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.

What’s For Dinner?

My small group Bible study has been reading a book about Jewish customs during Jesus’ lifetime on earth. I found it interesting that during this time period the Jewish people used every opportunity to discuss God’s words. In fact it was not unusual for a small group of people to break away during a wedding or other celebration to talk about the Torah or other teachings. This week we even learned that one of the main focal points of meals was to use them as an opportunity to teach their children about God, the stories of the Bible and the lessons to be learned from them.

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Lessons From Rocks

This summer our family took a vacation to territory new to us. One of the states we drove through was North Dakota. It was a typical state where farming is the primary industry. Mile after mile of fields were dotted occasionally with a house or very small village. There was one thing about almost all of those farms that just amazed me though. On almost every acre there sat a huge pile of rocks. Not tiny rocks mind you, but rocks that would take one or more very large, strong men to struggle to move. It became very obvious this rich farm land had once been incredibly rocky. The early settlers must have performed backbreaking labor for days just to ready the fields for plowing and planting. They must have had to work quickly and as a team as the growing season that far north is very short. (In the winter the cold is bitter and the fields covered in snow.)

I am sure many settlers buckled under the work, gave up and moved to easier places to farm. I imagine all of them were tempted to give up more than once. It appears though that the work of those who toughed it out and remained was worth it. Even today, generations later, the fields yield beautiful and abundant crops.

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Learning About the Jewish Holidays

Learning About Jewish Holidays - Parenting Like Hannah — Photo by Suzie Tremmel

I have grown to love the Jewish holidays over the last few years. My husband and I were teaching a class of boys in Sunday School who were famous for being “a handful”. I was trying to find material that was challenging, but would keep them active and fed. Learning about the Jewish holidays turned out to be the perfect topic.

As I studied the holidays to prepare my lessons, I became enthralled. I had no idea the Jewish holidays were often looking for the Messiah as part of their celebration. Many of the holidays aligned with events in the New Testament in ways I found amazing. The more I studied, the more I appreciated how intricate and detailed God’s plan was from the very beginning.

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Teaching Abstract Biblical Concepts

Learning about God and understanding His words sometimes means trying to understand some abstract topics. I think one of the reasons parents shy away from teaching their children more Bible at home is the fear of trying to explain concepts like eternity when we don’t totally understand them ourselves.

While I believe it is probably impossible for the human mind to totally grasp some of these concepts, there are ways to help your child begin to understand them in a simple fashion. Young children tend to think only in concrete terms. This means they can understand things better when they can use their senses to examine them. That is why for a small child “love” might mean hugs and kisses. It is also why young children often say “I hate you” when they really mean they are very angry with you. To them anger and hate look alike.

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Making a Joyful Noise

I grew up in a musical family. We all played several instruments and would try to play anything that might create music. Our stereos were all cranked to almost top volume and you could hear us singing along enthusiastically. All of us that is, except my father. He always claimed he played the checkbook and sang the “also” part.

In church though, my dad always sang. Our fellowship has a history of a cappella music. In most congregations, it means quite a few people have developed a good ear for music, taken voice lessons and love to sing four part harmonies. My favorite part of singing at church is that the tone deaf people will sing just as loudly and enthusiastically as the more musically inclined. I personally think God loves to hear from them just as much, if not more, than those He gifted with beautiful singing voices.

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