It's every Christian parent's worst fear - watching their child walk away from the faith they were raised in. Studies show that a shocking 70% of kids raised in Christian homes will leave the church after high school. With the odds stacked against us, how can we raise children who keep the faith as adults? While [...]
Prominent child psychologist, Dr. Lee Salk, once remarked, “The trauma of divorce is second only to death. Children sense a deep loss and feel they are suddenly vulnerable to forces beyond their control.” Those who would have us believe that children are resilient and able to readily adapt to the changes that divorce forces upon [...]
“Discipline your children while there is hope, otherwise you will ruin their lives.” Prov. 19:18 Put your child’s happiness first as the guiding value in your home Parenting Insights: Happiness is a transitory, conditional, feeling based on circumstances, it is not a value, therefore, we should not strive to build a parental relationship based on [...]
Childhood isn’t stress-free. Kids take tests, learn new information, change schools, change neighborhoods, get sick, get braces, encounter bullies, make new friends and occasionally get hurt by those friends. What helps kids emotionally navigate these kinds of challenges is resilience. The word resilience comes from the Latin verb – resilire – “to jump back.” In [...]
By the age of four it’s common for children to already be carrying emotional pain. By age eight, many have already found an escape behavior. On average, it takes fifteen years from the first involvement in an escape behavior to when that person hits bottom (i.e., powerless over the behavior; lacking the ability to stop.) Emotional pain [...]
What is self-control? Self-control is the ability to stop and think before acting. Self-control leads to good choices, which are the building blocks of self-esteem. NOTE: The determining factor of success is self-control, not self-esteem. Why is self-control important? Self-control gives your child a much better chance of making a good choice in a given [...]
Laying a good foundation during a child’s formative years is critically important in determining who and what they will become as an adult. Key Thought: When a father clearly understands and consistently carries out his God-given role, his children tend to excel in the areas of character, conduct, and achievement. Corollary: When a father abandons his God-given [...]
American families are in a state of constant motion. Kids seem to always have someplace they are supposed to be. The typical day for kids begins early and ends late, which means the parents’ day does too. There is school, sports, entertainment, friends, hobbies, church, youth group activities, and on and on it goes. Everyone [...]
Consistency is the Golden Rule of effective parenting. It is the most important decision you will make when it comes to disciplining your child. Being consistent, however, is not easy. It requires dedication even on the days when you feel exhausted, when life is hectic, and when you just want to make your child happy. [...]
Introduction: Most parents yell at their kids and are fairly astute at giving excuses for their behavior. We all know, however, that we shouldn’t yell and that it has a long-term, negative impact on our kids. This lesson is focused on stopping the behavior. Why? BECAUSE IT IS WRONG AND DOESN”T WORK! Why Yelling Doesn’t Work: [...]
