Adding Meaning to the Cross for Kids (At Home)

Adding Meaning to the Cross For Kids (At Home) - Parenting Like HannahHave you ever really thought about how children are taught about the death of Jesus? When they are young, the story is sanitized quite a bit. Even if the beatings and other horrific aspects are mentioned, they are told in story form. A child who has never been exposed to the things in the story will have little understanding of what really happened.

Teens may get exposure to one of the more realistic movies that act out the details very graphically. The problem is when older children reach the age of accountability (which differs from child to child), they are often too young to see these “R” rated movies and only have the sanitized version of the cross in their minds.

Part of becoming a Christian for many is understanding the depth of the sacrifice Jesus made so we can have forgiveness of our sins and eternal life. If the sacrifice Jesus made was no big deal, they may feel perhaps faith isn’t really that important. Think about it. God could have chosen a much less horrible way for Jesus to take our place and yet He didn’t. There is something in the details of what happened that is important to our faith.

So how can you help older children and young teens understand the details of the cross and the sacrifice Jesus made a little better? A few affordable visual aids and some basic facts can help them begin to understand the enormity of what happened to Jesus. We did this in a Bible class of 5th and 6th graders recently, but they are things you can easily do at home:

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Parents, Kids, Questions and God

Parents, Kids, Questions and God - Parenting Like HannahYoung children are full of questions. At some point though, the questions start to slow and eventually almost disappear. Unfortunately, the  years when your kids often stop asking you questions are often the years when their questions can have important consequences for their future.

When I teach a Bible class with older kids or teens, I will often encourage them to write down the questions they have about God, the bible, Christianity or something specific in the lesson. You would be amazed to find that the child who seems the least likely to even give God a passing thought can ask some of the deepest most heartfelt questions you have ever heard.

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Christian Fathering Movie Resource

Christian Fathering Movie Resource - Parenting Like HannahIn the past, I really haven’t dealt with reviewing movies other than referring parents to the website Plugged In for in-depth movie reviews written from a Christian perspective. Recently though, a company that sells Christian DVDs contacted me wanting to know if I would be interested in reviewing some Christian movies for them. Since one of the first movies they offered had to do with Christian fathers, I thought I would give it a try.

The Courageous DVD arrived quickly and appeared to be the same quality of the DVDs you would purchase at a local Christian retailer. The movie itself was somewhat of a mixed bag in my opinion. Courageous has the same problem many Christian movies have had…it’s production quality resembles a television show from the ’70’s or ’80’s. As that is not my field, I can’t explain why, but the movie seemed a little dark and not the incredibly high resolution you see in more expensive productions.

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Kids, Bees and God

Kids, Bees and God - Parenting Like HannahIt is only natural that God’s creation points us towards Him. Your children will often see and understand God a little better by seeing His handiwork in nature. Spending time outdoors in activities like hiking and gardening will give your children time to interact with God’s creation. It will also give you opportunities to talk to them about concepts like stewardship (taking care of the world God gave us), gifts (using the things God has created to serve Him), creation itself and much, much more.

I’m always on the lookout for resources that will help parents do creative things with their children while also helping them teach their kids about God. Sometimes, these resources are secular, but the ideas will give you something to do and you can insert your own Bible lessons and principles that apply to what you are doing.

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Kids, Fairness and God

Kids, Fairness and God - Parenting Like Hannah“It’s not FAIR!” If you have parented for very long (and especially if you have more than one child), you have probably heard these words many times. There is something in all of us that wants life to be fair – especially in our favor. Your kids are no exception. They expect their parents to be fair and as they get older they will be somewhat dismayed that God does things they don’t consider fair either.

Fairness is a very difficult concept to explain to children. It does seem “fair” that good always wins, bad always loses, good things happen only to “good” people and bad things happen to “bad” people. How do you explain to your kids, (especially when they get to be teens) that God doesn’t promise fairness (in that sense) and that’s okay?

There are some basic principles your kids need to understand as you have these discussions about fairness and God. Most can be introduced even to young children and then expanded upon as your kids reach their teens.

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