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.

Continue reading Christian Fathering Movie Resource

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.

Continue reading Kids, Bees and God

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.

Continue reading Kids, Fairness and God

Creating Game Cards for Christian Games for Kids

Creating Game Cards for Christian Games for Kids - Parenting Like Hannah Last week in Creating Christian Games for Kids, I detailed how to create game boards that would last and could be used to create multiple games. A reader contacted me wanting to know more details about the types of games I have created over the years that could use the game board.

I am not a huge fan of getting children so focused on the facts of the story, we forget to teach them what they are supposed to learn from it and how to apply it to their lives. It is important though that they remember enough details so they can accurately re-tell the story to someone they meet and with whom they are sharing their faith in a conversation.

If you want to create your own Bible trivia game to use at home, you can cut up one of those inexpensive Bible trivia books you find in Bible bookstores and attach each question to an index card. (It’s up to you whether or not you want to use some of the really obscure questions those books can sometimes contain.) Or if you prefer, you can create your own questions and write them on game cards.

Continue reading Creating Game Cards for Christian Games for Kids

Moms and Competition

Moms and Competition - Parenting Like HannahWant to feel badly about your mothering skills? Attend a homeschooling conference. I felt like I was a fairly decent mother until I met a few of those uber moms. They homeschooled multiple children all while sewing their family’s clothes, running a farm and a side internet business and not only baked their own bread, but ground the flour to make the bread. Seriously?! There was no way I could do half of that and I was only homeschooling one child.

On the other hand, want to feel like the best mom in the world? Pick up almost any newspaper regularly and you will find plenty of stories about mothers headed to jail because they abused their children in horrific ways. In comparison, we look like mother of the year on even our worst days as moms.

The problem is mothering isn’t about comparing yourself to others, nor is being a Christian woman. It’s about the godly potential He gave you and what you are doing with that potential. It’s about the opportunities God places in front of you and what you do with those opportunities.

Continue reading Moms and Competition