Faith Development – Page 41 – Parenting Like Hannah

Using Spring to Help Your Kids See God

Using Spring to Teach Your Kids About God - Parenting Like Hannah In 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)

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Will Your Child Leave God?

Will Your Child Leave God - Parenting Like Hannah Let’s be honest. There are a lot of terrifying things about being a parent. Just the whole keeping them alive and relatively healthy thing can be a challenge at times. Yet, I think the thing that has always terrified me the most is some day my daughter might reject God. In fact, if I even let the thought enter my brain as a remote possibility for more than a few seconds, I get weepy.

I always get angry when preachers and youth minsters make it sound as if it is a given young people will turn their backs on God when they are young adults. According to them, the only hope is that your children will return once they marry and have kids. Yet, I have known plenty of young adults, who not only stayed faithful, but lived their faith, served others and shared their faith in their teens and 20’s. Unfortunately though, those ministers are right more than they are wrong. Studies show most kids will leave God when they leave home… and both for the rest of their lives.

What can you do to prevent your child from leaving God? There are no insurance policies, because your child has free choice and so do all of the people with whom they come in contact. You can greatly improve the odds your child will not only stay faithful, but grow to become a godly, servant leader in the church. You just need to remember this one tip.

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How “See Something, Say Something” Parenting Could Revolutionize Your Christian Parenting

How See Something Say Something Could Revolutionize Your Christian Parenting - Parenting Like Hannah If you have lived in or visited a major urban area recently, you may have noticed a sign that read “See Something, Say Something”. Designed to encourage citizens to report information that could help authorities prevent a terrorist attack, the phrase could also be the best Christian parenting advice I can give you.

Years ago when I was a child, we knew without a doubt that if just about any adult saw us doing something we weren’t supposed to do, they would correct us or worse yet, tell our parents. In fact, it wasn’t always misbehavior.

I had gotten carsick on a school field trip four states away. When we stopped for dinner hundreds of miles from home, by coincidence a family from our village had also stopped to eat there. We drove all night, but by the time our bus pulled into the school parking lot, my parents greeted me with “Why didn’t you tell us you got sick?!”

Oh, how times have changed. Most of us are terribly afraid of correcting a child who isn’t ours – even if their life is in danger. We would never think of allowing anyone to tell us anything about our kids – except on a rare occasion their school teachers. In fact, we were in a situation where a teen was making some scary choices and we were honestly afraid of being sued or worse if we let the parents know what was happening.

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The Christian Child’s Hero

The Christian Child's Hero -Parenting Like Hannah The author of a book I read asked several people whom they considered their spiritual “masters”. In the author’s mind, the term meant someone to whom the people looked for spiritual guidance and to gain understanding and wisdom. The answers ranged from Zen teachers to Vincent Van Gogh to Charles Darwin and more. Some cited religious writers like Annie Lamott, various Catholic saints or the Dalai Lama. Others leaned towards pop culture with names like Dr. Andrew Weil, history with Ben Franklin and even Gloria Steinem. Yet not one person, mentioned Jesus.

One would assume if the same question were asked of people in your congregation, Jesus would top the list. Yet, when one examines the behaviors of one holding up someone as a hero to whom they look up and follow, I would imagine a very different picture would emerge. Whom do they quote the most? A preacher? A Christian author? When someone asks them for advice, whose writings do they suggest the person read? To whom would they give lots of money to hear speak or rush to buy their latest book? Who do they secretly wish they were most like? Whom do they talk about all of the time? Unfortunately, I am afraid even in our churches, the answer would quite often be someone other than Jesus.

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The One Habit All Christian Kids Must Be Taught

The One Habit All Christian Kids Must Be Taught - Parenting Like Hannah The university I attended for my undergraduate degree was actually a part of Colonial Williamsburg. We were seeped in history and most of us loved it, no matter our major. Our library was full of rare documents from people like Thomas Jefferson and other historical figures. As a result, one of the principles we were taught was the idea of researching primary source documents.

A primary source document is considered to be the closest source you can find to an actual event or person. So for example, when I wanted to do a paper on the man who built many of the historical homes on the Appomattox River, I didn’t read a book about him. Instead, I went to the historical society library in Richmond and had them pull everything he had ever personally written – from letters to diaries to inventories and wills. Those documents painted a more accurate picture of the man than one painted by someone else who had their personal interpretation of his life added to the mix.

So what does this have to do with Christian parenting? For Christians, our primary source document is the Bible. (I’m not ignoring the translation aspect, but that’s a more advanced level of this topic.) All other writings on the topic are considered at best a secondary source. Any book on Christianity. Any theology treatise. Any commentary. Any document written by someone and not included in the Bible is a secondary source.

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