Parenting Like Hannah

Teaching Children to Live Like Jesus

One of my favorite parts of any new year is listening to people talk about all of the crazy new diets they are trying. I especially enjoy the ones where people eat like “____”. I think I have heard everything from a Hollywood star to a “Paleo” to someone in the Bible. My guess is that each of these people represents people who were thin because they ate less and moved more in some fashion or another (personally I would hate to be the one who lived off of kale soup forever!).

What if, instead of focusing on what we eat (although, I could use a few more veggies in my diet) or what our children ate, we focused on really teaching our children to live like Jesus lived? Would it change the way the world views Christians? Would we and our children need to make drastic changes in our lifestyles? What would it even look like?

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New Year’s Resolutions For Moms

Maybe our house is unique, but it seems like a good portion of our yearly stress hits in November and December. Cooking, cleaning, entertaining, end of semester testing for our daughter, church and social obligations and a pile of other to-do’s means the period from Thanksgiving to the New Year is basically a blur. As mom/teacher, the end of the year is also when I have what I call my annual “panic attack”. I understand real panic attacks are a serious medical condition that call for medical attention. Although, my episodes probably don’t qualify as a classic panic attack, they are still very stressful.

I find myself questioning everything I have or have not done for my daughter. As she is in her junior year of high school, the questions seem to take on an even more serious tone. Did we choose the best subjects to study? Is she keeping up with students in other school environments? Is she developing a strong personal relationship with God? Do I push her too hard? Should she have more down time? More friends? Less friends? Different friends? The questions can go on for hours.

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Mentors For Moms and Dads

Young Married’s Class. Mothers of Preschoolers. Facebook. Twitter. Society has given us a structure where it is easy to find people who are just like us. It is somehow comforting to commiserate with others who are facing the same struggles we are. While I enjoy meeting people with similar interests and problems, there is a real danger in segregating yourself from people who are in a different place than you are in life.

The Bible tells us Joshua was Moses’ aide for many years before he began leading the Israelites himself. Ruth obviously admired Naomi and followed her council regarding Boaz. Esther depended upon Mordecai for advice as she navigated the world of the palace. The New Testament clearly instructs older men and women to train the younger ones.

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Mom on Strike

Have you ever looked up after a big meal to find everyone in your family had disappeared leaving you with the dishes? Or maybe you are beginning to feel like a short order cook or a maid as you work while everyone else is watching television. Perhaps you have even wondered to yourself how your offspring will ever have clean clothes or nutritious meals once they leave your nest.

I think every mom has had at least fleeting moments when they wonder if they have done enough to prepare their children for the real world. While most moms don’t go as far as doing their children’s schoolwork for them, all of us have probably procrastinated a bit about teaching our children the really important life skills like cleaning toilets or doing laundry.

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It Looks So Easy On TV

One of my favorite shows is Nineteen Kids and Counting (or is it twenty by now?). I sit fascinated as I watch the mom, Michelle, seemingly breeze through her days raising and homeschooling who knows how many children. Talk about humbling! There are days when I can barely manage raising and homeschooling my one child. I can’t even begin to imagine how to multiple that by nineteen!

Television shows can make you feel either incredibly inadequate or in the case of those nanny shows, probably just a little bit smug. The true reality is that being a “good” parent is a lot of hard work. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I asked some moms of well behaved children their secrets. Ironically, two of them looked at me and said, “There are no compliant children.” Evidently they had worked hard for years to train their children to be well behaved, loving, young men and women. They told me parents of children who were less well behaved would look at them and sigh, “Aren’t you lucky God gave you a compliant child.” The reality is I have yet to meet anyone who received a child who was always perfect. There is a lot of work that has gone on in the homes of those little “angels” you sometimes see in public.

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