Parenting Archives - Page 6 of 7

Kids Pirate Party

September 12, 2016 by Susan Leave a Comment

I have learned about myself that I need a creative outlet in my life. When I was teaching 2nd grade, I had lots of opportunities to be creative, now one thing I do is host regular, themed, girls movie nights. In between those times, a large part of my creative outlet was my kids’ birthday parties.

I’d like to share a few of them with you, in no particular order, starting with a Pirate Themed Party we had for my eldest when he turned 6. (Six! Excuse me while I have a short mom reflection…my little pirate is now 17.)

Because the party was so long ago, the pictures weren’t digital, so there wasn’t a lot of touching up I could do. And, did I mention that another creative outlet I had was scrapbooking? These pics were glued in scrapbooks, so you’ll notice my attempt at clever editing, I’m sure. Regardless, I hope you get some ideas for your next Pirate Soiree.

From Toddlers to Teens: Raising Kids Who Pray

August 29, 2016 by Susan 7 Comments

Teaching kids to pray doesn’t have to be formal instruction. Tangible ways to integrate prayer into our lives and raise kids who pray.

When I was in college, I was part of a youth ministry team. We taught classes, led activities, and were tasked with mentoring the young people in our community. Part of the training we received in mentoring encouraged us to spend time with the teens outside of class. Real discipling happens in the day to day. The “Hey, I’m going to the mall, would you like to join me?” and, “Let’s cook dinner together” moments.

That’s when real parenting happens too, you know.

After all, parenting is–at its heart– discipleship. God tells us what parenting our kids should look like in Deuteronomy 6 when He says,

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts.Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
-Deuteronomy 6:4-9

Family meetings, lectures, classes, going to church… all of those are good and beneficial things. But that’s not where our kids learn how to really follow God’s commandments…how to serve… how to pray.

Online Protection for Your Family: Keep Porn Out of Your Home

August 1, 2016 by Susan 15 Comments

We protect our family in every other way. Why do we forget this? We’re sharing real ways to protect your children and family from pornography online.

I don’t know a single mother that would let her child play near a street without supervising him. We make sure that our whole family is buckled in before we leave the driveway. I could make a list of 100 things we all do to protect our families every day.

Why in the world do we let our computers, cell phones and other devices go un-monitored?

You want to know why I think? I think that we want to believe that our husband, our children…that we are not susceptible to the myriad of temptation that awaits in cyberspace.

If you think that, I’ll start out nice. I’ll give you that one. Maybe your family is not ever tempted to do wrong online. Ever. But guess what? The bad stuff is so pervasive and sneaky that it shows up even when you’re not looking for it.

One Pastor’s Observation

June 29, 2016 by Susan 6 Comments

What do you think this pastor said creates most of the problems that come through his door? The answer might surprise you!

For the past 9 years, every June, my family spends a week in Indiana at Midwest Family Camp, held at lovely Camp Mack on Lake Waubee. Last week was that week!

During our first worship service, I prayed that God would direct my conversations for the week. I so look forward each year to good conversation with people who make me better. I prayed that God would lead who I talked to and what we talked about, that I would hear and receive what I needed to and that I would share with others what He wanted me to.

Awesome Party Games!

June 16, 2016 by Susan Leave a Comment

My family loves games. I wrote recently about strategy games that we all enjoy. And that’s a feat, considering that my husband and boys are pretty serious board-gamers (or “dork-gamers” as I affectionately call them). We have found several games that we all enjoy and not only do we play them frequently, but we just about always have one out somewhere in the house.

Besides strategy games, though, we also love a good party game! Scattegories, Taboo, Catch Phrase, Apples to Apples and Balderdash have been regulars for a long time.

I have a list of games for you today that you might not have heard of and are going to want to try. If you click on the pictures of the games, you can read more about them.

Family Bible Journal

May 24, 2016 by Susan 10 Comments

A daily Bible Journal for your family to practice the habit of being in God’s Word every day. This is a creative and informal way to start the practice.

I don’t think there’s a Christian parent out there who isn’t looking for ways to ensure that their children grow up with a strong foundation in the Word of God. Developing the habit of daily Bible reading can be tough for us to do ourselves, let alone teaching it to our kids.

There are a lot of family devotions out there that are great. The best ones encourage discussion and family bonding.

Teaching/modeling for our kids how to pray came pretty naturally. One thing we struggled to do, however, was to get our boys to read the Bible on their own on a daily basis.