If you’ve ever felt a loss about how to handle the challenges of being a parent, you’re in good company. If you have kiddos, you know what I’m talking about…
“How (and when) do I talk to my kids about homosexuality in a way that both honors the truth of the Bible while also displaying love to our neighbors?”
“How do we manage TV time? How do I figure out how to monitor the content they’re watching and the time they spend in front of the iPad?”
“I want to develop kids who have a servants-heart in a self-centered world, but what does that look like practically speaking? It’s so easy for my kids to develop an entitlement mentality.”
“In an age of cellphones, selfies, social media, what do I allow and what do I forbid? These weren’t questions my parents ever had to face.”
And the questions just go on and on…and on!
You can’t man a ship all on your own in the raging waters of the sea. And you aren’t meant to raise your kids in isolation.
As they say, “It takes a village…”
A Community for Christian Parents
On October 1st we will be opening a new online community for Christian parents who want to be intentional about raising their kids.
It’s for all the parent’s who know (even if they wanted to) they can’t effectively raise their kids into young adults by pulling the covers over their head and hiding from all the crazy things in this world. They know it’s not just about protecting their kids. It’s about preparing them.
Here’s what the community will include…
1. Monthly focus topics allowing the community to dive deeply into specific parenting subjects
2. A private Facebook group where parents will interact with one another and special guests
3. Regular live trainings and interviews with guest speakers and roundtable discussions
Join the Beta Group
We’ll be starting with just a small beta-testing group of 35 people while we work out the kinks and make sure what we’re offering is truly valuable to the community.
Why only 35 people?
- First, we’re getting our feet wet as organizers, and rather than bite off more than we can chew, we want to make sure this works on a small scale before we ratchet it up.
- Second, in our first few months, we want to focus on the quality of discussions, not creating a massive community that could be difficult to manage. We want it to be truly beneficial to you.
Get on the Waiting List
Give us your email address below to be added to the waiting list. Once you do, please check your email so we can confirm your interest. (Don’t see the email? Be sure to check your Promotions or Spam folders.)
I definitely think the homosexuality topic is a must. Also, how to teach your kids to stand apart from the culture to show others what a true Christian “being Christ like” looks like no matter how hard it is to go against your friends
Great topic ideas!
Hi Luke and Trisha, my name is Caryl Ayala and I thought it was about time I connected with you. You see, I’m in Austin, TX fighting the Comprehensive Sex Education in our local school district as a former teacher for the district. So, finding the balance of love and truth has a been quest of mine. Since my affiliation with Mass Resistance and now Concerned Parents of Austin, one of my goals has been to find materials for families to use in lieu of CSE. As part of our efforts to reach families, I have been recommending The Talk across the state in our contacts with the public and churches. I am particularly grateful that you have provided it in Spanish as well. I am definitely interested in your efforts to address the hard questions when it comes to teaching our kids. My two sons are grown, but someday I will be a grandma and I would love to learn how to help them and all the families that God has brought my way. So, sign me up! possible topics, immunizations, sibling rivalry, teaching biblical sexuality in churches, to name a few. I am also looking for more materials I can recommend to parents for children 11-18. Blessings.
Great thoughts, Caryl. Thanks for sharing a bit of your story and situation with us as well.
Look for the new course sir girls called The Whole Story!
How can I help instil in my children that they don’t need to hold on to all of their STUFF? Less is more, and they are blessed to have what they have….some have much less than they do, and others have much more.
Living in our culture with all of the commercialism, this is certainly an ongoing issue! Always wanting more, more, more.
Explaining to my young daughters why I want them to dress modestly without actually having to tell them about dirty old men!
Great topic!
