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Refusing to Raise Cookie Cutter Kids: Entitlement Attitude or Work Ethic?

In the previous post, which you can read here, we talked about how what we believe in regards to why and what we were created for impacts our parenting. Today I am going to share what we personally believe and how that impacts the way we parent. Disclaimer:  We are in the trenches and by no means have it all figured out!  We are not perfect parents, we screw up a TON! Our children aren't [...]

By |August 10th, 2012|Blog, Core Christian Parenting Fundamentals|3 Comments

Refusing to Raise Cookie Cutter Kids Part 3

If you knew that you only had until your child was 16, 17, 18, or 19 (or even 25) years old to train them for life... what would you most focus on? Are you doing that? I am preaching to the choir here trust me. I am guilty of getting too busy, making my kids too busy that they don't have time to develop some of the character traits on my list.  What happens then?  [...]

By |August 9th, 2012|Blog, Core Christian Parenting Fundamentals|0 Comments

Refusing to Raise Cookie Cutter Kids Part 2

What has inspired this post series on Refusing to Raise Cookie Cutter Kids? I have been thinking about the youth of today in general.  You hear about how the average child watches between 3-5 hours of television a day and know from experience how busy a child's life can be going from school to sports and from piano lessons to youth group. When you stop to think about a child's life for a moment... how [...]

By |August 8th, 2012|Blog, Core Christian Parenting Fundamentals|2 Comments

Refusing to Raise Cookie Cutter Kids

You know that concept... "Cookie Cutter"... it's used to describe the neighborhoods where all the homes look, well, cookie cutter! They all have the same trim, the same paint, the same lawn... Something has been awakened in my mind and soul recently... as my heart aches more for the needy, it aches more for the lost, but it also aches for us all, the privileged. This past week our family was blessed to go to [...]

Weeding the Garden of Your Heart

  Growing fruit is a lot more difficult than growing weeds isn't it? I don't know about you, but on any given day I have no problem sinning. On a daily basis I have to make choices all throughout my day to intentionally go against my nature to sin.  If we are really honest, this is honestly how it is for all of us, isn't it? Have you ever noticed how weeds can grow anywhere? [...]

By |July 18th, 2012|Blog, Faith, Friendship, Gardening|3 Comments

Thistles~ Weed Em’ Out

Thistles... those nasty, prickly, hard to weed noxious plants! Aren't they a terrible nuisance to the gardener? One thing about these thistles: you need to get them out when they are little!  If you wait to long to pull them... their roots grow deeper and their thorns grow bigger and more prolific. If you were to compare pulling say this weed:   to this weed: Boy, what a difference!  There is really no comparison! The [...]

Thistles & Thorns

My eldest daughter screeched, "Ouch Mom! I'm all scratched up!" "Well why don't you were gloves Kels?" I responded... so began the next conversation with the kids... (I know what you are thinking... wow she over does it when it comes to these metaphors...but really, honestly... can you over due teaching when you have hours of weeding... plenty of time to sing and laugh and simply sit quietly working hard together... is there such a [...]

Gleanings from the Garden of God’s Word

Weeds & the Benefits of Team Efforts Our kids had planted seeds a few months ago in their own gardens and because we have not been as diligent as we needed to be the weeds have overgrown and many, not all, but many of their seeds didn't come up.  The weeds choked out the fruit we were so hoping for when we sowed the seed.  What a good lesson to learn.  Hard, but good right!  [...]

Weeds: A Curse, A Sin and Dare I say a Blessing Part II

"Mom, How do I know which one is a weed?" When weeding a garden with children, you spend a good amount of time telling the children which weeds are in fact "weeds".  About two weeks ago we got some more baby chicks.  A friend mentioned to chop up the dandelion leaves and feed them to the chicks for two reasons: 1) To train them to eat them (gain an acquired taste for dandelions) when they [...]

Weeds: The Curse, Sins, and Dare I Say “A Blessing” Part I

Weeding with your kids is an opportunity for deep conversation, reflection, teaching and training in the discipline of work ethic. The most common complaint from children when weeding... I hate these weeds, they are prickly... they are a nuisance. The most common question among children when weeding... WHY? WHY MOM? WHY ARE THERE WEEDS?  WHY DID GOD HAVE TO MAKE WEEDS? I love it!  These are the kinds of conversations I simply love while weeding [...]