Tis the season for the topic of gratitude! You'll hear it from the pulpit, the radio and even your favorite podcasters. As Christians we know being grateful is more than just a certain month set aside to be thankful. But do we really know how to live that way? Let's consider what it means to live gratefully and pick up some tips for how build a ...
Impressing on Children
Do You Understand Pragmatics?
Pragmatics. Depending on your education and experiences, pragmatics may or may not be a word that you are familiar with. Even with my education background, it wasn't until we were neck deep in Bubs' delays that I began to understand what pragmatics is and why it is so important. What is Pragmatics? Pragmatics is the study of language ...
How to Turn Ordinary Moments into God-Moments
Have you ever wondered how some parents can take ordinary moments and turn them into God-moments that impact children's hearts for eternity? Around Parenting to Impress and ABCJesusLovesMe we call these "Teachable Moments." And with just a few tips, I believe you will be able to have multiple God-moments with your kiddos too! Let's dive in. ...
Ultimate List of Must-Read Books for Kids
The research is unanimous - children should be read to and read to often. But (sadly) not all books are created equal. Quality books build imagination, a love for reading, curiosity, vocabulary, and pragmatics. The rest...well...don't do these things. Because I know the frustration of wading through a sea of books to find the best, I have ...
Characteristics of a God-Centered Family Part 3
Wow! This Parenting to Impress Podcast series with youth pastor, Scott Jones, and the corresponding blogposts have just been so encouraging to me! I hope you've been able to join the conversation and have been prompted to think about the attributes of a God-focused family. My husband and I have been processing through these ideas, prayerfully ...
Characteristics of a God-Centered Family, Part 2 (Giveaway)
The world tells us our feelings are our truth. Emotions or circumstance define you...in that moment. But feelings and circumstances change leaving an unstable foundation of beliefs. Friends, this is one of the biggest issues facing our tweens and teens today. Two others are busyness and a cultural value of specialization. We invite you to dig ...
Characteristics of a God-Centered Family, Part 1
We live in an instant-pot, microwave, Instagram society. Everything happens at breakneck speed. According to social media, if our calendars aren't jam packed with activities, we are failing our kids. I mean, what kind of bad mom would let her kid be bored??? But is this best for our children? Will it reap the God-centered families that we ...
Should Raising Good Kids Be Your Goal?
If I polled 100 Christian parents, I bet all would agree that they desire to raise "good" children -those who are kind to others, respectful to authority, and stay out of trouble. Isn’t this a good goal? Piggybacking on last week's blog post, blogger Barrett Johnson encourages us to rethink this target. Raising "Good" Kids "The ...
The 5 Major Blind Spots in Christian Parenting
About 10 years ago an article called, "Exposing the 7 Major Blind Spots of Homeschoolers" went viral on social media. Even Christian parents who didn't homeschool - like our family - shared it because the truths hit home. Now that I'm parenting teens, I reread the article through a different lens. But I was once again challenged to confront my ...
Parenting Tip: Validating Your Child
A while back Peanut was disciplined for something he did although he knew not to. He was very upset with himself for again making the same mistake and yelled out, "I'm so stupid." He then sulked away waiting for someone to take the bait. Someone to say, "No, you're not! You are a great kid. You.... You..." in a way that begs the child to think ...