Life2gether

Good post here on 3 things dads can do to make a difference in their daughter’s lives.

1. When Your Kids Can’t Sleep
2. When Your Kids Want Control
3. When Your Kids Keep Whining
4. When Your Kids Get Sick
5. When Your Kids Scratch the Neighbor’s Car
6. When Your Kids Disobey You (Again!)
7. When Your Kids Have a Meltdown in Public
8. When Your Kids Get Overly Emotional
9. When Your Kids Ask About Death
10. When Your Kids Ask About Earthquakes
11. When You’re Stuck in the Basement
12. When You’re Just There.

Jared Kennedy gives some helpful financial principles and devotions to walk through with your kids. These devotions would be a great supplement to a church-wide series on stewardship.

1. We are God’s stewards
2. God made us for work
3. A worker is worthy of his earnings
4. We give freely because we’ve received freely from Jesus
5. We prepare for the future by planning and saving
6. How we spend our money shows what we treasure in our hearts
7. The Bible encourages us to avoid debt

What Is Father Hunger? from Desiring God on Vimeo.

Inescapable Headship from Desiring God on Vimeo.

I just got a copy of the ESV GROW! Bible from a friend of mine. I love it!  It’s designed specifically for children ages 8-12. One of the coolest features is the “Cross Connections” boxes that are scattered throughout to help kids understand the centrality of the cross in all the Scriptures. Another feature called “4U” is great for explaining the text and how to apply it to a child’s life.   I can’t wait to read it with my 7 and 9 year old girls.

ESV Grow! Bible from Crossway on Vimeo.

Click on the Bible to the right to view the text.

Here are two simple ways to pass on the gospel to your kids at an early age:

1. Creating Prayer Cards for Your Kids
2. Blessing Your Children at Bedtime

Using these simple tools helps us depend on God each day for grace that only he can give.

Brian Croft gives a good reminder for pastors to take their children with them when they visit the elderly. He brings out three points:

1. Never underestimate the impact of children in the lives of others.
2. It is good for a child to learn to love, grieve, and let go.
3. It will cause the young and old to see the value of the other.

Read the whole thing.

Parenting starts with my own heart. Every attempt I make to guide and direct my child’s heart is directly connected to the state of my own heart. My words provide the greatest witness.

In the midst of a conflict with my child, I often bring my own junk to the table – my desire for comfort and control and need for appreciation and respect. All of these idols come out in these times of confrontation. And yet God has ordained these moments precisely for my sanctification!

I’m learning that parenting is not just about my kids. It’s about me. It reveals what’s inside of me. It shows me my sin and how well I really get the gospel and rely on his grace. So I need to start with an examination of my own heart. For there I will find my continual need for a Savior who promises to shepherd me as I shepherd my children.

John Bird with an interesting critique of Elyse Fitzpatrick’s new book on parenting, Give Them Grace:

If applying the gospel can be overdone, these authors do it proudly: “We’ve encouraged you to dazzle [your children] with the message of Christ’s love and welcome, and then when you think that surely they must be tiring of it, go back and drench them with it again.”

The only problem with this is that when we apply the gospel to every event in life, and especially when we use it to correct, children will tire of it. Not every moment needs to be a “teachable moment.” Do we need to bring up Jesus’ agony on the cross every time our child acts like a child?

The authors give an example of how we might apply the gospel to a child who pouts after losing a baseball game: “Yes, losing is difficult….Jesus Christ understands losing because he lost relationship with his father on the cross….He’s using this suffering in your life to make us both look up and see his love.”

Besides the superficial view of suffering in the above quote, this loose way of applying the gospel, especially when often repeated, takes the power out of the message and can weary the children. Something sadder than a child growing up never hearing the good news is a child who grows up hoping to never hear it again.

I’m curious.  What are your thoughts?  I encourage you to read Bird’s entire review of the book as he ends on this note:

Still, the most important things to be said about this book are that it leaves room for failure, emphasizes the superiority of the gospel over the law, and is primarily about imperfect parents glorifying a perfect God (rather than themselves or their children). These things put Give Them Grace above many other Christian parenting books.

Parents of LaGrange Baptist Church:

Do you feel the pressures of home life? Come join us for Parent Chat on Sept. 7, at 6:45 PM, as we hear how God’s grace frees us in the midst of these pressures. We’ll have an assortment of desserts and coffee as Pastor Tony leads us. If you have a child in SEEDS (1st – 6th grade) we encourage you to start the evening with your child in the SEEDS room and we’ll dismiss you to Parent Chat at 6:45. Mark your calendars. Invite your friends!