Quick and Easy Marriage Boosters

Quick and Easy Marriage Boosters - Parenting Like Hannah
The Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages by Shaunti Feldman

If you knew your marriage would improve by thanking your husband for unloading the dishwasher or going to work each day, would you do it? If your husband knew you would be happier if he just put his arm around you in Church or held your hand, what would he do? What if you knew your marriage would be happier if you and your husband just spent more time doing things together?

I was absolutely fascinated by Shaunti Feldman‘s new book, The Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages. Ms Feldman did some intensive research on what behaviors created marriages where both partners were highly happy. I am not an expert in research, but she goes into great detail on her methodology.

Continue reading Quick and Easy Marriage Boosters

Four Dangerous Christian Parenting Assumptions

Four Dangerous Christian Parenting Assumptions - Parenting Like Hannah
Photo by bjebie

As an adult, have your parents ever said something they obviously thought was common knowledge, but which surprised you? When you ask why you weren’t told, they will often say they thought you knew.

As parents, it is easy to assume your child will naturally pick up certain knowledge and skills. After all, they learned to talk didn’t they?

Some children are very savvy. They can be born into horrible environments with no support and turn out to be adults you would think had been raised with every possible advantage. The vast majority of kids though, need intentional training to develop the skills to be successful in life and in the Church.

Continue reading Four Dangerous Christian Parenting Assumptions

Getting Kids Interested in the Bible

Getting Kids Interested in the Bible - Parenting Like Hannah
Photo by Savio Sebastian

Almost every Christian parent would say they want their children to read the Bible. Some may even read it together as a family. Yet how many of us have children who regularly pick up a Bible without prodding, and read it? How many of us still struggle with our own Bible reading?

Over the years, I started to realize there are some things we do, which actually discourage our kids from reading the Bible. Sometimes our Churches may make the Bible seem boring or irrelevant in the life of our children. What can we do to get our children interested enough in the Bible to read it for themselves?

Continue reading Getting Kids Interested in the Bible

Raising a Barnabas

Raising a Barnabas - Parenting Like Hannah
Photo by Joe Shlabotnik

To me, one of the most interesting people in the Bible is Barnabas. What kind of person was he that he was best known for encouraging people? Was he just a cheerleader for everyone, or was there more to the story?

It would be great if we could raise children who were encouragers like Barnabas. But what exactly did Barnabas do that we could also teach our kids?

I went back and read everything in the Bible I could find about Barnabas. Barnabas was much, much more than the cheerleader we somehow picture. Here is what I found and how it could translate to skills we teach our own children:

Continue reading Raising a Barnabas

Bringing the Bible to Life with Food

Bringing the Bible to Life with Food - Parenting Like Hannah
Quail cooking (They are very tiny!)

People often have a hard time understanding the Bible, in part because they have no frame of reference. What is a cubit? How does it feel to wander in a wilderness? Why is it so exciting to find a well?

We can show pictures and tell stories, but the most vivd learning our children and teens will do is from what they experience. You may not live close enough to a wilderness to let a group of teens wander around for a few days, or have a nearby oasis for a field trip, but there are some easy things you can do to bring the Bible to life.

Continue reading Bringing the Bible to Life with Food