Since the election, the attitude toward government and political leaders seems to be even more caustic and divisive than before. Beginning with the riots after the election results to the constant insults and legal action toward the current administration, the prevailing winds are frightening. I’m not even sure what I’m trying to say, but help…whatever group is the most offended and makes the most noise gets the most publicity. We need help raising children with a biblical view of government and current events so that they can affect godly change and not throw up their hands and say it doesn’t matter because the system only gets worse. We are supposed to be lights but the darkness seems darker. (John 1 gives me strength and encouragement – the darkness could not overcome it)
Our kids go to public school and we (their parents) are music educators at the middle school and high school level. The unhealthy focus in schools on sexuality, not just homosexuality but transgender, gender non-binary, questioning, the list goes on…how do we prepare are children for what they will encounter?
We are the parents of three boys, and raising strong men in this culture of feminism gone awry is challenging. God designed men and women differently and we should appreciate and embrace the differences. How do we help them celebrate their God-given unique manhood as well as develop a biblical respect for women?
All really good ideas. Thanks for the feedback!
This sounds awesome, especially facilitated by you two! Maintaining a healthy marriage in midst of raising kids, self care for moms and dads and figuring out how to balance time away and time with kids without guilt, ideas for time spent with kids individually with each parent. Balancing school and learning expectations with home and social life expectations. Also, maybe the ability to have sub-groups for child age differences. We have an 18 yr old trying to gain some/encouraging independence but we also have 6, 4, almost 3 and a newborn to come in 2 weeks, so the ability to filter out topics/discussions on other ages like middle/high school would be nice.
Thanks for the kind words and the great ideas!
I love this idea! Everything mentioned above would be so useful. I feel like things change so quickly, and there’s so many issues our patents didn’t have to even think about raising us. I don’t want to be like my parents generation and rely on oblivion to get though 😉
Thanks! Glad this idea encourages you.
I compeletly agree with Ashley, as I was reading through the comments I was trying to think of something else to add but I think she said exactly what I was feeling.
The importance of training early and maintaining open communication. Teaching Holiness and standards in our current culture. Teaching kids how to react to kids that don’t hold our values, with foul language, homosexuality, transsexuality, inappropriate books and movies. How to encourage other parents to train their children to respect authority.
All good topics to cover, for sure.
Excited about this as we are trying to raise four kids in this messed up world . All the help we can get from a Godly perspective is wonderful. Thank you for being brace and kind to share your insights. Sometimes Ir is nice to hear about topics you might have not considered having to share with your kids but having a good resource to go to.
That’s the best part about an online community: while we may have a number of insights, it’s really the collective wisdom of the community as a whole that can be so valuable.
I would love to hear ideas about how my children can fearlessly share Jesus with others in this ever growing anti-Christian world.
Good one. That’s one we all could grow in.
I guess I have 2 main obstacles. First, when my girls were younger I really struggled with life. I was not a True Believer in Christ. So sadly they are teens now and have as much baggage as I do! How do I press the do over button here ? How do I convince them I now have a better Way ?
Also, I struggle with a child with a sense of entitlement. If I can’t fix everything in her life, she is angry. She acts like everyone should accommodate her and there is no one else in the universe. Maybe this is a result of my first point. AAAArgh! The drama of teen girls !
I get what you mean. Definitely worthy topics to talk about.
I’d like to address this cynical generation of cellphones, selfies, likes, followers, etc. and show my boys that there is so much more to relationships.
I know. That stuff seems so pervasive these days.
My problem is knowing where to even start with intentional parenting. How do we decide what is important to our family and what exactly to teach and what materials to use? There are so many good resources out there! I feel like I need a list of things for both spiritual and practical life skills/knowledge training so I don’t forget something important!
There really is so much to teach our kids in the limited time we have them. But there’s also so much we can teach them doing all of the mundane day-to-day activities and taking advantage of the circumstances life throws our way.
How to truly love people as Jesus did, while encouraging them to live to a higher standard. Attitudes toward others have been a biggie recently in our house. Also commercialism as mentioned above.
