Great Resource on Why Young People Abandon Their Faith

Great Resource on Why Young People Abandon Their Faith - Parenting Like HannahPerhaps, the scariest thing to me about parenting is the fear of my daughter rejecting God. Many of my parenting decisions were made because I wanted to be able to honestly say I did everything I knew how to do to help her be strong spiritually. And yet there are no guarantees your child will be a faithful, productive Christian as an adult. Or are there?

The new book Abandoned Faith by Alex McFarland and Jason Jimenez examines why many young people are abandoning their faith and what parents can do about it. I won’t lie. This is one scary book. If your children are still at home, it will scare the pants off of you – and it should. As someone who works with kids and teens on a regular basis, I can tell you very few parents are doing what they need to do to prepare their children to live an active, productive Christian faith as an adult.

Most of you will lose your kids – watch them reject God and His teachings – because you aren’t doing what you could do now to greatly lessen the chances it will happen. This book does a great job at pointing out the main mistakes parents make when helping their kids develop a strong spiritual life.

Continue reading Great Resource on Why Young People Abandon Their Faith

Fun Ways to Teach Your Kids the Parables of Jesus

Fun Ways to Teach Your Kids the Parables of Jesus - Parenting Like HannahHave you ever thought about why Jesus used parables at times to teach people? Perhaps it was because he was trying to help the people understand concepts that were difficult to understand or entirely new to them. Jesus knew that by comparing them to relatable things and circumstances, they could better understand the lessons he wanted them to learn.

For your children, many of the common every day things Jesus talks about in his parables have little if any emotional connection to your kids. Adults can process them intellectually, but kids and teens may not have the life experience or empathy to do so. Yet these are vital lessons Jesus wants your kids to understand.

Thankfully, there are some fun ways to help your kids experience and better understand those parables. You can do them as a family devotional or just a little life lesson during your day. There are probably a lot of things you can do, but here are some ideas to get you started.

Continue reading Fun Ways to Teach Your Kids the Parables of Jesus

Using Spring to Help Your Kids See God

Using Spring to Teach Your Kids About God - Parenting Like HannahIn Atlanta, we have had Spring for a few weeks now. Flowers and trees are beginning to bloom. It’s a beautiful time of year, but also a great time to help your kids learn about God.

I love the following verses. It’s easy to see the beauty in Spring and God’s Creation and be overwhelmed. That feeling is not because we are to worship the Creation itself or some imaginary “Mother Nature”. We feel that way, because God’s Creation is pointing us to God and all of His glory with all of its might.

“Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” (Job 12:7-10)

Continue reading Using Spring to Help Your Kids See God

Finding the “Right” Bible for Your Child

Finding the Right Bible for Your Child- Parenting Like Hannah

 

If you haven’t thought about it before, you may think buying a Bible for your child is just going to a bookstore and picking out the cover you think your kid will like. Sadly, picking the “wrong” Bible can discourage your children from ever developing the habit of independent Bible reading – for the rest of their lives.

Thankfully, asking yourself and your child these questions as you purchase a Bible for each of your children (this is one of the most important purchases you absolutely must make for each child – or ask your local church to help) will help you choose the “right” Bible for your kids.

Continue reading Finding the “Right” Bible for Your Child

Teaching Christian Kids About Freedom

Teaching Christian Kids About Freedom - Parenting Like HannahIf a book of the Bible could stalk you, Galatians has been following me around lately. Everywhere I go, it seems they are studying Galatians and particularly what Paul has to say about freedom. The more I thought about it, the more I realized the concept of freedom taught in Galatians is a vital lesson for our kids to learn and understand.

First, let’s take a look at how Galatians defines the freedom Christians have. “My brothers and sisters, you were chosen to be free. But don’t use your freedom as an excuse to live under the power of sin. Instead, serve one another in love. The whole law is fulfilled by obeying this one command. “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.” If you say or do things that harm one another, watch out! You could end up destroying one another.” 

“So I say, live by the Holy Spirit’s power. Then you will not do what your desires controlled by sin want you to do. The desires controlled by sin do not want what the Spirit delights in. And the Spirit does not want what the desires controlled by sin delight in. The two are at war with each other. That’s why you are not supposed to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the authority of the law.” (Galatians 5:13-18 NIrV)

Continue reading Teaching Christian Kids About Freedom