As4Me

As I drove to take the children on an outing, I realized I haven’t been talking about God throughout the day for awhile. That worried me a little, and then the introspective part of me took over. Why not, self? Are you dry spiritually? Is God not teaching you anything? Are you praying for nothing? [...]

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The last few weeks, we have talked quite a bit about giving and receiving presents. We’ve talked about the motivation for giving gifts (love) and how the only way we can truly love others is by God’s grace in our lives. We have talked about receiving gifts with a thankful heart (although I haven’t yet [...]

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I’ve been working on being a better listener lately. Here are some more things I’ve been working on and found useful.

Make eye contact. Yes, stop looking at dishes, that book, or the computer screen.
Ban “uh huh” as a response. It’s pretty obvious that this response is a half-hearted, uninterested gesture.
Ask a followup question. If [...]

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We’ve told our children that if anyone tells them to keep a secret, they should come talk to mom and dad about it. We do this for their protection, primarily, and we’ve said it several times, but we’ve never had a response.
The other day, while the girls were still sleeping, David stood on one foot [...]

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Jay Younts has been talking about questions and answers, and I’ve been thinking quite a bit about about what he’s saying. I know I need to be a better listener. One way I can is to ask followup questions to their statements, instead of assuming I understand what they’re saying. Asking for clarification or elaboration [...]

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Since we have three unregenerate sinners in our household, we have conflict. Yes, we’re attempting to teach them to share, show love for each other, and humbly put the other first. God’s standard is not what is fair, but what is humble and loving. But in spite of our efforts, they still struggle. They’ve learned [...]

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On Tuesday we talked about the challenge of developing Christ-honoring relationships while in a military community. Today I want to think about how my obedience to God in this area affects how I parent my children.
First, my children learn about friends by my example. They are listening to what I talk about with my friends, [...]

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Today I asked David what he learned in children’s church. Try as I could, I could not get an answer out of him. I asked him whether he was being a wise listener. He insisted he listened, but he could not remember a single detail about what happened.
It is possible that fatigue had something to [...]

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One of the questions we ask our children is “Are you going to obey?” This question clarifies that the command is not an optional wish the parents are making, something especially important with very young children. It emphasizes that obedience is a choice, and it communicates my desire for the child to do right.
Some people [...]

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A typical four year old asks questions, often constantly ad nauseum. My children ask questions, too, but most of the time I’m finding that they keep their questions to themselves. Some parents don’t like questions and discourage their children from asking them. If I discourage questions, it’s because I take them too seriously. Maybe I [...]

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