This sounds wonderful! I have a 10 year old daughter. Gender fluidity is an almost ever-present topic in schools (six genders are taught in our local public and Catholic schools!) and in media. Even at the local pool, change rooms must now accommodate all genders. I would like to help my daughter to understand how to handle these situations in a kind and loving manner, while honouring God’s word.
I would like to learn about helping children to thoughtfully evaluate media content – especially music/lyrics – as the influence of their friends becomes more important.
I would also like suggestions on how children can become more involved in serving their communities, being the salt and light. I feel that they need to seal the love of Jesus within their hearts, making their faith their own, so they will be able to fight for their beliefs. I see so many teenagers and young adults turning from Christianity as they are challenged by friends, and later by university professors. (I am a university professor, and I see the many challenges faced by Christian students.)
Thank you for doing this!
3 great topics! I’ve heard requests to talk about all these topics multiple times, so you’re not the only one who has a burden to learn about these things. Thanks for the feedback!
Always needing more info and tips on how to teach my boys that the principals of the Bible are still valid and attainable in today’s world. Tips on ways to show love to people that we don’t agree with, without embracing or agreeing with their choices.
Also how to parent intentionally and help children seek God when only 1 parent is a practicing Christian.
We hear these kinds of questions all the time. Great ideas for discussion, for sure.
Thank you for doing this. I would love to have information on internet safety, not only for parents, but to explain (in an age-appropriate manner) why internet-safety is important. We are raising 3 boys, and we would also love to get involved in family-friendly service opportunities.
Yes, it’s so important with our kiddos to not just give them a list of do/don’t activities, but to teach them the why as well. Talking through the importance and reasons is a beneficial part of training especially as our kids get older.
I am really struggling with my teens (ages 17, 16, 13) growing independence. I find it hard to balance not babying them and yet still being “in charge”. I want to foster independence but also a respect for authority (especially when you don’t agree with it!). Its tough! The attitudes and the “me” centeredness is tough. My kids have grown up in church, we do family Bible studies, homeschool and all that. I do find that most Christian moms don’t share how hard the teen years are for fear of being judged. But it makes me feel a bit isolated…like I’m the only one going through this. I even have blamed myself for their spiritual life (or lack of) and feel like I am not a good mom (at times). I try to keep the peace and pick my battles carefully. I just don’t want them to leave home hating me and end up pushing them away from God and their faith. I do know it is ultimately up to them but I also know how influential a parent is and take my role seriously. Overall I know they are good kids, it’s just a long, hard phase….and I get weary.
Balance is such a key word for parenting! And that balance continues to shift and change as our kiddos get older and move towards independence. I do hope we can build a tribe of people who can come together to talk about some of these very real struggles so none of us feels alone and without guidance.
I’m intrigued! I am the parent of 4 (ages 14,16, 21 & 30!). And even though my husband and I been intentional about raising our children as Christians, being in the world but not of it has been difficult for the kids at times. I would love to hear others’ input. As a parent of older children, I’m happy to share my failures, and successes. Having a 17 year spread between the kids certainly has been an experience!
I think being in the world but not of it, isn’t just hard for kids but is something we continue to grapple with as we get older. Finding that balance of not being isolated from the world, but not becoming like the world is such a tightrope walk.
Yes! Yes! Yes! to everything already stated! To have a place to go and hear from other people who love God and want to raise godly children would be awesome! Sometimes just hearing what someone else has done to foster godly attitudes in their kids or how they handled difficult topics with their children is so helpful!
I have a 6 year old daughter who is very headstrong and independent – a mini-me! I understand how/why she responds the way she does and I want to know how to guide her in those strengths that can sometimes be a hindrance and lead away from God. I pray all the time for God to instill in her whatever it was He instilled in me to keep her heart, mind and body safe from serious harm and close to His heart. I wasn’t perfect by any means, but I look back and wonder at all the ways God kept me from really bad things. I want her to be wise to the world but not of it.
Thank you for putting this together!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Christy! I agree, learning how other Christian parents are doing things really can be such an encouragement and spur on some great practical ideas.
