Using Every Day Objects to Teach Kids About God

Using Every Day Objects to Teach Kids About God - Parenting Like HannahOften parents will tell me they don’t have family devotionals because they aren’t really sure what to do. They either feel like they don’t have enough Bible knowledge to do it “right” or that they aren’t creative enough to keep their kids engaged.

It’s important to remember your kids are starting with zero knowledge of God, Jesus or the Bible. No one is born knowing those things. When they are young, anything you teach them that you have learned is new important information to them. As they become older, they do start asking more questions. You don’t have to have all of the answers. Your minister, Bible class teachers, mature Christians and at times – even the internet -can help you find the answers.

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How Defensive Parenting Changes Kids

How Defensive Parenting Changes Kids - Parenting Like HannahDid you take our quiz, Are You a Defensive Parent? How do you think you did? How many “Yes” answers did you have? Unfortunately, the number of “Yes” answers isn’t as important as to which questions you answered “Yes”.

Defensive parenting really has two parts to it. Both are equally critical to the ultimate results you may have in attempting to dedicate your kids to God. Your ultimate goal of course is for your kids to end up in Heaven. A more immediate goal is to have them become active, productive, faithful Christians. To accomplish both goals, you need to help your kids build strong faith foundations and reach their godly potential.

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You CAN Help Stop School Violence (And More)

You CAN Help Stop School Violence (And More) - Parenting Like HannahNo, this isn’t an article about guns. Or metal detectors. Or the failings of our mental health system, schools or parents. It’s about what you, a caring, loving Christian can do to make a real difference in the serious and sometimes deadly problems facing young people today.

Because it’s not just the danger of getting killed by a classmate. It’s an unbelievably high and growing suicide rate. It’s a staggering drug and alcohol addiction rate. It’s about young people in severe emotional pain without the coping skills to handle their pain in healthy ways.

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The Prayer of Jabez for Moms?

The Prayer of Jabez for Moms? - Parenting Like HannahWhen our daughter was little, Christians became almost obsessed with the prayer of a guy named Jabez. Jabez was named that by his mother because evidently his birth was pretty painful and I guess she didn’t want him to forget it. Putting aside whatever parenting jewel is hidden in that fact, the focus is actually what comes next in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.

You see Jabez asked God to bless him and expand his territory. (He also asked God to keep him from evil and causing pain.) As an average Christian mom, you are probably thinking you would consider asking God to shrink your territory a bit or at least give you some “people” to help. On the other hand, I hear so many moms talk about how they are bored or unfulfilled as mothers. They feel as if they are missing something.

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Fun Way to Use Sea Glass to Teach Your Kids About God

What Sea Glass Can Teach Your Kids About God - Parenting Like HannahSo many concepts in the Bible are difficult for children to understand. All young children (and many older children) are concrete thinkers. When they read scriptures talking about God using a “refiner’s fire” (Zechariah 13:9 and more), they may believe God literally uses fire somehow. Even though the references to God as the potter and us as His clay (Isaiah 64:8) are a bit more concrete, they can still confuse children, who may wonder how they are clay.

Sometimes actually showing children items and explaining them in more depth can help them process metaphors and analogies in the Bible a bit more easily. When you think of all of those scriptures and others like them, there is a basic underlying concept. Because we – in this case your children – are born as babies into a fallen world, we aren’t fully yet what God created us to be.

God sends circumstances and people, gives us the Bible, and at baptism the Holy Spirit to help us grow to become more like His image in which we were created. What better example for that than sea glass?

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