Need Real Help Teaching Your Kids to Get Along? Look no further!

Having six kids in eleven years (then adopting our last five years later) explains a big reason why I responded to reader requests for a series on sibling relationships!

The most helpful, practical and biblical resource I found to help my children understand conflict was The Young Peacemaker by Corlette Sande. Her husband, Ken, had written The Peacemaker for adults. Corlette took the life altering principles and practical tools I learned from her husband — ones that had a profound affect on my marriage, family relationships and friendships — and made them kid-friendly! I was beyond excited.

Nearly twenty years ago I worked through her book (and the accompany parent’s manual) with Jesse, Joey, Janelle and Jake. (Sadly, it wasn’t available when Josh and Jaime were young.) I genuinely believe this book provided a foundation on which my children are building to this day. It’s designed for ages 8-12 but can be easily adapted for younger and older children.

Just ask one of my kids what the slippery slope is and they’ll remember….

The curriculum comes with an Activity Book for kids.  The comic-book style is engaging and I would sometimes find one of the kids reading it just for fun.

The thing I most loved about this was the stories. Using real-life situations, the author made the principles applicable not just to my kids but also to me!

You can find this excellent material in various places, but if you use Amazon you can find it here.  This set includes the teacher’s manual and a CD with reproducible student activity sheets for all twelve lessons.

Have a wonderful weekend…and we’ll be back next week to close out this series.

I Wanna Talk…He Wants to Watch a Movie!

Those who follow this blog know I love CCEF (Christian Counseling and Education Foundation).  I wanted to share this 15 minute video with you by David Pawlison.  I know 15 minutes is a long time when you’re used to reading 3-5 minutes reading. I really think will be helpful, though.

If you’re married, this may help you (as it did me) to better understand why God often brings opposites together in marriage — and how to navigate those times when you want to have a leisurely talk (usually the wife) and your spouse wants to unwind by watching a movie (usually the husband).

If you’re single, exposing yourself to this kind of insight can help you avoid the often unrealistic expectations about marriage.  What a blessing this can be in your future!

As Mr. Pawlison says:  “We need a vision of marriage that recognizes that marriage brings people together who, by nature, don’t know how to love.”

Wow.  What comfort.  I can only love Benny with God’s help.  Apart from Him I will love myself more than anyone!  But with God’s empowering help I’m learning to love him more.  And, yes, that means we watch more movies than I would like.  But he’s learning to talk more than he would like, too!

Enjoy!

A Culture of Love in the Local Church

This weekend our new church is having a seminar to prepare us for starting Community Groups — weekly meetings that will be starting soon.  We have benefited greatly from CCEF (Christian Counseling and Education Foundation) and their gospel-saturated encouragement to create a culture of care and compassion in the local church.

As I sit here anticipating this important weekend for Redeemer Church, I wanted to share with you why I’m excited about what God is doing.

Take a few minutes to listen to CCEF’s Tim Lane talk about this culture of love.  You don’t have to be in a church whose leaders understand and emphasize this to enjoy it.  You can create this culture FIRST in your own family!

Enjoy by clicking here.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Sheree

Help for Young People Who Crave Approval

Some years ago I read a paradigm-shifting book that introduced me to myself.  It’s called When People are Big and God is Small by Ed Welch. I learned how much I crave the approval and acceptance of others, and that this sinful longing affects me in many ways.

I’ve recently been made even more aware of this unbiblical pattern in my heart. But like most sins, man-pleasing is common. It affects young and old ; single and married; confident and insecure; leader and follower.

I recently learned that Mr. Welch has written a book for teens and young adults about the snare of living for the applause of others.

The author says this:

“Do young people care what others think? Yes—they are just like the rest of us! Teens do not necessarily worry about it more than others but they do worry about it more obviously. Concerns about approval, rejection and ‘fitting in’ seem more painful and intensified.  What Do You Think of Me? Why Do I Care? is my recent attempt to help younger Christians with these fears.”

If you are the parent of teens, work in youth ministry, or have elementary aged children and want to wisely begin to prepare yourself for compassionately understanding common teen temptations, this book — written by a man whose writings have affected many — will help you.

You can order it on Amazon here.

Me…a Jonah?

I read this article by Ed Welch from CCEF and wanted to share it with you. It’ll take you about 5 minutes to read, but hold on till the end.  Wow.  I won’t say any more…you just gotta read it.

You can find it here.

And thanks for your support and encouragement about my new little blog. I’m enjoying interacting with you and read every comment.

Blessings!

Sheree