How to discipline a child that is older, 10 or more. I hear a lot about encouragement for the kid and positive reinforcement stuff, but I need ideas on what to do when my older kid crosses the line.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts Amanda! Discipline continues to change and morph so much as our kids get older.
Love the concept of what you are planning! Thank you! It would be great to have access to the online community without having to be on Facebook. Not sure what your idea entails, but for those of us who are not on Facebook, often our access to these types of communities is limited.
Thanks for your comment Linda. We probably will for our beta group begin by using facebook for our group interactions (though we’d use some sort of webinar service for our live online meetings), but this is just because while we’re working out the kinks and deciding if this will become a long-term thing facebook doesn’t require a big financial investment. Eventually, we’d love to see our community have it’s own website with a forum so interaction can happen outside of facebook.
I would love to know how and when to talk to my children about sex. I don’t want to start too young, but I don’t want them hearing about it from a friend first either. I want their first introduction to be the wonderful mystery and gift that it is from God, rather than the shameful secret the world would have them consider it.
I also have a deep desire to surround them with those who don’t look like them- different races, religions, socio economic backgrounds-to learn to be a light in a dark world, but I worry about the negative impact peer influences can have on their tender hearts. I want teach them to be in the world but not of it; to love lost people without becoming worldly. Perhaps I need to learn it first and model it to them. I know Jesus showed us how to do this.
I love all of those topic ideas Eliza!
Eliza – several years at a Moms group a speaker introduced me to a book series that helps you introduce the topic of sex to your children in age-appropriate ways as they grow so it’s never a weird thing. My kids loved the books when they were little – here’s the first one: https://www.amazon.com/Story-Gods-Design-Sex-Book/dp/1600060137/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505075102&sr=8-1&keywords=the+story+of+me
How to live by the bible and not be influenced by others and their choices and actions. To stand up and be a stronger person and say no but not feel guilty or like their friends are making fun of them or pushing them away.
Thank you for sharing Andrea!
I want my children to really learn to rely on Jesus, not just be moral individuals. I want to know how we can best nurture them in loving God’s word and loving their neighbor as themselves. I home school, so it often seems that I spend more time on math, reading, history, etc. in addition to keeping a home and hobby farm, that I don’t concentrate enough of our time on what really matters to me and what will carry them through life as Christ-followers. My kids are now 12, 9, and 7… so perhaps it is just a season for nailing down the basics and the rest will come more easily in time. I don’t want to be wrong about this, though. My husband and I are in God’s word but I have not known how to study the Bible together with kids at different ages nor if that is even the thing to do? The most we have done so far is to read slowly through Proverbs at occasional meals and I have read through the Vos Children’s Bible with each child in 1st and 2nd grade individually. Perhaps I should continue to have my kids doing their own study based on their ages? They are in SS and we go to a solid church, so that helps, and at SS they are in their own very small classes. I desire to study the Bible together as a family, but am not exactly sure how to go about it. I would like to see some discussion and suggestions in this regard. In addition, it should probably be led by my husband and not me, so I hope you will reach out in some way to the husbands/dads among us… who are not perusing this site… rather than just the wives/mothers.
Let me add to this, however, that I have never followed a group such as this online. I am trying to be online less and not more, so if this takes shape I hope it is something easy to access and be a part of, otherwise I know I will not keep up. May you discern God’s leading in this venture for His glory and the good of all who participate.
Thanks so much for sharing your thoughts! We can certainly relate to the difficulties that working through studying the Bible can be when you have kids of different ages (we have some decent sized age gaps in our family). I’m thankful we’ve been able to find a good rhythm for this season of life though.
We are hopeful that the husbands and dads would join their wives in this community. It’s very important for spouses to be on the same page with each other when it comes to parenting.
What does it look like to “come out and be separate” from the overwhelming culture we live in?
Good topic.
