Teaching Kids to Focus on the “Paper” God Gave Them

Teaching Kids to Focus on the "Paper" God Gave Them - Parenting Like HannahHave you ever wished you had some gift from God you don’t have? Personally, I would love to be able to compose music and have an awesome singing voice. God however, to this point, has not put a single original song in my brain and I am learning to be content with just a passable singing voice.

Now, I could get really obsessive about those musical gifts God didn’t give me. I could become envious of those who have those gifts and make them feel guilty about using their gifts instead of allowing me to show them I am almost as gifted as they are in those areas. I could whine and complain, beg God, force others to pretend I have those gifts or even convince myself I have gifts I clearly don’t have. Or, I could focus on the gifts God did give me. I could develop them to their fullest potential and find all kinds of creative and fun ways to use them in service to God.

Unfortunately, I think we are subtly teaching our children that instead of focusing on the “page” or gifts and opportunities God gave them, they should compete with others to have the “best” gifts. There are a couple of messages our children are learning, which frankly I think are lies satan is promoting to undermine the Church.

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Teaching Kids How To “Read” People

Teaching Kids How To "Read" People - Parenting Like HannahThis probably never happens in your home, but have you ever had one of those parent miming conversations? You know, when one parent is taking a very strong conversational path with the kids while the other parent is desperately signaling to switch topics immediately. Which, as the signals are ignored, get more obvious and often end with the signaling parent muttering “don’t you know ‘this’ means stop talking?”

Your, I mean the “clueless” spouse had failed to read the signals properly, creating an awkward parenting situation. While your marriage and your kids will survive quite a few of those moments, there are other times when it is crucial our kids have learned to “read” the non-verbal signals others give them.

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Helping Kids Enjoy Bible Reading

Helping Kids Enjoy Bible Reading - Parenting Like HannahMy favorite Bible verse of the moment is 2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” Our children are being fed a constant diet of teachings designed to interest those itching ears. Some may be from non-Christians, but even some famous Christians preach what is misguided at best and false doctrine at worst.

It’s almost impossible to predict every bit of false doctrine your children may be exposed to during their lives. The burden to accurately predict and teach against every misrepresentation of God’s Word is almost impossible to bear. Yet, there is one thing you can and must do to protect your children. Immerse them in God’s Words.

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Christian Kids, Curiosity and Creativity

Christian Kids, Curiosity and Creativity - Parenting Like HannahElohim. In the original languages in which the Bible was written, God had multiple names. One God, but each of His names reveals an aspect of His personality. Elohim was Hebrew for “God, the Creator.” If, as the Bible tells us, your children are created in His imagine, it is not surprising they have an urge to create things.

Creativity is natural in children. It seems they are born curious and love to experiment with different ways to express themselves. Parents often encourage young children to explore and be creative with art, writing, drama or a host of other ways of communicating their hearts and minds.

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Kids, Egypt and God

Kids, Egypt and God - Parenting Like HannahKids love learning about Egypt, and who can blame them? Between mummies and hieroglyphics, it’s a world of interesting new things to discover. Imagine how excited your kids would be if they connected the Egypt of the Bible with the Egypt at school.

Strange as it may sound, kids love learning something at Church before they learn it in school. I have seen this happen year after year. There is just something special about having learned something outside of school before you are taught about it in school.

Too many times we glide right through those stories about Joseph and Moses without taking a look at the society in which those stories occurred. We miss out on opportunities to make the Bible stories more memorable and help our kids make the connection that the Bible is a book of history and not fiction.

There are several main areas you can cover when connecting Egyptian society to the appropriate Bible stories. Depending upon the age of your children, you can introduce them to more complex ideas and activities as they get older.

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