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Lesson One: The Ultimate Parent
Day One: In the Beginning
Day Two: In The Hands of the Creator
Day Three: How BIG is Our God?
Day Four: That's My Dad!
Day Five: The Ultimate Response
"I will be a Father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty." (2 Corinthians 6:18) We can read every child-rearing manual on the market (both Christian and secular), and still struggle with the uncertainty, panic, and fear of failure that plagues the parenting process. So what's a mother to do? The answer is simple, yet challenging. We're to follow the example of the Ultimate Parent-the One who intricately knitted each human being in accordance with His plan and purpose, then deliberately placed each one in His created institution called a "family." We will examine this trustworthy God so that we will confidently take our parenting cues from Him.
Lesson Two: The Model Son and the Comforter
Day One: Where It All Went Wrong
Day Two: A Tale of Three Sons
Day Three: A Child is Born
Day Four: The Cost of Sonship
Day Five: New and Renewed
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come." (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV) The desire of God's heart is to be in relationship with those He created in His image. What could be more pleasurable than to be engaged in an intimate, nourishing relationship with the One who gave you life? But as human beings, we can fail daily in our relationship with the ones to whom we gave life. Why is that? Why is parenting so often more painful than productive? Although knowing God is key to maneuvering successfully through the trials and triumphs of parenting, there's more. We must also know God's Son Jesus, who, with His Father, modeled the standard for the parent-child relationship-first, ours with the Father, then ours with our children.
Lesson Three: The Ultimate Makeover
Day One: Who Am I?
Day Two: Sin Patterns: Our Parental Imprint
Day Three: Grace: God's Spiritual "Face-lift"
Day Four: Truth: Dispelling the Lies That Bind
Day Five: Will the Real Me Please Bow Down?
"I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes." (Ezekiel 36:26) Whatever motivates us, drives us, and consumes us will affect our children and may even be reflected in them. Therefore, we'll examine seven burdens that shape our response to life, impact our Christian walk, and sabotage mothering. We'll consider any familial sin patterns that influence us and our children. We'll discover the grace through which Jesus freed us from these burdens and sin patterns. We'll focus on Christ's direction-setting power. And we'll prayerfully weigh our appropriate response to God's influence on us and power in us. For the sake of future generations, we'll do some soul-searching in this lesson.
Lesson Four: The Marriage Message
Day One: Men and Women: Respecting the Differences
Day Two: Respecting the Roles
Day Three: The Building Blocks of a Strong Marriage
Day Four: More Building Blocks
Day Five: The Final Building Blocks
"Nevertheless let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself; and let the wife see to it that she respect her husband." (Ephesians 5:33) To the married, this lesson will not only enhance your marriage, it will strengthen your parenting partnership, a necessary pact for children to witness. If you're divorced, widowed, or have never been married, it will help you impart healthy messages to your children about marriage, as well as help prepare you for a potential future marriage. At the very least, what you learn will help you help another. The mental notes our children take while they're in our homes form their opinions on and approach to the roles they'll some day play in their own homes. Throughout this lesson, you will consider what message your marriage is sending your children.
Lesson Five:Getting to Know You
Day One: Lord, You Know My Child
Day Two: Lord, Show Me My Child
Day Three: Going Deeper
Day Four: Who Is This Child, Really?
Day Five: Common Parenting Mistakes
"O Lord, you have searched me and you know me...you are familiar with all my ways." (Psalm 139:1-3, NIV) The children in your home may be your natural children, your adopted children, your step-children, or a combination. What you must always remember is that they are your children placed in your home by God's design. In this week's lesson, you will begin to see each of them through the eyes of their Creator as you begin a "new thing:" to get to know your children as they really are, as God made them. You may be surprised by what you learn.
Lesson Six:Do As I Do ~ Forming Godly Character in Your Child
Day One: The Help in the Home
Day Two: The Heart of the Home
Day Three: The Habit in the Home
Day Four: The Health of the Home
Day Five: The Hard Stuff of a Home
"The things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things." (Philippians 4:9) This week we'll examine those things of the home that will enhance our children's growth toward God. We'll look at our help in the home-how we apply God's unchanging standard; we'll gaze into the heart of the home-how we convey the love and respect for which each child longs; we'll evaluate our habits in the home-what we parents model daily to our children; we'll examine the health of the home-how we respond to our children's behavior; and finally, we'll examine the hard stuff of the home-that which hones righteous character when properly guided.
