Have you ever noticed the best selling books for kids on sites like Amazon? Most have bright cheerful covers. The titles often promise there will be humor on the pages inside. Then take a look the next time you are in a bookstore at best selling books for teens and young adults. Suddenly, the books are filled with stories of last survivors, people fighting for their lives, vampires and other “dark” tales. Even the covers look depressing, with dark colors and dramatic drawings.
What happens to the children who once loved those funny, bright joyful books? Why are they making these dark, depressing books best sellers? How did they somehow lose their joy and zest for life? (A truly joyful person will rarely be drawn repeatedly to reading and watching dark, depressing things.)
One of the best things you can do as a family is play games together. Family game time creates wonderful memories, encourages family bonding and can even help teach your child some godly principles. Professionally manufactured board games are expensive and you need to purchase one for every type of different game you might want to play with your kids.
Have you ever thought about how many of the stories in the Bible make more sense if you understand the culture of the time in which it was written? Most of our children are not being raised in an environment where shepherd is an occupation. When the Bible talks about Jesus being our shepherd, the most our kids can do is think of sheep.
Summer break from school is approaching quickly in many parts of the country. In our area, schools let out by the end of May. Many parents are concerned about the potential loss of academic skills over the summer. On the other hand, summer should be about family time and fun. And then of course you read blogs like mine encouraging you to spend a lot of time discipling your kids towards God. How is all of this going to happen in the few weeks of summer break?
Did you know that almost everyone in your child’s world – even many Christians – will try to convince your child almost everything in life is a gray area? With the possible exception of murder and a few other crimes, most people today believe in relativism. Everything in life is relative and truth is whatever the person decides is truth.