Part of the answer is training kids to “come out” in order that they might go back in. Being “in the world and not of it” needs both emphases: “in” and “not of.” Often we are burdened for the “not of” part—we don’t want our kids to go the way of the world—but we try to accomplish this merely by insulation. Of course, this is important in a number of respects, but the big picture is us SENDING our kids into the world, prepared to be culture-changers. Big goal, I know, but it also shapes how we parent when we understand that. It shapes how we converse about culture.
This is a huge topic, and I think it would be great to cover this in our community.
My biggest thing is obedience, and respect for us as parents and to God. My son loves God, but loves the world too. He’s 10. I wasn’t a Christian when I raised my three older children, two have gone the way of the world. My middle child, a daughter is now living with me and my husband (with her husband and two young kids) and is watching me, and learning quickly. She is a believer and that is a huge plus. Looking for ideas to instill a love and awe of God and a healthy fear at the same time. Also how to curb time on games without the “fits” that come with those limits. Each time it gets worse. Entitlement issues of course. And what it means to really say you are sorry and mean it. My son is a very loving child and loves God with all his heart but I get so frustrated sometimes…
Thanks for sharing some of your story with us. “Screen time” is a big player in all of this, and we definitely want to cover this topic in our community. Thanks!
I live in South Africa, so getting your updates and emails always have my attention, and finding and making time to read them. the subject line intrigued me immediately so I got to reading. I have a 6 year old daughter and often get asked about all kinds of things. Being a single mom, it’s not always easy. One of the things I had to deal with this year is bullying, over the last three years, is becoming a single parent, my daughter’s dad not living with us and begin asked about it. My daughter has come through a bout of sadness as to why we all cannot be together. So I think this site would be beneficial….single parenthood; raising a daughter, etc.
Thanks for sharing Bernice! I know single parents really do have so many extra challenges added to the already challenging task of parenthood.
I definitely agree with the comments about entitlement in this commercial society. How do we combat instant gratification of all sorts in this culture? Along with that, how do we teach how extremely important honesty and trustworthiness is, rather than the end justifying the means? As a parent, how do I teach my child, leading her to maturity in Christ, but still providing grace and mercy? What is the balance of consequences vs. grace?
Great thoughts!
I want my children to have an in depth faith not just a superficial one. It seems as though so many people just want “fire insurance” and then continue living the same way they always have. I want my children to be discipled in the basics: prayer, Bible reading , quiet times and witnessing.
Great “building block” topics to cover. Thanks for the feedback!
How to take my children through the word not memorizing but living it.
Memorization can be a big part of that: we hide God’s word in the heart so we may not sin (Psalm 119:11). But you’re correct: if we stop at memorization, we’ve missed the point. I’ve got some great ideas about how to pair these topics (memorization and obedience) together in how we disciple our kids. Looking forward to sharing those!
Absolutely everything mentioned is spot on and needed today.
My suggestions are more about format than topics as the main topics have been addressed. So here are a couple of items to consider regarding format.
1. Please make any live events available AFTER the live event is over and keep them available for members for a long time. As a mom of a special needs kiddo and the wife of a traveling salesman, it is really hard for us to get time together to do live classes. Rarely I get a chance to do a live class/discussion and never in 7.5 years have we been able to do one together.
2. Have a way for people to submit ideas or vote on upcoming topics. There is a Mystery Doug series we do for homeschool, and at the end Doug lets the kids vote on what the next topic will be. He takes three ideas out of the jar of ideas kids have submitted and after the lesson for the day, the kids get to vote on the next lesson from one of the three. It’s actually a really good way to keep things on topic and relevant for your current viewing/participating audience.
3. Keep producing honest lessons that are easy to follow and be a part of but don’t dumb it down. You seem to do a great job at this so keep up the good work.
4. Keep some lessons shorter or break longer ones into sessions. An hour uninterrupted is a miracle for us.
Oh as for topics:
-I think having a list of recommended resources would be helpful. Not just good books for parenting and for kids, but also videos to share with the kids, suicide hotlines, etc. This would be something the community could help build but that would need an oversight person to make sure the recommendations were Christ centered and appropriate.
