Hi Friends - Today producer Lynne and I talked about wedding season and the new trend in “all about me” weddings - including choreographed first dances worthy of a broadway production. Have we forgotten that a wedding isn’t just about the two people involved, but is a compact with the community? Answer = YES. The more marriages become “all about me,” the more weddings will reflect ridiculous “look at me” excess.
Then we talked to David Staal at Willow Creek Community Church. He’s my good friend, and the director of the Promiseland Ministry there which oversees thousands of kids from infant through 5th grade. Dave is a GREAT resource for leading kids to Christ, and is the author of “Leading Your Child to Jesus,” and “Leading Kids to Jesus.” I asked Dave to talk with us about the coming summer, and we parents can use that time to build our relationships with our kids, build them spiritually, AND keep from going crazy!
Dave said three things are really important:
Have your kids read parts of the Bible. Almost every child is told by their school they have to keep up with summer reading, so pick some great books of the Bible and have your child read them start to finish - hey there are some great stories in there! How about the Book of Esther, or Ruth, or 1st and 2nd Samuel?
Then, most of us will take some kind of vacation with our kids. Dave suggests picking just a few Bible verses that matter a lot to you as a parent, and sort of make them your “vacation” verses. Learn them, talk about them, ask you kids what THEY think the Bible is teaching them there? Just a few minutes a day batting them around between roller coaster rides could be great.
Finally - keep going to church. David points out that so many families, even when they are in town, take a “break” from church during the summer. He fears that kids then associate the church schedule with the school calendar and guess what - when they are “done” with school after college might they think they are “done” with church too?? In the meantime, as Christians we are called to worship in every season. So don’t teach your kids to take summer “off!” After all, God doesn’t take time off from us, right?
And how do we parents keep from going crazy with the kids home? Lots of summer projects where they are forced to cooperate - from gardening to small repairs to painting (that’s what Dave have his kids do) are a great idea. Lynne and I definitely think we are asking too little of our own kids!
A few resources I love: for little kids this summer consider “Tell me About God” by Susan Harding. “A” is for Almighty, “B” is for “Blessed” and so it goes with a little lesson for little ears and hearts (and boy does that make things easier for mom and dad.)
For older kids, I love Training Hearts and Teaching Minds by Starr Meade. Each week takes one lesson from the Westminster Confession of Faith (a distillation of basic christian teaching written some 400years ago) and breaks it down into short easy bites the whole family can feed on!
Here’s what I’m going to do with my kids this summer: “The Young Peacmaker” by Corlette Sande. We need it! It’s an entirely different way of looking at sibling relations and dealing with conflict in a way that honors God, and prepares kids (and all of us) for the real world.
And for those long car trips? How about putting down the videos, and renting some great books on tape, or borrowing them from the library. Listening together will give you all something to talk about when you get to the hotel.
And now - I’m developing a list of projects for my kids to do around the house this summer (per David’s suggestions!)
In the meantime, I’d love to meet you on June 9th at the Huntington Learning Center in Lake Villa. Please let us know you’re coming by clicking on the form at the right. Come and bring a friend, and I’ll sign my book “It Takes a Parent” for you!
And tune in next week when we talk to David Briggs of the Good Sense Ministry at Willow Creek Community Church - (and before that with GE) or says “don’t panic about breaking the bank to send your kids to an elite college” - he’ll tell us why next week. . .
Have a great week - blessings - Betsy
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Posted By: Betsy
Hi Friends - I hope you get a chance to listen today to “It Takes a Parent,” as I interview Carol Liebau, author of the new book, “Prude: How the Sex Obsessed Culture Damages Girls - And America Too.” Carol and I talk about taking on what Laura Ingraham calls the “Pornified Culture” when it comes to our kids, and helping them value themselves rightly in this crazy world. We also look at the New York Times magazine story from last week about kids on college campuses, even elite campuses like MIT and Harvard, who are saying “no” to the hook-up culture. Are these kids setting a new standard, or are they just swimming upstream?