Growing as a Parent

Jason and I have been teaching a Parenting Class on Wednesday nights. It's been a great class, with thought provoking teaching by Dr. Kevin Lehman, and really practical discussion among the entire group. Tonight is week four, and I was just thinking this morning about what I have personally learned and applied from this class.

I try often to be reading some sort of parenting book or be looking for a resource that will not only be helpful to me as I parent my own kids, but to you as well as you parent yours. So my question to you today is, what are you doing to grow as a parent? What intentional steps are you taking to not only raise your kids well, but to raise fully devoted followers of Christ?

If you need a resource suggestion, let me know...I have a lot of them!

The Read & Share Bible

Recently, Thomas Nelson publishers sent me a Bible to review - and one to give away. At the end of this post I will tell you how you can enter to the extra copy, so stay with me!

I love Bibles that get younger kids excited about reading God's Word. Admittedly, JJ (our three year old) carries around a Bible that was sort of "cast off" by one of the girls when they got a new Bible last Christmas. It is big, bulky, and nothing that I would sit and read to a three year old for any extended period of time. The Read and Share Bible is something totally different though, because it is written for little ones. It takes 200 of the best loved Bible stories, and the author, Gwen Ellis has retold these stories in a way that will captivate young hearts and minds.

It groups these stories in categories such as "Abraham's Family," "David," "Jonah," and "Jesus' Life." There are 37 of these groupings, covering the entire Bible, highlighting stories that are easy for little ones to understand and remember.

This Bible is colorfully illustrated, helping preschoolers make that connection has they hear the story and see the pictures unfold.

As a Children's Pastor, it is so important to me that children understand the importance of God's Word in their daily lives. It is never too early to introduce these stories to your kids, and tools like the Read and Share Bible are a perfect way to get your youngest Christ Followers in the Bible daily.

If you would like more information on the Read and Share Bible, go to here. You will find an excerpt of this Bible on the Read and Share tab.

Okay, so whether you have a little one in your life you can share this Bible with, or you just like to win free stuff...here is how you can win a free copy of the Read and Share Bible. Leave a comment on this post and tell me what your favorite Bible Story is. If you are reading this on Facebook go here to leave a comment. You can also enter yourself by Tweeting about this post. If you don't have a twitter account, maybe today is the day to start one! You can leave as many comments as you would like as long as you are telling me about a different Bible Story you love each time, and Tweet once a day. On Friday (January 21st) at Noon, I will put these names into a "virtual" hat and pick a winner. Go for it!

A New Year, A New Bible Reading Plan

I am so pleased by how well our kids and families responded to our Bible Reading Plan for the year 2010. Last year at this time, we introduced a plan that would have every participant reading through the entire New Testament in a year. Dozens started, many stayed on track, and some finished.

The reality of parenting kids, teaching kids, and even pastoring kids is that they need incentives to get things done. That's why we give monetary allowances, trips to Dairy Queen, and use sticker charts. We know as adults that it's a million times easier to get our kids to follow through if we give them something to strive for.

I launched the plan by telling the kids that they could bring back their plans signed by Mom or Dad every other month for a prize. This ranged from things like a Subway Kids Pack, to a bag of fireworks near the 4th of July. Those prizes were just the beginning though, because this Sunday, January 9th I will be taking several kids to lunch in a limo.

To get kids to complete a goal is always satisfying, and I'm thankful for the parents who helped their children follow through. The most valuable thing here, however is the fact that all of these kids, whether they read part or all of the New Testament, spent time in the Word of God.

For the year 2011, we are taking a different approach. We are using a different plan, that will have kids reading all over the Bible. The amount they read will depend on their age, and if Mom and Dad are following the Life Journal reading plan available at Bethel (Wayne Cordeiro) Parents and Kids will be reading in sync with one another. Yes, there will be prizes, and yes, I will continue to remind kids of that fact. But more than that, I am looking forward to getting even more kids excited about reading the Word of God everyday.