-How to parent when special needs are involved.
-How to do church when you can’t. There is a blogger who has discussed this and one organization out there that I know of, but typically the church’s response is that “you need to be in a church building no matter what,” which just isn’t true and doesn’t work for everyone. Church isn’t a building. It makes people feel shamed and it does not create a healthy body of Christ among those who literally cannot attend or for whom attendance would make things worse not better.
-How to keep ourselves focused NOT on politics, disasters, gender decisions and how to keep ourselves from getting depressed by our world today. I guess just encouragement among the flames we are walking through.
I think you will do a great job at this, and I definitely think it has a place. It’s a big chunk to bite off, but you already handled the universe pretty well with God’s help. 🙂
Great ideas for both format and topics. I don’t think you’re alone in that many couples have limited time to do live events together. And we’d love to see married couples being active in the community and trainings together as it’s so important to be on the same page.
And thank you for the kind words!
How to teach my kids to be aware of the dangers of social media and why I won’t let them use certain apps without seeming paranoid or frightening them.
Great topic. We get asked about social media all the time from other parents.
I have a 2 and 4 year old. The 4 year old seems to be very jealous and in competition with her sibling. I’m curious how the address this with her. She’s very strong willed and emotional!!
Jealousy. It’s part of the human condition—some of us are just better at hiding it. The key is addressing the subject in moments OUTSIDE of the emotional tirade. I’ve got some great resources to share about this in our new community. Thanks for the feedback!
I have a 6 year old son sandwiched between an 11 year old daughter and 2 year old daughter. Something we struggle with in our house is them constantly bickering, and fighting. some fresh ideas on how to encourage resolution or unique consequences for poor choices made in the midst of the fighting. Also, we have tried a couple different approaches on responsibility of taking care of things/keeping areas clean. My 11 year old does pretty well, by my son is always in a hurry, not wanting to put clothes in hamper, just throwing toys in a corner instead of taking two steps farther to place it back on a shelf. Could use some insight on how to encourage being a good worker/finisher of tasks.
YES. I know what you mean. These are some really good topics to cover.
I like the idea of a community having the same goals, sharing practical ideas and “here’s how this works for us”. I want all of the above ideals for our children (so many good suggestions!), but the practical, day to day application is so challenging!
It is. And sometimes an attentive community is a great resource to help you work through these kinds of issues.
You have already gotten some great ideas and some of them are issues that we really need more guidance on – the current political climate where disrespect seems to be what is praised and those in leadership on a local, state, and local level are either no longer being respectful or are bashed constantly (or both!), the issues of gender identity, the LGBTQ etc, etc, agenda and how to graciously deal with separating the sin from the sinner, how to handle those who claim to love the Lord but see nothing wrong with the ‘sin of the day’, the ease at which our history is being changed to meet some new agenda, and so on, and so on. These are issues we grapple with in our home all of the time. And honestly, sometimes it is hard for us to even know how to handle it let alone teach our children. And in the midst of all raising teenagers with different schedules and commitments, helpful guidance on keeping the home fires burning for them while letting them spread their wings, and keeping our marriage healthy and happy at the same time would be great.
Whoa. Those are some big topics. I would love to talk about these—and some we’re already planning to talk about. Thanks for the feedback!
My children are still quite young, oldest is 6, but I’d like to learn more about teaching my chidren gratitude. Things and stuff are so affordable that they often will receive toys or small gifts from aunts/uncles grandparents and seem to think they are entitled to getting things.
I also would like to learn more about teaching my kids to work. Especially my boy, his Daddy is not home often and I often am unsure of how to teach him to be a hardworking godly young man.
Lastly, I struggle with knowing where to draw the line. I want my kids to be separate from the world but I don’t want to over shelter them, also I want them to be a light in this world. Like you said, be in the world but not of the world.
