Keep reading for a God is omnipresent object lesson that’s super simple and kids will love to replicate! “How can I know God is there when I can’t see him?” My son’s honest-but-tough 4-year old question stumped me. How can we really trust that God is there when we can’t see him? It’s hard for kids to understand that God is everywhere, all the time, especially since we can’t see him at all. To be honest, most adults can’t grasp this either! It’s unfortunate that God is invisible, isn’t it? If we could see him, it sure would clear up a lot of questions. Unfortunately, that is not the way God has chosen to make himself known in the world. So he’s invisible, but he’s also everywhere. The fancy word for “God is everywhere” is “omnipresent”. Here is a great object lesson you can use to help your kids understand … Read More
Can preschoolers celebrate Lent?
This year, for the first time ever, I’m trying to do a bit of teaching on Lent with my kids. We talked a bit about Ash Wednesday and how people put ashes in a cross shape on their face. When they went to bed I traced a cross on their foreheads with my finger, which got a little weirded-out chuckle from them. BUT they did remember it for a few days! 😉 The next day we started our own version of “giving up for Lent”. Every time they do something kind or sacrificial for someone they get to put a dry bean in a jar. The plan is that the jar will be full of beans by the time Easter comes around. They are really getting into it, and both older boys got to add a couple beans today. At supper, Daddy accidentally knocked over the salt, and Dodger (age … Read More
Explaining The Bible To A Child…Starting With Jesus
Explaining the Bible to a child (or teaching the Bible to a child) can seem tricky, but it gets easier when you start near the end: with Jesus. Read on to find out WHY you should start with Jesus, HOW to start with Jesus, and some great Bible-teaching resources to use with kids. Why explaining the Bible to a child is so hard… If you’ve ever tried to sum up a novel, you’ll have a small inkling of why its difficult to explain the Bible to a child. For starters, it’s ridiculously long. The Bible is so long that people often commit to reading it in a year…and fail because there are just SO many words. The Bible isn’t written as a single narrative, which makes it far more complex than any other book you use in teaching your child. The Bible contains poetry and story and wisdom literature and … Read More
Best Christian Board Books from 2019!
Reading with your toddler can take incredible persistence! All the gnawing and grabbing and drooling can destroy your books. Thankfully, many of your favorite children’s books have been made into board books, and there are many new selections being published exclusively as board books. If you’d like to combine READING time with teaching your little ones the Christian faith, check out this list of the BEST Christian board books from 2019! As I’ve connected more with other authors over the past year, it’s been my immense pleasure to watch them put out book babies into the world! There have been many excellent new board books this year, and I want to highlight a few. The “Good News!” series The new “Good News!” Series from Our Daily Bread and Glenys Nellist is delightful. All 3 books came out this year. Good News! God Made Me! has two major things going for … Read More
A Tool To Help Kids Process Their Emotions
I’d like to welcome Kristin Vanderlip today to talk about how to help kids process their emotions. For years, I defined my life by its struggles—and I let them define me. I watched as the color drained right out of my life. My life with Jesus didn’t feel full or abundant. Instead, I felt empty and weary. This was not how it was supposed to be. So I leaned in and dug in and began to open myself up to deep soul work with Jesus, therapists, and mentors. Out of this work came my first journal, Life Worth Living: A Daily Growth Journal, the pages of which both absorbed and acted as catalyst for growth and transformation. As I learned and grew and wrote in my Life Worth Living journal, my kids (then ages 4 and 7) drew near and grew curious. What’s that mommy? What are you doing mommy? What are you writing … Read More
A simple way to help kids pray (+ free printables!)
Teach your kids to pray using this time-tested routine, and free prayer printables for kids! Teaching our children to communicate with God is foundational to helping them develop an actual relationship with him. But prayer is a mystery, isn’t it? As adults, it takes years to learn how to talk to God, and it’s even harder as parents to know how to help kids pray. Have you ever found yourself doing one of these less-than-helpful types of prayer with your kids? You repeat the same prayer ad nauseum. You know the kind – “…if I die before I wake, I pray dear Lord my soul to take.” Nothing to put our children into a sound sleep like talk of death, right? 🙂 You pray a sermon. I’m guilty of this one a lot!! “Dear Lord we know that you want us to obey you in everything and I ask that you would … Read More
4 Uplifting Phrases for Kids Dealing With Loss
My newest release is called Quinn Says Goodbye, a children’s story about the presence of God when life is hard or confusing. It seems like a deep topic for a children’s book, doesn’t it? But children have to deal with loss and hard things all the time. Did any of the following affect you as a child? Hospitalization Changing schools A friend moving away The loss of a favorite toy Left a favorite teacher behind when moving to the next grade The death of a grandparent, relative, or family friend Adoption / Fostering Moving Loss of a pet See what I mean? Loss affects nearly all children in some form or another. The way we help them work through it as a child has a HUGE impact on how they deal with loss as an adult. Nothing hurts more than seeing your child in pain. But as much as we … Read More
How to Help Children Embrace the Mystery in Christianity
Of the 9 worship styles for kids, a child that leans toward the Enthusiast style is one who loves the mystery in Christianity. Learn how to help your enthusiast child connect with God through mystery and movement without losing their head-faith in the process. What is an enthusiast? Some people connect with God best when their emotions are high. This may occur during a worship service, an intense time of prayer, or when waking up from a vivid dream. Many discount this time as simply an emotional high, but from personal experience, I know that many of these encounters with God are real. It takes discernment to take those experiences and use them as building blocks of deep faith, but emotional experiences can contribute towards rootedness. A few years ago I had a friend whose daughter had visions and dreams from God, is highly creative, and worships enthusiastically. The enthusiast … Read More
The 8 Best Books About Heaven for Kids
I was a children’s ministry director for nearly 12 years and was asked several times to recommend books about heaven for kids who had experienced loss. What follows are the ones I recommended back then, plus a few newer books. Also, if your child is directly dealing with the death of someone, this free resource has been very helpful to a lot of Christian parents! 1. Someday Heaven Larry Libby This is a book I remember vividly from my own childhood. The paintings showed me that being in heaven would be a joy, and that it was nothing to be afraid of. This is always my top recommendation as it’s also very well-researched and Biblical. I don’t remember reading all the text as a child, because it was quite long, but it provides some great talking points for parents. Check it out on Amazon. 2. Someone I Love Died Christine … Read More
How to Explain Death to a Child Biblically
Learn how to explain death to a child Biblically through Scripture and simple phrases children can understand. This article will equip you to know what to say when your child has to deal with the hardest thing in life: death. His face crumpled behind his boy-man hands. “I miss Great-Grandpa,” my 10 year old said, as tears streamed down his face. “Being with him were some of my favourite times.” My son was only 5 years old when my Grandpa died, but the heartache was coming to the forefront suddenly, which is what grief does. It rears its head when we least expect it and are unprepared for the crush of emotions. I’ve experienced this myself on many occasions. Most recently, I was utterly shocked when I discovered a CD that I thought was a mix created by my sister. It turned out to be a compilation of songs that … Read More