Category: Developing a Child’s Gifts

Just when I think I have heard of every possible career, I see something like this. Who knew there was such a thing as geese police? Part of the fun of having a child is helping them explore all of the possibilities for future careers. Don’t just limit yourselves to the standard doctors, lawyers, business people and teachers. Check out books on fun careers. Read biographies with your children about people with unusual career paths. Take your child to watch people at work in all sorts of places.

Career exploration is important and can be lots of fun for you and your child. Don’t stop there though. If your child chooses a particular career, how could he honor God while he is working? What ways could she point people to God? Would it be possible to share his faith with co-workers or clients?

Continue reading Kids, Careers, and God

In third grade, my daughter had a project where they had to design and build a city. When we took her project to school, I could not believe how many professional caliber architects and engineers were in her class. Actually, many of the cities looked as if they were professionally done, because they were. The parents had swooped in to “help” and had done the project for their children.

You probably know all of the reasons for not being the parent who does their child’s schoolwork, but have you ever stopped to think about how much you do for children so it “looks right”? Even churches don’t give it a second thought as they make children’s productions look like Broadway shows. When we step in and take over in the search for “perfection” we are robbing our children of some very important lessons God may want them to learn.

Continue reading Why Parents and Teachers Should Sacrifice Perfection

Moses is arguably one of the greatest heroes of faith in the Bible. Yes, he had his moments of doubt and his share of mistakes, but he was one of the strongest leaders Israel ever had. We know all about the plagues and crossing the Red Sea, but there is a part of the story we usually gloss over. We need to re-visit it with our children, as it contains an extremely important lesson.

Take a look at Acts 7:22-32. Stephen is giving a speech before his martyrdom. I have always found it interesting that Stephen chose to mention how well educated Moses was and then remind the people how Moses had spent forty years in the desert as a shepherd before leading the people out of Egypt.

Continue reading How God Prepares Our Children (And Us)

Sharing our faith should be a major focus in the daily life of every Christian. Yet many of us feel a wave of something akin to terror when we even think about sharing our faith, especially with strangers. Part of our fear is caused by our insecurity about our own Bible knowledge and whether or not we can answer questions. I think the other part of our reluctance is a fear of appearing foolish. Not because we believe in God, but because we actually have an unresolved fear of public speaking.

If we want to train our children to share their faith in God with others, we need to provide them with opportunities to develop a level of comfort. Part of that reassurance is teaching them the important role of the Holy Spirit when we make the attempt to share our faith with others. Allowing the Holy Spirit to work through us though requires us to open our mouths and start talking to people about God. For many, this means having to overcome their fear of speaking in public.

Continue reading Resources to Teach Children Public Speaking

Our church has a play every year featuring our children. Almost as soon as they can walk, the youngest ones become barn animals at the birth of Jesus. Our daughter is a natural introvert, so our first experience was somewhat traumatic. Stomach aches and tears peppered the couple of days before the performance. Her first thirty seconds on a stage took as much parenting energy as teaching her to drive.

Fast forward almost fifteen years. Our introvert is getting ready to compete nationally in a public speaking event after placing first in our state. Although she will probably always be a little more nervous than an extrovert would before speaking, she now hops up on the stage and can speak comfortably with audiences of various sizes.

Continue reading Christian Kids and Public Speaking