These are long term discipleship opportunities. One thing I’d love to talk about is how to give our kids GRIT—a persistence that allows them to overcome obstacles, become diligent workers, and not be dissuaded by setbacks.
I’m raising my two daughters in a great community! We happen to be sheltered from many of the issues the world is facing right now. It is so important to make sure they aren’t blindsided when they step out on their own.
I would love to join a community that is openly discussing issues such as these, so I can better prepare them to make the right choices and be a light shining in our darkening world.
Glad to hear about where you are right now—and your desire to really PREPARE your kids well for the world (not just PROTECT them). I have a feeling this will be an overarching theme to A LOT of stuff we talk about in this community.
Discontentment and the inability to be grateful for the happy times is something we struggle with daily with our oldest. The 3 youngers don’t seem to share that issue yet, but practical ways to encourage them even when we just want to yell at his attitude would be awesome! Plus all the other great ideas mentioned above!
Gratitude is one of those topics that seem to run through a lot of issues we face as parents—issues we face as PEOPLE, actually. It’s a key factor in overcoming sin in our own lives. I’d love to discuss this.
I would love to see discussions revolving around the importance of instilling in our children their identity in Christ. I am a volunteer with our youth group and I see so many teens struggling with life because they base their identity on how they feel. They feel lonely therefore they conclude they must be alone, even though God says He will never leave them. They feel unloved therefore they must be unlovable, when God says He loves them with an everlasting love, etc. It breaks my heart to see these kids not knowing or believing the ultimate truth about themselves in Jesus. How do I as a parent combat these relativistic messages that are bombarding my own kids?
That’s one of those topics that should be a MAJOR focus of parenting, but unfortunately kids sidelined by a lot of the practical tips and tricks kind of advice. Don’t get me wrong: the tips and tricks are important. But we aren’t called to raise just balanced kids. We’re called to raise CHRISTIAN kids. I’d love to address this subject thoroughly.
How to teach our children in godly character. When we tell them you cant do this without Jesus, but train them in remembering and reciting scripture and discipline them for bad behavior. And if they haven’t accepted Jesus as their savior yet, where does that grace come in to help them avoid temptation to sin? We are first generation Christians and so thankful Holy Spirit has led us thus far, but still unanswered tough questions.
For a lot of first generation Christians, we feel at a loss because we’ve not SEEN it done. That’s what I hope this community is able to offer.
What a wonderful idea! I think the list of ideas above is a great start and facilitating an atmosphere of honest, truthful, biblical, caring conversation while shaping ourselves and ultimately our children to be more Christlike will be the ultimate goal. I have lived in many places where even the church and small group look so much like the world that it is easy to be discouraged and to wonder if you are the only one struggling to be intentional about pointing your children to Christ. Thank you for all your resources!
You’re welcome! Hope you can be a part of things in our new community.
I love this idea. It’s something that is needed and supplies a great resource.
I need to know more about the technology and social media kids are using that we need to be more aware of. I’m not sure where to draw the line and how to see what they’re seeing.
Yes. A number of people have asked about this, and we DEFINITELY want to address this subject.
This are all wonderful ideas! I agree with most of them so I’ll try not repeat any of what has already been mentioned.
I do wonder, is there a way to build this community of people who support courtship as teens? I think it would give our teens a great start in life, to meet others with like values and who wish to also live a Christian life & raise their own families this way. It may sound old fashioned and I’m not saying anyone “must” participate of course, but why not help our children find their God intended partners for a better chance at success while learning together?!
I’ve wanted to do something like this but wasn’t sure I had the time and resources to develop a plan of this magnitude. Just a thought! (Our kids are only elementary aged currently but it’s been on my mind since they were born!) it would be wonderful if this were a mindset that others have as well and would want the same opportunities.
