Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Seven Tips for Building the Christian Family You Never Had

Well, look what I found when I got home! I hopened up a Christian mom's magazine and saw this... (and my mind is still spinning.. I scanned it and it transcribed the magazine page to a word document! Of all things!)

Anyway, This kind of summed up today's meeting for me.. God bless you all, I appreciate the group so very much xox :)

Seven Tips for Building the Christian Family You Never Had

Read parenting books with a caveat of grace. With every book I read, I berated myself for not being a perfect Christian mom, instead of letting the words encourage me to improve my parenting. Offer yourself grace when reading these books.

Find or observe a parenting mentor.

If you notice someone you think is parenting her kids well, ask her questions and observe her.There's nothing better than learning from a real live human being.

Say, "I'm sorry." All parents make mistakes. We say painful words that we heard our parents say. The best way to disarm this is to admit it. Asking our children and others for forgiveness opens the door to improving relationships.

Understand that parenting is not

outside-in, but inside-out. God is in

the business of cleaning, healing and rejuvenating our hearts from the inside out. The greater the healing, the more authentic and effective our parenting will be.

Forgive your parents. Forgiveness sets you free free to love your imperfect parents, free to give grace to your im­perfect self as you struggle to parent. Holding bitterness in your heart hinders you from parenting freely in the present.

Stop the comparison game. Few acts are more destructive than comparison. God asks us to concentrate on our own families and revel in what he has given us.

Find support. My parenting skills increased when I found other parents who struggled just like me. I realized I was a normal parent with typical strug­gles. I was able to laugh at my mistakes and continue down the parenting path.

Adapted from Building the Christian Family You Never Had by Mary E. DeMuth (WaterBrook, 2006)



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