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.

Reading to Little Ones From the Bible

One of my weaknesses as a Christian has always been that I am inconsistent in my private Bible study. I will go sometimes as long as a year with consistent personal Bible study, but then I get distracted and am not nearly as faithful in my study times. (I am sure it hasn’t helped that most Bibles when I was a child were of the King James variety.) I have worked hard my entire life to try and make daily Bible reading a consistent habit. I wondered if I could find a way to make it a more natural habit for my own child.

I began reading a Bible story to her every day when she was an infant. I can picture sitting in the rocker holding her before she could even sit up on her own and reading the Bible story to her. I used the Baby Bible Storybook by Robin Currie and Cindy Adams. You can choose any baby or toddler Bible, but preferably one with lots of bright pictures and few words. (I have not really found them to be inaccurate, but you may want to read through it quickly to make sure that there are no glaring errors.)

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Finding God at the Zoo

Finding God at the Zoo - Parenting Like Hannah I have a confession to make. My family is addicted to zoos and aquariums. We enjoy seeking out new ones when we travel. We have ridden a camel, fed a giraffe and touched sharks, sting rays, sea squirts and numerous other slimy and furry “critters”.

We live in Atlanta, home of the fantastic Georgia Aquarium. My daughter and I love to go there and just soak in the wonder of their largest tank. It houses several whale sharks (they grow to be the size of a bus) and thousands of other fish, rays and sharks. They have a classical music piece playing in the background that was especially composed for the exhibit. I always feel so close to God in that room. As my daughter and I sat there a few weeks ago, I realized she has probably heard the same dialogue from me a thousand times.

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Baptism Study for Parents to Use

Free Baptism Study - Parenting Like Hannah — Photo by Derek and Sarah Grant

Over the years, I have had numerous discussions with parents about what to study with their children when they start asking questions about baptism. A few years ago, my own daughter began showing an interest in baptism. Over the course of a week, I wrote a study as we talked about what she knew and what concerns she and her friends had about baptism. I based the lessons not only on scripture, but on the common questions she and her friends had on the subject.

Over time I have lengthened the study. I did this for two reasons. One to provide meaningful support activities for parents to use to help their children grow spiritually either before or after their baptism. The second reason was to provide a subtle way for parents with children who really aren’t ready for baptism to continue the dialogue with their child over a longer period of time. The leader’s guide gives you guidelines about shortening the study for children who are ready and lengthening it for children who are not quite ready. The leader’s guide also has additional scriptures that can be used with children who need further study in a particular area.

I am making this available here for free to any parent who may find it helpful. May God bless you as you study with the children in your life.

A Fun Way to Introduce Sermon Listening

When our daughter was about four or five years old, we decided we wanted to make sermon time more relevant and not just a quiet play time. Realistically, she was not old enough to listen to or understand an entire sermon. We wanted her to learn however, that the preacher was trying to teach Bible lessons during sermon time.

I went to the school supply store (I believe you can find them in office supply stores also) and found a spiral notebook that has story paper in it. The top of the page is just white space and then there are a few lines in the last third to use for writing.

During sermon time, whoever was helping her “take notes” would draw pictures about the story or theme of the sermon. My daughter could then spend the rest of the sermon coloring and adding to the drawings if she knew the story.

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Steps For Developing a Heart for Missions

Steps for Developing a Heart for Missions - Parenting Like Hannah Our daughter is currently working on her Silver Award project for Girl Scouts. She is collecting hundreds of books and setting up libraries and a reading incentive program for the children in a children’s home in Mexico. Although the award only requires a service project of 40 hours, her completed project will take probably three times that amount of hours to complete. Yet she is excited and has managed the project with a flair and maturity well beyond her years. I believe this is not only because she has a passion for the project, but because of her love for the recipients.

When our daughter was two years old, she went on her first mini mission trip. We were vacationing in Mexico and went for the day to encourage a missionary family we knew in another town. Since then, we have been on numerous full length mission trips to help with a children’s home that was established in that city. Our daughter would move to Mexico in a heartbeat to help with the mission. The worst punishment we could give her would be to lengthen the time between our visits. In fact, we often joke that one day she will live with her future husband in Mexico as full time missionaries.

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