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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Helping Teens Find Their Gifts From God

Helping Teens Find Their Gifts From God - Parenting Like HannahOne of my favorite parts of working with teens is helping them discover the gifts God has given them to serve Him. Unfortunately, many parents tend to fumble a bit in this area. Either they push their child in the direction they think the child should go or they don’t discuss it at all in hopes the child will figure things out in college.

Either way is not necessarily in the best interest of your child. Forcing a child to study and work in a field God has not gifted them to pursue may mean years of frustration and heartache. Neglecting to help your children discover their gifts from God can lead to a lot of wasted money as they change majors or careers multiple times desperately searching for their place in the world.

I was excited to be given a chance to review the latest in the parachute series What Color Is Your Parachute? for Teens, Third Edition: Discover Yourself, Design Your Future, and Plan for Your Dream Job by Carol Christen. This series has been around for decades now, but really helps focus those who have no idea what to do with their lives.

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Teaching Kids to Say Thanks for Hidden Gifts

Teaching Kids to Say Thanks for Hidden Gifts - Parenting Like HannahOur daughter had a teacher who made a habit of thanking her students at the end of every class. She also expected them to thank her in return. It was interesting to watch the process over time. At first the students looked a little stunned a teacher was thanking them. For a little while she needed to remind a few to thank her in return. Pretty soon though, all of the students sang out thank you’s which were very heartfelt.

As Christian parents, we teach our children to thank God for their blessings. We make them send thank you notes for gifts received from out of town relatives and say thank you when someone hands them a present. How often though do we teach them to thank others – and by extension God – for the more unseen gifts in life?

Do your children thank their teachers at the end of every class? Most teachers put untold hours of work into their classes. Many spend their own money on supplies and work during their “off” hours to help their students. Yet teachers often only get “thanked” with a group present once or twice a year. I can almost promise you, most would prefer a daily heartfelt thank you from their students.

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Teaching Kids Godly Self-Discipline

Teaching Kids Godly Self-Discipline - Parenting Like Hannah

Impulse control is one of the most difficult, yet most important concepts to teach your children. It is what gives them the time to think about what God would want them to do in a situation before they act and possibly sin. It is a critical skill necessary to live a life of godly self-discipline. Yet, it is a skill most of us will have to work on for our entire lives.

So what do we teach our kids about impulse control? How do we train them to think before acting? What do we teach them about how God factors into the process? There are a lot of things to consider, but here are a few to get you started:

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