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.

Rethinking Christian Parenting

The word parenting brings up a variety of images in our minds. Many of those images are based on how your parents raised you. If your parents beat you, you have an internal reaction to parenting based on those beatings. If your parents were loving, you may have an entirely different reaction to the word “parent” than the person whose parents were harsh and cold. Unfortunately, when anyone begins to coach us on Christian parenting, most of us immediately disappear into our own memories of childhood and what a parent should or shouldn’t be.

In many ways, beyond providing love and the necessities of life, much of parenting more closely resembles teaching and coaching. Unfortunately, there are enough bad teachers and coaches to distract from any parenting messages. So what is the solution? How can Christians approach parenting so people hear the messages of what their children need without filtering it through their own experiences quite as much? How should we view our role as Christian parents so we are focusing on the important things God wants for our children?

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Why You Need to Snuggle With Your Kids Today

Why You Need to Snuggle With Your Kids Today - Parenting Like Hannah I always thought snuggling with your kids comes naturally to every parent and is done on an almost daily basis. Then last night, I heard a cop say that until he joined the force he didn’t realize some parents use the police to settle their arguments. It made him realize there are a lot of families who don’t understand how to parent in ways that are the healthiest for their children. I also realize many parents have the best of intentions, but let the busyness of life rob their kids of needed snuggle time.

Why do kids need snuggle time? Is it important enough to eliminate other activities or let some dishes go unwashed for a few more hours? I think it really is vital, for Christian parents especially, to snuggle with their kids. Here’s why:

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Thanksgiving In A Box

About this time every year, many parents begin searching for service projects to complete as a family. They want a project that will help their children understand how grateful they should be for the blessings God has given them. They want a way to serve others and share their faith at the same time.

A great way to introduce your children to grateful service and faith sharing is to involve them in a project during the upcoming school holidays. During these days with no school or extra curricular activities, many families find they have free time to fill. Rather than just turning on the television, I challenge you to do this special service project with your family. To make it even more fun and challenging, see if you can pull it off without the recipient knowing who served them, but still find a way to share your faith with them!

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Love Letter to Moms of Preschoolers

Love Letter to Moms of Preschoolers - Parenting Like Hannah The other day I was in the checkout line behind a young mom with two children under the age of five. She was simultaneously trying to get her older child to help her unload the cart, while also answering her younger child’s questions and keeping his busy hands from handling things she had no intention of buying for him. She looked tired and I don’t blame her.

Parenting preschoolers can be exhausting. Everything is new to them. They are built to explore everything in order to quickly ramp up their knowledge base. This often involves exploring things they shouldn’t, which means teaching appropriate boundaries almost non-stop. They are also trying to figure out what they can and can’t do physically. This means lots of accidents, clumsiness and touching and handling things which shouldn’t be touched or handled. Of course, this requires more limit teaching and limit reinforcing. Experiments with language also require more teaching, more limits, more reinforcement.

Let’s be honest. The parent of a preschooler has basically a non-stop running monologue that consists of “No!” “I said no!” “Please don’t touch that” “Be gentle” and answering thousands of important questions which usually begin with “Why?”. Frankly, there are days when the idea of running a marathon seems easier than keeping up your pace for the ten hours left in the day.

I will tell you what I told that precious mom who was trying so hard to train her children to be helpful, respectful and obedient in the checkout line. “God bless you! Keep doing that hard work every day. If you can be consistent and use godly principles as your foundation, you will never regret it. You will find the rest of childhood and even the teen years a breeze in comparison.”

So hang in there, Mom! I know you are tired, but I promise you there will be time for rest later. Right now love those precious little ones. Teach them about God and His commands. Teach them how much God loves them. Teach them we show our love back to God by obeying His commands and loving and serving others and telling them about God. Set firm, consistent limits and enforce them consistently. Give meaningful consequences for disobedience. Enter your children’s worlds and help them discover their God given potential. You won’t regret it for a minute.

Praying For Your Son

Praying For Your Son - Parenting Like Hannah Normally, I am not a huge fan of scripted prayers. I know the Holy Spirit provides the words I may not have and I tend to trust the process of prayer. Sometimes though, I believe parents want to feel more organized in their prayers. Even though they may firmly believe the Holy Spirit is providing words, on some level they want to be able to think clearly about what concerns them.

Rob & Joanna Tiegen have already published a book of prayers for daughters. Their latest A Mom’s Prayers for Her Son: Praying for Every Part of His Life is a parent’s companion for understanding how to best pray for her son. The book contains seventy-seven prayers covering a wide range of subjects.

Within each prayer, the authors give several verses of scripture they believe address the topic. The prayer is written as much as a way to direct a parent’s thinking as it is to help the parent pray. While not “preachy”, the prayers do make a point of teaching parents how the authors believe God would want them to address certain topics.

Perhaps the most encouraging parts of the book are the personal stories of various mothers and sons. Many are written by mothers whose sons struggled very badly in one or more areas. The accounts are honest about the struggles and the prayers. I especially appreciated the fact that the authors of each of the accounts made it clear God does not always supply an immediate “yes” to our prayers. They often shared that sometimes it may take years for us to see the “yes” God provided.

I don’t have a son, but if I did, I think I would find this book helpful and encouraging. If nothing else, it helps you understand your son is not the only one struggling with some of these issues. Whether you read this book or not, I hope you are encouraged to pray often and specifically for your son. It can make an enormous difference in his life.

A copy of this book was provided to me for free in exchange for my honest review. I do not have a son, but plan to share this book with a friend who does.