Lesson Seven: No Greater Joy
Day One: Walking in Faith
Day Two: Walking in Integrity
Day Three: Walking in Obedience
Day Four: Walking in Protection
Day Five: Walking in Accountability
"I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth." (3 John 4) How is it possible to build godly character in today's children, especially when they suffer relentless daily exposure to so many negative influences? And in our effort to instill godly character, what if some of our children are resistant to the things of God? This lesson encourages a mom to embrace her job: to resist worry, stand on God's truth and faithfully teach it to her kids. Perseverance is not an option; it is a must. As we continue to arm our children with the knowledge of what God values, some teaching points will sink in, and some won't; some will be embraced, and some will be resisted or even rejected; but we cannot grow weary, and we should not lose heart, because God is faithful. Down the road, He will raise up occasions for them to choose between right and wrong. When they realize they have this choice, even if they make the wrong one, they'll know we've done our job.
Lesson Eight: The Art of Godly Discipline
Day One: Why Discipline?
Day Two: Disciplining with Strength and Dignity: The Rebuke
Day Three: Disciplining with Strength and Dignity: Correction
Day Four: Disciplining with Strength and Dignity: The Rod
Day Five: Disciplining with Strength and Dignity: Training in Righteousness
"...do not make light of the Lord's discipline and do not lose heart when he rebukes you because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." (Hebrews 12:6, NIV) Discipline-we tend to equate it with punishment administered by an authority figure. Although that's included in the total concept of discipline, the word is much broader in its application. First and foremost, discipline simply means to instruct. Think of the word "disciple." How did Jesus bring the disciples along in their righteousness? He used the security of His love to motivate them and the stability of His truth to mold them. These two ingredients-His love and His truth-formed the foundation from which He taught, rebuked, corrected, and trained His disciples. His was educative discipline. This week we'll concentrate on how to train our children to do what they've been taught.
Lesson Nine: A Mom's Challenges
Day One: Managing the Insolent Heart: The Disrespectful Child
Day Two: Managing the Wounded Heart: The Angry Child
Day Three: Managing the Rebellious Heart: The Prodigal Child
Day Four: Managing the Fearful Heart: The Insecure Child
Day Five: Managing the Incomplete Heart: The Disconnected Child
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind" (2 Timothy 1:7). Tough parenting circumstances not only challenge our intellect, they challenge our love. God understands, and we need His relentless, redeeming love to inhabit and consume us, and we need to know how to use it. This lesson addresses five challenging attitudes that a mom must recognize and learn to manage. Even if her child is none of these, the lessons are for every mother's heart. She may need to encourage others to look to Christ for respite from their storms.
Lesson Ten: Raising a Responsive Young Man
Day One: The Making of a Man: To Live for God
Day Two: The Making of a Man: To Labor Responsibly
Day Three: The Making of a Man: To Love His Wife
Day Four: The Making of Man: To Lead His Family
Day Five: The Making of a Man: To Live in Sexual Purity
"The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14) This week we'll study the five most important things on your son's "to do" list: to live for God; to labor responsibly; to love his wife; to lead his family; and to live in sexual purity. From infancy, your boy has been on the road to manhood. You'll learn to join him on that journey, to nurture him at each turn, to coach him over each bump, and to encourage him at each roadblock. You will understand what it means to seek God's perspective on this boy who will someday be God's man. Even if you don't have a son, this lesson will help you guide your dughter's choice of the man who will one day be your son-in-law.
Lesson Eleven: Raising a Responsive Young Woman
Day One: Sugar and Spice: Nasty or Nice?
Day Two: The Body Image: It's Eating Our Daughters Alive!
Day Three: True Beauty
Day Four: Awakening True Beauty
Day Five: The Price of Sexual Purity
"God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them" (Genesis 1:27). If asked to define a godly young woman, what crosses your mind? Who crosses your mind? A godly woman is an influential woman in a God-directed way. And she can be influential even at a young age. She is a not only a woman who deserves honor, but desires honor, not out of haughtiness or pride, but because of what honor requires of her-worthy conduct. Even if you don't have a daughter, this lesson will help you guide your son's choice of the woman who will one day be your daughter-in-law.
Lesson Twelve: Praying for Your Children
Day One: The "Why?" of Our Prayer
Day Two: The "How?" of Our Prayer
Day Three: The "What?" of Our Prayer
Day Four: Hindrances to Our Prayer
Day Five: P.R.A.Y.ing Scripture
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:10) We all want our children to reach their God-given potential. Once moms learn the basic principles of prayer in this lesson, they will understand the purpose, protection, and power of their prayers. Through prayer we will learn to cooperate with God in helping each child reach his or her potential.
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