I’ve been interested recently to see how our children are motivated to learn God’s Word, and I thought it was worth thinking about enough to write down. Certainly, not everything motivates our children the same way. I do think that the Holy Spirit works in our children’s lives to draw them to himself and to [...]

Filed under: Discipleship

For Christmas, we got David an unabridged audio version of Pilgrim’s Progress. The children are familiar with the story and main characters, so they have enjoyed listening to the CDs in the car, even though much of it goes over their head. The more I listen, the more convinced I am in the value of [...]

Filed under: Book Reviews

In the last several months, all three of our children have made professions of faith. I smile at how unexpectedly  these events have unfolded. As a result, I’m developing thoughts on salvation and children, but as I’m watching my children, I hesitate to write thoughts which might embarrass or make them uncomfortable later on. As [...]

Filed under: Salvation

Yesterday, when Laurel was whining about something, it occurred to me that her God-given strength– her ability to articulate anything and everything– was going unused as long as she was whining and crying. I stopped my short, irritated lecture, and pulled her on my lap. “Did you know that God gave you a love for [...]

Filed under: Communication and Meaning

I’ve got lots of posts written but have felt woefully lacking in tone– In any case, I’ll share a little of what has been rolling around in my head. Hopefully I can keep my tone under control. We seem to need a more robust (i.e., biblical) idea of sanctification. That’s safe, isn’t it? We can [...]

Filed under: Mom Time

I talked earlier about being slow to speak and quick to hear as a part of being slow to anger. And here about encouraging conversation instead of lecturing. I’ve been thinking lately that I need to be slow to speak for another reason: I’m interfering with my children’s ability to solve their problems. Typically, I [...]

Filed under: Getting Along

I have a five year old who whines routinely, cries when she doesn’t get her own way, and wants her own way most of the time. As she came to tell me about a sister who did not move when she told her to, I informed her that her sister was not being mean, and that [...]

Filed under: Uncategorized

(Or simply, Spiritual Instruction Outside of the Box) An excellent  missions blog I read on occasion has a link to a website that I found fascinating, not merely for its implications in missions, but also for its implications on teaching non-standard learners. Our American churches emphasize the written word heavily, and well they should. God’s [...]

Tags: learning disability
Filed under: Child Development, Communication and Meaning

Far from learning obedience in three easy lessons, my children (as well as I) continue to learn and wrestle with what it means to obey. I’ve been talking with my children lately about the relationship between trust and obedience. These are not long conversations. In fact, they are short, but seem to be coming frequently [...]

Filed under: Obedience

Do you think God is pleased with your parenting right now? That’s the question I’ve been asking myself. You need to know that I fall short in many ways. I wrestle with selfishness as a mother. I am often reminded of areas where I fall short (i.e., sin). Yet, I really do want to please [...]

Filed under: Mom Time