“I had it first!” “He pushed me!” “I hate my brother!” “Why won’t she ever be nice to me?!” Don’t these comments make you want to pull your hair out as a parent? Do you ever think, “Why can’t my kids just get along?!”
I am sure we have all experienced the scene of an enraged toddler pounding his fists, stomping his feet, and screaming in the middle of the store isle, “I WANT THAT TOY!” Everyone goes about their business pretending like they don’t notice the racket and trying not to cover their ears and make a mad dash for the door.
Content Heart Week One:
Introduction: Of all the people in the world, Jesus has the most beautiful heart. He shows how beautiful His heart is by His character traits. He is very loving and forgiving. Can you think of some other character traits that Jesus shows? [kind, responsible, helpful] We want to be like Jesus and have a beautiful heart too!
One of the most profound gifts that we can give our children is to teach them to pray. It is such an honor that the God of the entire universe wants to have a RELATIONSHIP with us. And this relationship can only happen through prayer, communing with God… I believe one of the best ways we can encourage our children to have a relationship with Jesus is to teach them to pray. And the best way to teach them to pray is to pray with our children.
I hope you enjoy this devotional designed for ages 4-8 to teach your children how to have a prayerful heart. Read the italic section or paraphrase with your children to fit their age level. Click here for a printer friendly version. -Taylor
Have you ever wished you could eliminate those countless hours of screen time on long road trips? What if you could give your kids a constructive activity that the whole family enjoys? I know books are great, and we encourage our kids to read in the car as much as possible. It’s also important to use some car time to talk or play family games, but it’s nice to have other options as well. One of the activities we enjoy on road trips and when traveling around town is listening to audio dramas: stories that come to life through the character’s voices and sound affects without the visual input.
One of my favorite activities during the summer months is reading chapter books with my kids. I enjoy snuggling on the couch as we read the next chapter and discuss what we can learn from it. There are some great, classic books out there, but lately I have been searching for some good Christian chapter books with a message of faith. We know a few, and I reviewed one of them below, but I asked some friends (and some of their kids) to tell me their favorites and why they liked them.
This month I am highlighting the Brown family. Amy Brown has a special story of how God gave her a vision to do something special that no one had ever thought of at her church to reach children with the gospel. The idea is so amazing, that I believe it needs to be replicated at other churches with food and/or clothing pantries.
Easter is around the corner, and it is one of children’s favorite holidays- mostly for one reason alone- CANDY! What kid doesn’t love to wake up to a basket-full of candy or do an egg hunt and see how much candy he or she received!
When my kids were very young, I had a hard time not losing my patience with them on a daily basis. I love kids, but I just expected my kids to- well, be perfect, and perfect, they weren’t! Of course they were growing and maturing, but it felt like such a slow process when they were in the middle of it and still so young. When they went against my rules, the anger would sometimes get the best of me, and I would think, “How DARE those kids disrespect me like that?!”