Teaching Kids About the “I” in Faith

Teaching Kids About the "I" in Faith - Parenting Like HannahYou don’t have to look very hard to find an article speculating on why young people or Millennials or Christians in general are leaving the Church. The causes range from the name of the church to the type of music to almost anything and everything people can imagine. As I read the articles, I started noticing something.

The root of every theory started with “I” messages from those leaving. “I don’t get anything from that.” “I can’t worship a God who would expect that of me or others.” “I don’t like that.” “I don’t feel close to God when that happens.” “I don’t like the way they do that.” And on and on.

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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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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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