A godly mother

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Helps for teaching your children about Easter

Here are some excellent books to read to your children as you prepare for Resurrection Sunday.

And here are a few more videos and tools to help your children learn about the significance of this high point of the story of redemption!

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The most important life skill

David Murray:

There’s one characteristic that separates the successful from the unsuccessful in every walk of life: teachability.

Those who are teachable, and remain so, usually succeed. The unteachable usually fail. I’ve seen that in business, I’ve seen it in the ministry, I’ve seen it among students, and I’ve seen it in my children.

No matter how much talent and gifting we have, if we are, or become, unteachable, we will never reach anywhere near our full potential in our careers, our callings, or our relationships.

What does teachability look like?  What does unteachability look like?  What is another biblical name for teachability?  Read the rest of “The Most Essential Life Skill” by Murray to find out.

And parents, read David’s words to your children tonight!

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A plea from Daisy’s mom to all parents!

A plea to parents from Kate Merrick, whose 8-year-old daughter Daisy is now with Jesus:

Love your babies, your husbands, mothers, sisters.

Love each day like it’s your last.

All you mamas out there, you have been entrusted with the precious gift of a human life who depends on you.

Enjoy your gift.

Breathe in the scent of your child’s hair, breath.

Let them cook with you and make a mess of the kitchen.

Play hide and seek with them, build sand castles with them, take them on picnics, read to them!

Listen to them, value and respect them, never shame them.

Your words they will carry with them their whole life and you have the power to give them wings or stunt their growth.

Motherhood can be tough but it’s worth it.

It can be exhausting, boring, tedious, but never for long.

You blink and they’re grown.

It has been my honor and privilege to love Daisy these last 8 years.

I’m thankful for every minute; the joyful and the terrible alike.

 

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Gospel-centered mothering

Short but helpful article here which shares three areas moms can kind of a do a “quick check” on mothering in between more significant times of evaluation and planning. Gospel-centered mothering certainly involves more than these three things, but not less.

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Weak mothers are good mothers

Christine Hoover writes about her struggle with being a good mother. She concludes,

A good mother is not one who bakes intricate treats, who schools a certain way, who manages her household within an inch of its life, or who has her children in a million wonderful activities. A good mother is one that acknowledges her need for the power of God to train and teach and change the hearts of her children.

The most important thing I can do for my children each day is to trust God and acknowledge my weakness, not rely on myself. He will take my meager offering and turn it into a miracle.

Read how she describes her struggle–one that I’m guessing many mothers reading this post can relate to.

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Should you raise your children without God?

A CNN iReport titled “Why I Raise My Children Without God” has been making some waves, so I thought I’d choose a portion of it for this week’s challenge. We’ve already covered some of the objections in the article about evil (most of the objections in the article come down to the problem of evil) and prayer, so I went with the one on morality: 

God Does Not Teach Children to Be Good: A child should make moral choices for the right reasons. Telling him that he must behave because God is watching means that his morality will be externally focused rather than internally structured. It’s like telling a child to behave or Santa won’t bring presents. When we take God out of the picture, we place responsibility of doing the right thing onto the shoulders of our children. No, they won’t go to heaven or rule their own planets when they die, but they can sleep better at night. They will make their family proud. They will feel better about who they are. They will be decent people.

Does an “internally focused” morality create better people than one that’s enforced by God? What do you think?  Here’s one  video response.

–Stand to Reason

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Counseling wives and mothers who feel like failures

Nicole imagines a conversation that goes like this:

“I feel like such a failure. I’m a horrible mom and a terrible wife. I’m exhausted, depressed, and overwhelmed.”

Then she turns to you and asks:

Sound like a mom you know? How would you counsel this woman? What gospel-centered words would you give her? Maybe you are that mom. As your soul’s counselor, how do you apply the gospel?

I’d encourage ladies to read “Gospel-Centered Counsel for Moms” and learn how to”discern the specific gospel-truth that applies to a particular discouraged mom in her unique situation.”

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Parenting young children

Here are 24 encouragements, with examples and explanations, on parenting young kids, from Pastor Steve McCoy:

1. Believe Kids Are A Blessing
2. Read The Jesus Storybook Bible To Them
3. Pray With Your Kids Concerning Taking Risks
4. Teach *First Time Obedience*
5. Give Rules For Respectful Disagreement
6. Give Rules For Respectful Interruption
7. Give Rules For Being Respectful in Public
8. The Five Minute Rule (Warning)
9. Pre-Event Preparation/Conversation
10. Titles of Respect for Adults (No First Names)
11. Use Timers
12. Sharing Is Not Requested, It’s Essential
13. Boys Treat Girls Differently Than Boys
14. Play Rough & Teach Kids To Get Over It
15. Kids Sit With You In Church
16. Ask Your Kids To Forgive You
17. Kiss Your Spouse In Front Of Them
18. Talking Back To Mom Is Talking Back To My Wife
19. Hugs & Kisses To Friends
20. Disagree In Front Of Your Kids
21. Keep/Give Away
22. Teach Your Kids To Sing
23. Teach Your Kids God Loves Them More Than You
24. Get In The Pool

Read the whole thing for a short explanation of each point.

HT: JT

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Why do I have to tell my child something twenty times?

“Why do you tell your child a thing twenty times?” asked some one of a mother. “Because,” said she, “I find nineteen times is not enough.” Now, when a soul is to be ploughed, it may so happen that hundreds of furrows will not do it. What then? Why, plough all day till the work is done. Whether you are ministers, missionaries, teachers, or private soul-winners, never grow weary, for your work is noble, and the reward of it is infinite. The grace of God is seen in our being permitted to engage in such holy service; it is greatly magnified in sustaining us in it, and it will be pre-eminently conspicuous in enabling us to hold out till we can say, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.”

~Charles Haddon Spurgeon (HT: GirlTalk)

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