Jul. 5, 2009 - Purposeful and Intentional Parenting - Part 3, Praising the Lord with songs

I recently wrote a guest post for Joy at Stay at Home Missionary and I wanted to elaborate more on that so here is the Part 3 of my series on Purposeful and Intentional Parenting.

"Teaching our children about God and their need for him is our most important role as parents. We can do this daily from the moment of their arrival by reading to them from the Bible, teaching them songs that bring praise to the Lord, helping them to see God in our everyday moments, praying diligently for them. Look for opportunities throughout the day to help your children delight in the Lord. Teach them about His creation and how they can glorify Him with their lives."

Teach your children songs that bring praise to the Lord.  I don't think that I have to tell you that most children love listening to music and singing, so put that to good use and teach them songs that will strengthen their faith and encourage them over a lifetime.  Look for songs that are not only biblically sound, but that also have a nice tune or arrangement.

One of many great options to choose from would be singing the psalms and other scripture that has been set to music.  You can easily buy a Psalter and an accompanying CD to learn to sing the Psalms if you are not familiar with them.  Crown and Covenant also has Psalm CD's specifically for children here.  Behemoth.com also has several great downloadable selections here, (be sure to scroll through the selections, there are several pages).

There is so much music out there to pick from, I want to encourage you to really read over the words of the songs and discern if they are songs that will bring glory to the Lord.  Even if you don't sing well your children will be blessed by your efforts, so I encourage you to take the time to enjoy singing and praising the Lord together.

I am not saying that those are the only songs that your children should learn or listen to, but to make them an important part of their growing up years. 

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Jul. 3, 2009 - Helping your children to delight in God.

"Teaching our children about God and their need for him is our most important role as parents. We can do this daily from the moment of their arrival by reading to them from the Bible, teaching them songs that bring praise to the Lord, helping them to see God in our everyday moments, praying diligently for them. Look for opportunities throughout the day to help your children delight in the Lord. Teach them about His creation and how they can glorify Him with their lives."



Look for opportunities throughout the day to help your children delight in the Lord and to see Him in the everyday moments.  As you step outside and feel a soft breeze blowing, take a moment and talk about how sweet it is that God gives us breezes and how nice they feel.  If there is a strong wind instead, you can talk about that also, share with your child how God uses the wind to change the weather and how like the Holy Spirit he blows it where He wants.  Maybe you just finished reading a wonderful story, talk about how delightful it is that God gave us words to be able to share stories like that.  Is your child healing from getting their wisdom teeth out, like my youngest daughter this week? Share with them the wonders of how our bodies heal and how sometimes in life we need to just be still and rest.  Look around you and be aware of His presence, He is always at work, help your children to see that and to delight in it.

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Jul. 3, 2009 - Purposeful and Intentional Parenting - Part 2, Reading the Bible to your children.

I recently wrote a guest post for Joy at Stay at Home Missionary and I wanted to elaborate more on that so here is the first of many installments on Purposeful and Intentional Parenting.

"Teaching our children about God and their need for him is our most important role as parents. We can do this daily from the moment of their arrival by reading to them from the Bible, teaching them songs that bring praise to the Lord, helping them to see God in our everyday moments, praying diligently for them. Look for opportunities throughout the day to help your children delight in the Lord. Teach them about His creation and how they can glorify Him with their lives."
 
Reading to them from the Bible - The Bible is full of rich treasures, so be sure to teach the whole Bible to your children.  (Be sensitive to their age and know that some subjects can wait until they are more mature.) Don't depend on your local church or Sunday School class to do this for you. They can assist you if you choose, but the Bible is clear that it is the parents who are responsible for this teaching.  The wonderful thing about this is that as you teach your children you will learn more and more, so do not be afraid of not knowing enough.  A wonderful children's Bible is Catherine Vos's The Child's Story Bible, and as they get old enough to read help them to get in the habit of reading God's word on their own. And don't stop when they reach adulthood - keep reading to them.

You may want to take some time and listen to Ken Ham's State of the Nation that can be accessed here for free. He makes some very interesting points about Sunday School, what is being taught in them, and some very important problems that our modern day churches are facing.

So if anything, don't neglect the reading of Scripture and filling them with God's wisdom.

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Jun. 18, 2009 - Purposeful and Intentional Parenting

I wrote a guest post for Joy at Stay At Home Missionary on parenting and you can read it here.  Joy and her family have been serving on the mission field and have been traveling back to the states for a nice long furlough.  While they are missionaries on the field, Joy sees that her main ministry is to her family.  We must not ever forget that and we must tell others about it.  When I was first saved and began going to church, I was often encouraged to find a ministry and plug in, no one told me that my husband and children should be my ministry.  That is a shame!  Thankfully the Lord put women in my path such as Sally Clarkson & Jenny Chancey to point me back home! 

Over the next week or two I will be elaborating more on Purposeful and Intentional Parenting so check back for more. 

May the Lord bless you as you serve and bless your family.

Robin

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