses for Kids

Theme Bible Verses for Kids - Parenting Like HannahBack in the times of the Bible, the names given to children were meaningful. Not just that the names had an original meaning which may or may not have been considered. Children were often named for the hopes their parents had for their future or unfortunately for some (poor Jabez! I Chronicles 4:9) what they put their mothers through in labor and delivery.

When we were pregnant with our daughter, I had a name I loved. When we did the ultrasound and she waved…well let’s just say, Katrina (and the Waves for music fans) was a natural fit. We loved both of our daughter’s names meant purity. We even gave her a theme song “Walking On Sunshine” by of course, Katrina and the Waves.

I don’t know why we didn’t think of giving her a theme verse as well. The other day, a guy I went to church with as a child was celebrating the birthday of one of his kids. His wife posted their child’s theme verse as part of the celebration on Facebook. I absolutely love that idea. The idea of having a verse of scripture as a part of your identity from the very start.

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Must Read for Moms of Daughters

Absolute Must Read for Moms of Daughters - Parenting Like HannahWhen our daughter was in kindergarten, she experienced her first “mean girl” incident. Granted, this particular child was mean to everyone, but the handwriting was on the wall. A mom of older girls overheard some of the moms talking about what to do and suggested we read the book, Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman.

I loved the book and found the advice helpful over the years. There is a newer addition out now that addresses some of the things that have changed a bit since the original book was published in 2002. In my opinion, if you have a daughter you absolutely must read this book.

One of my favorite things about the book is that the author not only breaks down all of the possible roles a girl can take socially, but gives you clues to help you realize which role your daughter is filling. This book isn’t written just for the victims of mean girl behavior, but shows how everyone plays a role – some of which can hurt themselves and others.

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Fun Ways to Teach Kids To Be Patient With Others

Fun Ways to Teach Your Kids Patience 2 - Parenting Like HannahIn Fun Ways to Teach Kids Patience, I gave you activities to do to help your kids develop patience while waiting on God to fulfill His promises or while waiting on God’s perfect timing. Today, I want to give you some things you can do to help your kids develop the other type of patience – keeping their cool when someone or something is getting on their “last nerve”.

This is the kind of patience God requires us to give to others. Not because we are waiting for them to do something good for us, but because we want to treat them as we would wish to be treated. It’s the type of patience so rare in our world today. Just by having it, your children will stand out in a way that will make people want to listen when they share their faith.

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Fun Ways to Teach Kids Patience

Fun Ways to Teach Kids Patience - Parenting Like HannahPatience is one of the fruits of the Spirit. God expects His people to be patient while waiting for His perfect timing in life. He also expects us to be patient with others – as in the ever popular, slow to anger.

Although we aren’t quite sure how the Holy Spirit helps us with the fruit of the Spirit, it’s never too early to help your kids practice patience. And as “unfun” as that sounds, there are plenty of fun ways to teach kids how to be more patient.

Let’s focus on the first kind of patience God expects from His people – the ability to wait patiently for God to fulfill His promises and to wait for the things for which your kids prayed and for which God is making them wait.

There are a lot of fun things you can do with your kids to help them practice and learn this concept. The trick is to give them the promise of a reward, but one for which they must wait. I believe scripture also gives us examples of God expecting people to do certain things while they wait for Him from time to time, so throwing in that aspect to your activity isn’t a stretch either. (The trick is making sure your kids understand that even if God wants them to do something while they wait, the eventual blessing is still from God and not themselves.)

Here are a few of my favorites:

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Teaching Kids to See Jesus In His Completeness

The Bad Habits of Jesus - Parenting Like HannahThe Jesus of the 21st century is often a flat depiction of who Jesus actually was. The layers of his complexity are often lost in our age of political correctness, tolerance and laziness. To admit everything about Jesus means many would have to change the way they are currently living their lives and let’s face it – most of us are fairly content with the status quo.

I was interested when offered a chance to review the new book The Bad Habits of Jesus by Leonard Sweet. The premise is an interesting one. According to today’s society, Jesus did some things during his life on earth that would be considered a bad habit or in poor taste. Yet, as the Son of God, he knew exactly how God wanted him to live his life. The author wants us to learn from these “bad habits” and copy them in our own lives.

The actual execution of the idea is a bit rough around the edges. At times, although the information in the book is good, it felt a bit forced. This may have happened because the title sounded great, but then everything he wanted to share didn’t exactly fit the mold the title set.

The “bad habits” range from “Jesus Spit” to “Jesus Was Constantly Disappearing” to “Jesus Spent Too Much Time With Children” – fifteen bad habits in all. For each “bad” habit, Sweet gives examples from the life of Jesus. He then goes on to explain why they were actually godly habits we should copy in our own lives. For example in the chapter on “Jesus offended people”, he gives a compelling argument on the differences between judgment and discernment. The misunderstanding of the differences in those terms explains how the Church has often become the place most afraid to teach God’s commands and hold each other accountable for obeying them.

This book will make a lot of people think. It may be a good one to share and discuss with your teens – or at least the topics in the book. It’s not my favorite book, but there is enough important information to consider to make it worth the read.

 

 

This book was given to me for free in exchange for my honest review. An affiliate link is included for your convenience.