Here is another video teaching aid using Joe. Children are concrete learners so using visuals with them is very helpful in getting a point across. You can easily adapt Joe to help you teach many things to your children.

In this video Joe learns that he is special just the way he is. Self esteem is a foundational character quality that we all need to have. We as parents need to feel good about ourselves before we can help our children learn to value their own uniqueness. God wants us all to know that He loves us just the way we are. Romans 5:8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

If you can’t get the video to play, try clicking this link.

I have heard it said that the best thing a mom can do for her child is to love that child’s father. Our love and respect for our husband sets the example for our children to learn to honor their father. No one else can teach your children that concept as well as you can because no one else is going to love their father as much as you do. Ephesians. 6:2-3 says that honoring your father (and your mother) is the first commandment that comes with a promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” It seems that the best thing we can do for our children and for their father is to exemplify honor and respect.

The Bible has something to say about how we are to treat our husbands:

Ephesians 5:33 - …each one of you must also love his own wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”

1 Peter 3:5-6 - After all, this is how holy women who had confidence in God expressed their beauty in the past. They placed themselves under their husbands’ authority as Sarah did. Sarah obeyed Abraham and spoke to him respectfully. You became Sarah’s daughters by not letting anything make you afraid to do good. (So it seems the children, the father, and the mom profit from honoring the father - it makes us more beautiful!!)

I recently read these suggestions for honoring your husband. They were written by Mary Alice Smith who was married for 67 years to Bible teacher Fred Smith:

1) Appreciate him - Never give the impression, “I could have done better.”

2) Send him off each day with a pocketful of “feel goods” Get up and fix him breakfast, compliment him on how he looks, tell him you will be glad when he comes home.

3) Believe in him - Support his motives. Let him know you believe he is sincere in what he is doing. Never tear him down or cause him to doubt himself.

4) Know what is important in his life - Don’t assume that the family is number one always, especially if he is following a calling. Let him know you and the family want to participate in his calling, and you don’t want to compete with it.

5) Be loyal to him - We have friends who always “air their dirty laundry” when we are together. When the wife exposes the husband’s weaknesses, it is usually because she is insecure.

6) Laugh when he tells a story - I try never to groan and say, “You aren’t going to tell that one again, are you?” People watch the wife when the husband is speaking.

7) Let him brag to you - It is so easy for a wife to think it’s her job to keep her husband humble, but everyone else in the world does enough of that.

8 ) Make him feel like a man - Someone once said, “Treat him like a king and he will treat you like a queen.”

9) Help him concentrate - Be careful about interrupting your husband.

10) Avoid jealousy - The “green-eyed monster” is a sure sign of insecurity and selfishness. The love in 1 Corinthians 13 certainly excludes jealousy.

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There is no higher calling for a woman than being a wife and a mother. I have always been so proud to be Mrs. Billy Daws. I am married to my best friend!! Happy Father’s Day, Billy.

It seems that God has always had us in “tight times” so we were always motivated to make the most of our situation and to enjoy the simple things.

Here are some things we have done that are very inexpensive or even free.

Play with Flour - Go outside with a cheap 5 lb. bag of flour. Sift it, pour it, mix it, throw it.

Sock wars - Save your old socks and roll each into a ball and throw them at each other

Run through the Sprinkler

Water balloons and guns

Sidewalk chalk

Mustard and Ketchup finger-painting - (to keep this from being messy, you can put a few squirts of mustard and ketchup in a baggie and seal it with tape and then press it around in the baggie)

Play dough - Just for fun or let children illustrate with play dough something from a story you just read

Goop (non toxic) - Mix 8 oz. of white glue and 6 oz. of water. Separately combine 1 tsp. of borax and half cup of water. Pour borax mixture into glue mixture and mix with hands until all liquid is absorbed and texture is smooth.

Lava pit - Take all the pillows in the house and place them around on the floor and you can only get from one place to another by stepping on a pillow.

Avalanche - Take all the pillows again and build a high tower, then take cover as it comes toppling down on everyone

Nature walk - Take a walk and discover some of God’s toys (see what I mean at our son Josh’s latest blog on God’s Toys http://www.proudlypowerless.com)

Build tents inside and out with sheets and blankets

Camp out in the backyard

Picnicking with cookie cutter peanut butter sandwiches in backyard or at a park or under a sheet draped over the kitchen table

Play with Cornstarch - Mix one part water with one-and-a-half to two parts cornstarch, adding a bit of food color for fun. It is like a thick liquid; you can sink your hand into the mixture slowly, but it will not give if you punch it quickly.

