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Last time I talked about the importance of learning Proverbs with your children. The problem remains though: how do you teach them? Because there are thirty-one chapters, many advocate reading a chapter every day of the month. There’s probably value in that practice, but with younger children, I’m convinced that less is more. Let me share a few of the things that helped us.
Over the years, we’ve done many different things for family devotions. But learning verses from the Book of Proverbs has been a highlight. I think Proverbs has had the biggest impact of any book of the Bible in helping my parenting and shaping our family’s character. Let me share what I’ve learned about why learning Proverbs with your kids is so helpful.
Last time, we looked at some of the resources that are available to help busy parents encourage the faith of their children while they’re home from school with too much time on their hands. Pouring Scripture into your children gives them a foundation to begin thinking biblically about life and the world around them. But we also need to talk to them about the crisis itself. Chances are that some of your children may feel that COVID-19 is more of an annoyance than a crisis right now. Until you’re actually faced with the physical or economic pain of the pandemic, it may just feel like an inconvenience. Now is the time to prepare for when your family may feel that pain a little more personally. I was reflecting on how we talked with our own children about the earthquake and resulting nuclear meltdown in Japan when I came across an excellent article by Sandy Galea giving 7 Tips When Talking To Kids About Coronavirus. Let me share some of the things I learned from her article and illustrate how we saw them play out in what we experienced.
Children seem to have an infinite capacity to ask the “why” question. They start early with their questions. “Why do I have to eat my vegetables?” “Why do I have to go to bed?” As children go off to school, the questions keep coming. “Why do I have to get up so early?” “Why do we have to study calculus?” And sooner or later, children will ask the “why” questions about your family’s rules and moral choices. How you answer reveals a lot about how you see the world. How you answer will also shape your child’s understanding of your beliefs. What do you say when they ask why?
While some parents treat anger as a discipline strategy, Scripture has convinced me that getting angry at children usually does more to model the parent’s lack of grace than it does to help build grace in children. This article looks at what you can do to be slightly less angry with your children.
With the stakes so high, we need to remember what we’re aiming for in the influence of our teen’s faith. Just making them go to church and be good is not the goal.
What the Bible says about how to be a good parent when thousands of miles separate mother and child.
Two weeks ago, in my post, “How to have it out without making it worse,” we began to look at Brian Orme’s advice on how to deal with conflict. We covered the things he warns to avoid in marital disputes. The reality is that there are things we can do that inevitably hurt rather than help our chances of resolving issues that come up in marriage. Today we look at the positive side: his list of things to do to make our clashes more constructive.
Last week’s post about, “How to Have It Out Without Making It Worse,” generated a lot of good interaction. One person asked about the challenge not to go to bed angry. While most people would agree with the principle, the struggle is what to do when an issue can’t be solved in one day. If I’m angry with my spouse, does that mean I can’t ever go to bed?
Marriage can be wonderful, but conflict is usually part of the equation. There are differences to work out, hurts to deal with, and misunderstandings to overcome. Some people will barge into conflict with little concern for how it hurts the other person. Other people will bottle their feelings in until they’re ready to explode. Either way, the consequences can be devastating. Learning how to deal effectively with conflict in a marriage can be helped by laying down some simple ground rules on how to fight fair. I was helped by Brian Orme’s article in this regard. He gives five do’s and five don’ts for more constructive conflicts. This week, we’ll look at the five things to avoid.
