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The March edition of HomeBase is available for download here. In this month’s edition you will find articles on 1) Mobilizing Moms; 2) How Do Our Children Unwrap Their Spiritual Gifts?; 3) We Are Learning to be an Accepting/Rejecting Family. HomeBase is a publication of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod.
You should also check out this month’s 24/7 where Dr. Steve Christopher discusses hope. 24/7 is a newsletter also put out by the LCMS for the Christian home.
On occassion I am asked by parents for resources to help them talk to their kids about sex and the changes that they physically and emotionally go through as they grow up. Concordia Publishing House offers a great series for kids or a variety of ages that parents can trust to offer a Biblically sound approach to this delicate subject. 
Just like his series of books for adults and teens, Lee Strobel offers compelling evidence for Christianity in his series of books for kids. Tackling The Case for Christ, Faith, and the Creator, Strobel does at a kids level what he did in his best sellers for adults. Strobel came to faith in Christ after having set out to disprove Christianity. Putting his skills as an investigative reporter to use, he sought to disprove what he now believes and helps other to understand and believe.
The good folks at HomeWord have put together a special edition of their radio program discussing principles that families can use to get out from under debt and generally survive these tough economic times. Guests Dave Ramsey (author of the book, The Total Money Makeover), Ron Blue (author of Master Your Money), Howard Dayton (Founder of Crown Financial Ministries), Wall Street Journal business reporter Francine Huff, and Ellie Kay –“America’s Family Financial Expert”, join with host Jim Burns to disucss this timely and critical issue. You can access the radio special here.
What is it that makes your family unique from other families?
Have you ever considered that question? Until reading Patrick Lencioni’s book The Three Big Questions for a Frantic Family, I had not given much serious consideration to that question either. In his book, Lencioni tells the story of a wife and mother trying to come to grips with the comment, delivered by her husband, that if his clients ran their business like they run their family, they would be out of business.
As the story unfolds, the wife wrestles with this challenge to the point that she develops a method of clarifying the purpose for a family based on her husbands corporate consulting strategies.
By now I am sure that you can tell that this is not your typical parenting book. Lencioni brings not his clinical understanding of family therapy or marriage counseling to this book, but rather approaches from a unique direction. If you are open to considering what the business world might have to say to help you get a better control over decision making in your family or if you are just curious about the other two questions, then get yourself a copy. It is well worth the read.
Just like wild animals our children can smell fear. OK so that is a bit dramatic, however especially for us first time parents each new adventure challenges our ability to draw on the scant resources at our disposal and offer a solution that will affirm prior parenting choices, protect our kids, keep us sane, and form our progeny into healthy, godly, and emotionally well adjusted children. OK so that might be seen as a bit dramatic as well. The good news is we are not in this alone. Not only do we have a marvelous Creator God to rely upon (I am in prayer over parenting choices with my 7 month old regularly), but we have the wisdom of His servants to draw from.
Jim Burns draws upon his years in ministry with youth and parents, as well as his own experience as a father, to provide for us a great tool that we can use gain confidence as parents. Mom and dad, give yourself a gift this Christmas and pick up Confident Parenting to read together. You kids just might thank you for it.
Veteran youth worker and conference speaker, Megan Hutchinson has written a book entitled “I Want to Talk With My Teen About Addictions.” The book helps you to:
EXAMINE why people become addicted and feel hopeless.
DISCOVER how alcohol and drugs poison the body, mind, and spirit.
DEVELOP healthy coping strategies for resisting unhealthy behaviors.
REALIZE that addiction is a choice teens make – but can be overcome.
EMBRACE God’s power, good friends, and love in breaking addictions.
The LCMS offers a pair of family newsletters free via e-mail subscription. In the newsletters for September they:
“raise a few questions in this new issue, and hopefully, provide some answers.
1. Mother, what would your child ask you to change?
2. What’s our F.L.A.G. up to?
3. How eagerly should we sign a pre-nuptial agreement?
4. What are some current tip-offs about dating abuse?
Click here to read the September 2008 Home Base
Be sure to check out the September issure of 24/7 also
Click here to read it.”
Every parent wants to be a good parent. Every parent wants to provide for their child(ren) in the best way possible. The trouble is that becoming a parent does not mean that we are given all the answers in advance on how to accomplish these noble goals. This past Wednesday we began a class called Parenting Your Teenager. The go to experts on parenting that put the materials together are Les and Leslie Parrott (yes a Les married a Leslie). The Parrott’s are a great resource to the family on relationships, both within the family and the marriage. So for today’s parenting resource I am recommending the Parrott’s book The Parent You Want To Be. Here is how they describe their book.
When it comes to parenting, who you are is more important than what you do. After all, your child internalizes your traits more than anyone else’s on the planet. And that’s why Les and Leslie Parrott—in a parenting book like no other—give you a proven plan for cultivating the traits you most want your child to have.
Discover …
• the most important question you’ll ever ask as a parent
• the three-step method to avoid being the parent you don’t want to be
• the secret to making your “intentional traits” stick on even your worst days
… and much more.
A husband and wife team made up of two of today’s leading relationship experts, Les and Leslie Parrott reveal their personal experiences as parents to help you fulfill the most important calling you will ever have. The Parent You Want to Be is inspiring, warm, and filled with a transformational power for your entire family.
Lutheran Hour Ministries offers a great web-site designed to give kids a safe place on-line to enjoy games, print out coloring pages, find devotions & Bible stories, and much more. Check it out!