Rubber band guns - Nail a clothes pin to a stick of wood to make the gun and use rubber bands to knock down army men or whatever.

Create with masking tape - Use masking tape on the floor to make roads for cars or use it to make a pretend boat for you all to get in…just use your own imagination.

Popcorn in the backyard - If you have an electric popcorn popper, take it outside and place it on a sheet. Start it popping with no top on it and watch the popcorn fly.

Invent your own fun - Just recently our family invented a new twist to playing catch…every time we caught the ball, we had to say a movie quote.

Don’t be hesitant to make a mess. Sure there will be a lot of clean up, but you will be making memories together. Last year when my oldest son turned 30, he gave me a card for Mother’s Day with 30 reasons he was glad I was his mom; one was that I always let them make messes.

Don’t ever get too old to have fun as a family. Our children are all adults now but we still enjoy acting like kids. Jesus said that we must come to Him with the humility and faith of a little child (Luke 18:16-17, Matthew 18:1-4)…I think He wants us to approach all of life with the wonder and enjoyment of a little child.

Side Note: Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says to speak of God and His word as we go:

“And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again.“

Everything doesn’t have to be related to a Bible verse, but as you play with play dough you could share, “God tells us ‘work with your hands’ (I Thessalonians 4:11).” Or while discovering things on your nature walk you could say, “Think of the wonders of God” (Joel 2:25, Job 37:14, Psalm 40:15)

HAVE A FUN FILLED SUMMER!

The Bible story of Daniel teaches us the importance of eating the right foods. Daniel had been taken from his own country as a young boy. He remembered the teachings of his parents even in a foreign country as he refused to eat the foods that he had been taught were unhealthy.

“But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way… ‘Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see.’ At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food” (Daniel 1:8, 12,13,15, NIV).

It was around 600 BC when Daniel challenged his captors to study the effects of healthy eating. In June 2004, researchers at the University of Southampton did a similar study of the effects of healthy eating in over 1800 three-year-old children. After initial behavioral testing, all of the children got one week of a healthy diet without artificial food colorings and without any chemical preservatives. The results were that the children’s behaviors noticeably improved during this week.

What is a healthy diet for our children?

Children need whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, proteins from fish, poultry, eggs, meat, or from plant sources.

Children do not need to eat large amounts of sugar. In the 1800s, the average American consumed 12 pounds of sugar per year. By 1997, it jumped to 154 pounds per year. This amounts to 53 teaspoonfuls of added sugar per day (6-18 teaspoonfuls per day is the recommended amount).

Dr. Alan Greene of Children’s Hospital of Northern California says: “Giving your child a breakfast that contains fiber (such as oatmeal, shredded wheat, berries, bananas, or whole-grain pancakes) should keep adrenaline levels more constant and make the school day a more wondrous experience. Packing her or his lunch box with delicious, fiber-containing treats (such as whole-grain breads, peaches, grapes, or any other fresh fruits) may turn afternoons at home into a delight.”

According to 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, our bodies are Temples for Jesus to live in. Until our children are old enough to take care of their own Temples, God entrusts us with their care spiritually and physically. Daily ask Him for guidance as you gently and lovingly guide them to make wise choices in every area of their lives.

If you haven’t heard, Steven Curtis Chapman’s 5 year old daughter was accidentally run over and killed on May 21. Please be in prayer for this family.

Not long ago, after trying to rush through a bath time with his young daughters, he wrote a song called “Cinderella”. You can hear the song by clicking here. Please listen after the song finishes as Steven tells why he wrote the song.

We have just a short moment in time with our children so “make the most of every opportunity you have for doing good.” (Ephesians 5:16)

Jesus set the example for valuing time spent with children: Then Jesus took the children into his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. (Mark 10:16) But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to such as these.” Matthew 19:14

I pray for you lots of time to snuggle and read with your little ones, hours of family playtime, and many opportunities to teach your children.

