Surprise your kids by saying “We aren’t going to church anymore!” and enjoy the teachable moment you’ve created using the following thoughts as a guide through the ensuing discussion.

If they need prompting, ask them why they think the wording doesn’t make sense when we say, “Let’s go to church.” 

I bet some of them can figure it out!

“Let’s go BE WITH the church!” 

Our pastor pointed out this subtle difference in wording one Sunday morning and it made me stop and think. 

Old habits die hard, so I’m not sure I’ll completely transition to this.  However, I do appreciate the better distinguishing of “go be with” rather than “go to.”

“Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”  1 Corinthians 12:27

We are actually the church wherever we go!

For more on talking with your child about this subject, see my blog titled, “How to Teach: The Church is the PEOPLE and can be anywhere!”

Teachable Moments can happen any time and any where.  Remember to keep handy your copy of Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments.

Last April Fool’s Day I had a few of you thinking I had lost my mind with my “Pet Parenting with Scripture” blog title.   However, the concept did actually bring up some interesting points and I wanted to include a couple of additional ones here.

Caring for Pets –
Reader Kay Pickar shared the following in response to that blog –

A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel.
Proverbs 12:10
We’ve had to talk about this verse a few times when the kids were too rough with a pet
or they didn’t want to take the time to feed our pet.
It’s been a good discussion.

Conversation to have with your kids about animals before it’s too late!
Yes, we need take good care of any animal we bring to our home as a pet.
However, we also need to help kids understand the value of their lives versus the pet’s. 
Anyone else have a door dasher dog?
We’ve got two of our own and have fostered a few through a rescue group, and this is our cautionary tale… 

One day, foster Gumbo bolted out the door and the kids and I dashed after him as fast as we could.  I was terrified that Gumbo was going to dart in front of a car.  But, I was even more terrified  that my kids would run into the street after him without thinking since they were in such hot pursuit after this little doggy that we had been entrusted to care for and had come to adore.

Thankfully we caught him, but it reminded me that I needed to have a serious chat with my kids about the value of their lives versus our pets’. 
I shared the following – 
*As much as we love our pets/animals, people are always more important.
*If it’s a choice between the pet or you getting hurt, make the decision to keep yourself safe. 
Then I threw out several “What if?” scenarios to see if they really understood.
I want them to have already thought through these things so they will be equipped when split second decisions are necessary!

This is serious business, folks!
I’m still haunted by this tragic news story where three family members drown trying to save their dog.  After watching my kids running after Gumbo to try to catch and protect him,  I can more easily see how something like that could happen.

Hence, my conversation with my kids and my encouragement to you, my lovely readers, to do the same.

This was the day we picked up Gumbo from the rescue.
He was a scruffy mess, but stole my heart right away!

Lookin’ good after his first grooming!
He could finally see the world!

For teachable moments on all sorts of topics, don’t forget to refer to your copy of
Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments.

“I can’t get that picture out of my head!”

This was the lament of one of my carpool kids one morning on the way to school.
He was referring to a photo of his sister’s removed tonsils.  Ha, I can only imagine!

What a great teachable moment!

We talked about how what we look at can stick with us and continue to impact us.  He still grimaced as he talked about the picture he had seen a couple of years prior. 

This is the very reason we want to guard our eyes from sinful things and are careful about what we watch on television, movies, video games, and computers.   There are good reasons we parents have rules about such things!  🙂

It was also a great chance to remind them that if anything they know is wrong pops up on a computer to look away quickly and let an adult know immediately!

I couldn’t think of a related Bible verse right away, so I asked if they could.
These aren’t Biblical, but they are wise…

*  One kid said that it reminded her of the preschool song, “Oh, be careful little eyes what you see.”

*  Another one thought of the funny monkeys and their “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” hands.

I loved how those comments contributed to the overall discussion.  It’s always amazing to hear how kids interpret and connect things.

On the way home from school, I followed up with this verse and talked about how our eyes are sticky.  Meaning, we can’t “unsee” things.  The images stick with us and impact our lives.

From Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount –
“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
Matthew 6:22-23

Do your kids know that their eyes are sticky?

If you want to know more about teachable moments, how to look for them, and what to do when one happens, see the first few pages of your copy of
Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments.

Being content certainly makes all-year-long Thanksgiving easier.  So what’s the secret?

The portion of the verse “I have learned the secret of being content” was floating around my head the other day and made me realize I needed to check the passage to make sure I knew what the secret is!

How many of us are familiar with both Philippians 4:12 and Philippians 4:13 separately, but have never tied those two together in our heads?  Please tell me I’m not the only one!

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.  Philippians 4:12-13

Try this discussion at your next family meal or devotional time:
 
1- Ask your kid if he knows the secret of being content and read Philippians 4:12-13.

My kids easily learned this verse from the Seeds Family Worship: Power of Encouragement CD we listen to in carpool every Wednesday.  You can hear a sample of the song, buy the CD, or download the single MP3 through the link.  Also, you can read here about how to incorporate Scripture through music into your drive time.

2 – Discuss ways your family members struggle to be content. 

3 – Now, read together this passage and discuss what Paul, the writer of Philippians, had been through.

*Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
*Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones,
*three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea,
*I have been constantly on the move.
*I have been in danger from rivers,
*in danger from bandits,
*in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles;
*in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea;
*and in danger from false believers.
*I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep;
*I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food;
*I have been cold and naked.
*Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.
2 Corinthians 11:24-28

4 – Kinda puts things into perspective doesn’t it?!  If Paul can be content, surely we can too!

Are you going to ask your family if they know the secret of being content?
I bet you’ll have a great discussion!

Click here or on the image if you are interested in purchasing this beautiful wall art or similar items from Wise Décor.

For more verses, discussion questions, and Take Action ideas on the topic of “Contentment,”
see your copy of Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments.

Caroline realized her teacher had made a mistake in grading a big test.  More points should have been deducted which would have made her score lower.  Grades especially mattered to this high schooler as college was on the horizon.

Ask you kids, “What would you do in this situation?” 

I’m proud to say that my niece, Caroline,  didn’t even hesitate to do the right thing.  An added blessing is that her teacher appreciated her honesty and left the grade as it was.

In contrast and during that same week, Caroline had a friend who got a good grade for something she didn’t turn in.  Caroline had worked extremely hard and spent much time on this same project and was infuriated that her friend wouldn’t come clean with the teacher.  Instead, the friend made up reasons to justify her action (or lack thereof).

Ask your child, “How would you feel about that situation and that friend?” 

True story.
The more we can help our kids learn from other people’s good and bad decisions, the more prepared they will be when faced with something similar.

Now ask yourself, “How can we connect this teachable moment story to God’s word?”
Remember that you can quickly and easily find out what God has to say about any issue that comes up in Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments!

The verses from applicable topics such as  “Character, Integrity, Choices, and Example” are embedded and bolded below in a letter I wrote to my niece.  It’s a bit lengthy, but I’d like to share the whole thing to show you how teachable moments can often be looked at from different angles.  First of all, I realized that I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to positively affirm my niece’s wonderful choice!  Also, it made for an excellent scenario to discuss with my kids as shown above and including the verses below.

Can you see through this example how making use of teachable moments can be powerfully positive and proactive?

Dear Caroline,

It’s been a while since I’ve written you a letter and I’m thrilled for the reason to write you this one. I am so incredibly proud of the way you handled the situation with your grade! It would have been VERY easy for you to just let it slide and not say anything. In being honest, you risked a lower grade. That shows TRUE character and integrity! Both of those traits are just about the most important values in a person. I like to tell Kalli and Jake that character means who you are when nobody is watching. Meaning, if those things are found out, your true colors show. And your colors are glowing beautifully! Stark contrast to the sad colors leaking out of a certain someone. I’m grateful that Kalli and Jake have a cousin they can look up to as a positive example! Kalli had been listening to our conversation at dinner and wondered what was going on. I recounted the situation and we had wonderful discussion. You, my dear, chose the right way…the blessed way. Even if the teacher had counted off, it still would have been the right thing to do! For your steadfast conviction, I am smiling from ear to ear!

These are some of the verses I shared with the kids about character, integrity, and choices. You are right on, girlie! Keep up that faith!

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6
(You trusted God’s plan rather than trying to justify to meet your own desires! Bravo!)

I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity.  1 Chronicles 29:17a
(And, Auntie Kara is pleased too b/c that integrity helps make up the one and only beautiful Caroline!)

The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.  Proverbs 10:9(That’s what I’m sayin’. Not your job to bring her to justice. It is already coming back to bite her in the lack of trust and respect she has from her friends. So sad for her. The best way you can be a friend is to pray for her. And, watch out…see next verse…)

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”  1 Corinthians 15:33

(And by way of another thank you…)
In everything, set them an example by doing what is good.  Titus2:7-8
(Thank you for being this kind of example for your younger cousins who look up to you!)

Love you, dearie,
Aunt Kara

Is work a good or a bad thing? 
When we discuss this later today, I can pretty much guess that I’ll have a kid land on each side of this debate.
What does God say?

On the bad side-
We can thank Adam and Eve for getting us into this situation…

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
¹⁸ It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
¹⁹ By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”
Genesis 3:17-19

But on the good side-
Ask your child to consider what would happen if Mom and Dad were lazy and didn’t work:
*Would there be money for food, clothing, shelter?
*Who would get the groceries?
*What condition would our home be in?
*Can you see how work is a blessing not only to yourself, but those whom you share life with?
Ask your child, “What is your work?”  (chores, school, being respectful and obeying…)

Through laziness, the rafters sag;
    because of idle hands, the house leaks.
Ecclesiastes 10:18

Do not love sleep or you will grow poor;
    stay awake and you will have food to spare.
Proverbs 20:13

Similar discussion questions and verses can be found under the topic “Laziness” in
Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments.

Now ask, “Since we all have to work, what kind of attitude should we have?”

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-24

Similar discussion questions and verses can be found under the topic “Attitude” in
Parenting with Scripture: A Topical Guide for Teachable Moments.

Let’s pray with our kids that we will have a thankful heart to enjoy our time when we don’t have to labor.  And, that we will equally “work with all our heart, as working for the Lord”  during the labor filled hours.

Did your kids say work is good or bad?
Did you have a good “parenting with Scripture” discussion?

 (Image courtesy of www.lol-cat.org)