Spiritual Parenting

Shortly after we had our third kiddo under 3, we figured it might be a good time to learn some parenting skills…so we signed up for Spiritual Parenting. Over the course of a few months we and several other families joined Sherri and Bonnie, who led weekly sessions, and discovered how we parent, why we parent the way we do, and God’s plan for parenting.  The weekly sessions were divided into discussions of environments we can create in our homes to introduce our children to Christ. Some of my favorites were story-telling, course correction and serving others.

Story-telling emphasizes how the stories of the Bible are like chapters in God’s big story, which continues today to include our lives and those of our children. Unlike the typical presentation of children’s Bible books and songs which portray heroes and heroines such as David, Ruth, Joseph, etc., this environment acknowledges God as the master storyteller and recognizes His casting of various characters to most effectively tell His story.

Course correction involves the use of discipline to steer our children back on track, with a motive to restore and heal. We also learned that effective methods of discipline may differ from child to child just as God uses tailored methods of discipline when he corrects us.  Unique in this presentation was the encouragement to apply grace in our responses to disobedience in our children, instead of responding with discipline every time

The creation of a service environment involves teaching our children to maintain our home by serving each other, and including our children in our acts of service to others. Some ideas we have incorporated are encouraging generosity by giving away our surplus toys to families in need and signing our family up to serve at the church’s community luncheon. Although we're still honing our parenting skills, and will be for years to come, Spiritual Parenting provided several valuable tools to include in our box.

 - Joanna Galbraith

 

 

Pastor's recommended reading:

Love and War by John and Stasi Eldredge.  Author's of  Wild at Heart and Captivating.

If you want a book that will encourage you and inspire a greater vision for your marriage this is a good one.  Through helpful vulnerability John and Stasi will give you hope for your marriage to be even better. 

You Can Change by Tim Chester
God's power can change you  This book will help you understand how the process of change works with the integration of the Word, the Holy Spirit and you.