I think regardless of the terms we use (dating, courtship, etc.), I think a lot of parents have this concern. They want their teens to have godly relationships that enable them to really know themselves better and to get to know others of the opposite sex in a way that is God-honoring. This kind of thing is bigger than just one family: it’s something whole churches have to deal with. This is a topic we would LOVE to tackle in this community.
Teach them to suffer well, work into the Lord, manage their lives wisely, to make wise decisions, and to live grace filled lives. Taken from Chip Ingrams “Effective Parenting in a Defective World.”
Those are biggies. Love the feedback.
I love all the topics.
I love every topic idea on here! I have 3 small kiddos (7,6 & 3) and I would love to have a place to ask questions about how to deal with playground talk and topics that are way too grown up, but seem to make it home. A place I can go for comfort as much as advice. How to treat others in a Christ like way, even though they may not be living a Christ like life. And explaining why it’s important to do so. So excited for this group!
Glad you’re excited. We are as well!
My 6 yr old is jealous of any affection that my husband and I show toward each other. We don’t leave him out of the hugs and kisses but he gets upset if we hug or hold each other. What can we do to fix this?
I’ve heard that from a number of parents. Part of this is a normal phase of development in children—actually, it’s fairly normal for people in general to want to be the focus of a loved one’s attention. Jealousy is endemic to the human condition. What’s important is to communicate (a) your child is, in fact, loved greatly, and (b) your relationship with your husband is of great importance to you and to God. This alone may not solve the jealousy over time, but it will reveal the desire in your son’s heart for an unconditional and devoted kind of love—a God-shaped hole in the heart.
That’s a great topic to consider talking about. Thanks for the feedback.
A lot of great topics already mentioned. Maybe also something about kids in church – how to help them want to go, what are reasonable expectations of them in church w/o making it a dreaded place? My husband’s a pastor, so somedays I worry about how to help my kids grow in Christ w/o falling into PK stereotypes of doing everything just cause they *have* to.
It would be wonderful to have a place where there are discussions on topics like dating-or not!, lgbt issues, grace in going against the grain of popular culture, and support from others that believe and want to follow Christ andGods word in an increasingly hostile world.
Thank you for sharing your ideas! 🙂
I did not take the time to read all the other comments, so I’m sure I’ll be mentioning something others have already mentioned! Some concerned high on my list: all aspects of sexuality including sex ed, homosexuality (we have some lesbian family members), godly marriage (more for teenagers, I suppose). Also we home school, someones else mentioned a biblical respect for ungodly leaders (maybe this would trickle down into helping your children make the moral decision about right and wrong and what to do if someone in authority asks you to do something wrong? This could be biblical laws or even an ungodly spouse in the future!)
Also, someone else mentioned bickering–huge problem! And arguing with mom and dad when they give a direction.
A helpful feature for me would be a forum where you could post a question and get other people’s answers. And maybe a search tool where you could type in (for example) “bickering” and pull up past conversations or articles someone may have written or posted, etc.
I’m excited about this community! Thanks for working hard to help all of us!
Great thoughts on topics and I really like your idea for a forum feature that’s searchable. For our beta test, we’ll be using a facebook group (because it’s free), but I think if that goes well and we decide to build this thing out I think a forum would be great.
Thank you for talking about intentional parenting. I feel lost at times just knowing how to parent my 3 determined and independent children (ages 8,6 and 3) let alone intentional parenting. I am always looking for more resources to improve our parenting and this sounds fantastic! One of my questions that I didn’t already see in other comments is how to keep a peaceful home when life is full of constant activities and demands on the families time.
Great idea! How to teach gratitude/gratefulness. How to combat complaining.
I’m really looking forward to learning from other parents and sharing my experiences.
I really appreciate the work you do for fellow Christians and homeschooling families! I struggle with how to best encourage personal devotion time for each of my children that doesn’t seem like a chore. Also, the areas of modesty and biblical sexuality are at the forefront. It’s so nice knowing we are not alone. Looking forward to the new community! Thanks!