Building Memories

by Sandra D. Romans

So much to do - I have not time

To listen now, I say,

And hurry back to the chores

That always fills my day.

No time to listen? A small voice

Seemed to whisper in my ear…

Soon your little ones will be gone

And you’ll wish to hold them near.

I left my broom - the chores undone

And found them under the apple tree.

I held them close and listened while

Their love and we built a memory.

Sunday night I called my mentor who taught me to teach children. Her name is Jo Bevington. Her love for Jesus and passion for leading little ones to Christ is infectious. Although she never had children of her own, there are many, many children who have come to believe in Jesus either directly by her, or by the many mothers she has taught to train their children for the Lord. She started working with children as a teenager and is now 85. So that is around 70 years of teaching children and teaching others to teach children. She got her doctorate in early childhood education when she was 58. She did her dissertation on building faith in the preschooler, birth through 3 years old!!!! I told her I would love to get a copy of that and she said she might try to send it to me.

I work for a local school system in the childcare. One of the mothers is having a tough time with her three-year-old son. Here is the letter I sent the mother. I hope it helps her and anyone else having a hard time dealing with a specific issue with your child.

Dear —–,
I so admire yall’s diligence with —-. Yall are doing a great job. I was praying about what to say or do to encourage you and I thought I would just share with you some things that have helped me through the years of raising my four children.

First of all, I had to constantly claim 1 Thessalonians 5:24 “He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it.” God has called you to be —-’s mother and He will do it through you.

Another thing that helped was whenever one of my children was struggling in a certain area, I would try to find a scripture to help him learn and to pray for him. Isaiah 55:11 says “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

According to this scripture, there is power in the Word, so we should send it into our children and God will accomplish what He purposes with it. For example when one of my sons was struggling with anger we learned and prayed Proverbs 29:8 “A wise man turns away anger”. Or when they were struggling with showing kindness we learned and prayed
Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another”.

Lastly, I once heard an old pastor named Oliver Price say that “God works in the life of children through the parents, and the parents works in the life of the children through prayer.” There have been so many times that all I could do was just admit I couldn’t handle a situation and give my child back to Him and just pray for him or her. Sometimes I think God is saying, “Just get out of the way and let me handle the situation.” After all, God loves our children more than we do and desires even more than we do that they turn out good!

I just wanted you to know I was thinking of you. I have really grown to love —- and so enjoy the time I get to spend with him. Don’t worry about him; he is such an amazing little boy and I know he will grow to be a wonderful man of valor.

Love,

Sheilah

All of these passages point to the childlike wonderment, but I couldn’t think of just a single verse.

I thought of this story because the children were so excited and filled with wonder to see Jesus, they started running around and shouting praises without any inhibitions.

Matthew 21:15-16 (Living)

But when the chief priests and other Jewish leaders saw these wonderful miracles and heard even the little children in the Temple shouting, “God bless the Son of David,” they were disturbed and indignant and asked him, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”
[16] “Yes,” Jesus replied. “Didn’t you ever read the Scriptures? For they say, ‘Even little babies shall praise him!’ ”

This points out that it pleases God for children to experience things with more understanding than an adult.

Matthew 11:25-26 (Living)
And Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise, and for revealing it to little children. [26] Yes, Father, for it pleased you to do it this way! . . .

These next two point out that God wants us to come to Him like a child. Maybe He wants us to experience all of life like a child!!!!

Matthew 18:1-4 (Living)
About that time the disciples came to Jesus to ask which of them would be greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven!
[2] Jesus called a small child over to him and set the little fellow down among them, [3] and said, “Unless you turn to God from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. [4] Therefore anyone who humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Luke 18:16-17 (NLT)
Then Jesus called for the children and said to the disciples, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. [17] I assure you, anyone who doesn’t have their kind of faith will never get into the Kingdom of God.”

Love you bunches!

Proverbs 22:6 (NKJV)
Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6 (NLT)
Teach your children to choose the right path, and when they are older, they will remain upon it.

Proverbs 22:6 (Living)
Teach a child to choose the right path, and when he is older, he will remain upon it.

Proverbs 22:6 (MsgB)
Point your kids in the right direction—
when they’re old they won’t be lost.

Proverbs 22:6 (GW)
Train a child in the way he should go,
and even when he is old he will not turn away from it.