discipleship – Living the Adventure

“Do Hard Things” -Book Review

June 11, 2016June 11, 2016 esther7dancingLeave a comment

One of the things that I like to do in my homeschooling is give my kids “growth” books that challenge them to grow spiritually or in character. The most recent book that I have given my 14 year old to read is the book “Do Hard Things” by Alex and Brett Harris. These brothers wrote a book that challenges teens to live according to God’s way of thinking instead of the world’s way of thinking. They call it the “rebelution” which consists of teenagers having a rebellion against low expectations. To realize that even as a teen you don’t have to live with low expectations but can rise to change the world in amazing ways.

They give many examples within their book of teens that are currently changing the world by following in the adventure that God has for each of them. For example, there is teenage boy named Zach Hunter who has a heart to stop human trafficking. At the age of 12 he started with the simple idea of using loose change that you might find in between your couch cushions to loosen chains of the people who are victims of human trafficking. He presented the idea to different peers and schools and ended up founding an organization that he still runs today as an adult which is called LC2LC (Loose Change to Loosen Chains). He was a 12 year old that wanted to make a difference and stepped out in the adventure that God was giving him. This is just one of the stories that can inspire young people to realize their potential now as a young person pursuing the things of God.

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“Do Hard Things” is a book that I would encourage to be on your homeschool list of “must read”. They have also wrote other books to follow up the “Do Hard Things”. The next book that they wrote is called “Start Here” which gives the next step for teenagers in their journey of discovering the adventure God has for them. It gives more direction on how you might start walking out your individual adventure that God has designed specifically for you. They are also in the process of releasing a parent book that talks about parenting world changers. Their website is therebelution.com. You will find current inspiring stories of teenagers changing the world and other helpful resources for your teen.

I believe that God has amazing and unique plans for each of our children. We have the awesome privilege of helping them discover the gifts and talents that God has given them and leading them to discover their own intimate relationship with Jesus. One of the things I try to do as often as I can with these books I give my kids, is to read them myself and cultivate an atmosphere of discussion with them to help them start thinking. I am excited to see how each of my children walk out their own adventures with God.

Tools/Resources to Help Cultivate a Prayer Life in Your Kids

September 27, 2015 esther7dancingLeave a comment

Tools/Resources to Help Cultivate a Prayer Life in Your Kids:

Advocating for your kids in daily prayer is one of the most important things you can do as a parent. We do not fight against flesh and blood according to Ephesians 6:10-18. A parent’s most powerful weapon against the enemy is their prayers over their kids. I have seen in my own personal family many times how prayer has changed things in my kids. Another important aspect of intercession and parenting is teaching our kids about prayer and how to pray. I desire to have my kids have their own personal, deep relationship with Jesus and not just follow Jesus because that’s what Mom and Dad do. One of the ways to help them start developing a deeper relationship with Christ is to cultivate a life of prayer in them. Even when they are young, every time you pray as a family or thank Jesus for your food, it is helping to develop and demonstrate a life a prayer in your kids. I love finding resources that help me with this part of discipling my kids. Here are a few of my favorites….

Akebu to Zapotec by June Hathersmith

Akebu to Zapotec is one of my favorite books to develop intercession for the little ones. It goes from A-Z and covers 26 countries that do not have a Bible in their own language. We pick a letter once a week with my 7 year old and learn about the village and what country these unreached people are from. My 7 year old son loves this book and is anxious to get it out of the bookshelf so we can pray and learn about another village. I think one of the best things about this book is the author’s testimony at the beginning. Akebu to Zapotec is the second book that she has written on unreached people because kids prayed with the first book and every village in those countries received the Bible in their own language. Its a book that is written with younger children in mind but because we use it as a tool to teach the kids intercession, the older children still enjoy the book. You could take any of the countries and have the older kids do a deeper study of them.

2. Window on the World by Daphne Spraggett and Jill Johnstone

This book is another A-Z book that covers many more countries in the world that need prayer. The book has beautiful photographs of the different people groups and countries that kids can pray for. It is from the same organization that has given us Operation World for the adults. Unlike the adult one, this one is more attractive to kids because of the numerous pictures. Each two page spread has different facts and a map of the country. They also put down the specific prayer requests for each country. This has been one of our families favorites because it gives kids a peek into what each of the countries must be like. We have used this daily in our “Bible” time to pray for one country each day. Discussions about different religions and belief systems have naturally happened when using this book. I love how this book helps my kids get a world perspective and realize how much bigger the world is around them. The simple verse of John 3:16 that we all know so well becomes more impactful to kids when they learn about other countries. “For God so loved the world….”

3. 100 Gateway Cities of the 10/40 Window by C. Peter Wagner

This is the current book we are working through as a family as part of our “Bible” time. The 10/40 Window represents a rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia that is located 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude. These countries are some of the most unreached people in the world. The majority of followers of Islam, Hindu, Buddism and Non-religious live in the 10/40 window. There are about 4.63 billion people, represented in 8,065 specific people groups in the 10/40 Window. 5,495 of those people groups are considered unreached which amounts to about 2.97 billion people. Each page of the book represents a different city that is unreached and shares statistics of those countries. I also love the prayer requests at the bottom of the page for each city. You can also use this opportunity for a geography lesson. We take a globe or a world map and point out where the city is and what country it is in. This helps the kids have a reference on where the country is that they are praying for.

4. Voice of Martyrs (Kids of Courage)

Voice of Martyrs is a free magazine that talks about the persecuted church around the world. They change the names of different people who are being persecuted and share their stories in this magazine. They write a kid version called Kids of Courage that talks about kids that are standing up for their faith. The adult version is sent to homes for free when you sign up for the magazine on their site. The Kids of Courage magazine for kids can be sent to your home for a small fee but is free online on their website. Kids of Courage is a great way to bring kids an awareness of what its like for other children in the world to live out their faith. It also give them a chance to pray for these kids or families that are currently experiencing persecution.

5. http://www.prayercast.com

I recently found out about this site and I loved it. This site is prayers said over almost every country in the world. For example, we went on the site the other day because we were studying the country of Nigeria. We went to www.prayercast.com and clicked on “Nations” at the top of the site. Then we clicked on “Nigeria” and were directed to a page with a video to play. When you play the video, a native of Nigeria is praying over the country while displaying pictures of the people and the culture. I was so moved by hearing the prayers declared over Nigeria. This also gave my kids a small picture of what it might be like in that country. Amazing site to use for intercession for the nations with your kids.

Our lives can help reflect and encourage a life of prayer. One of the things in our family that we have done since the kids were little is when we see an ambulance go by, we pray for the people that they are going to help. Another way our family has walked with our kids in prayer is through family crisis. Family crisis are not something you ever want to go through in life, but they are an opportunity to have the entire family turn to God in prayer.

We had a family crisis a couple of years ago with our daughter. She had MRSA inside her bones, muscle and and blood. MRSA is known to be on the skin quite commonly and not a fun thing to deal with, but inside the body, it’s a totally different animal. Our daughter quite quickly ended up being in a life and death situation. Our family and many other believers came together in prayer and within 5 days she was healed. She had to remain in the hospital for about 2 weeks, but the doctors were surprised how quickly she recovered. It was a hard time for us as a family, but our kids saw how powerful prayer can be. We have had other situations where we needed a financial miracle and have prayed as a family. God has provided in unique ways which helped our kids faith grow. Including the kids in some of our needs as a family is another way to live a life a of prayer.

These are just some of the tools we have used in our family to help develop a lifestyle of prayer. God placed you as amazing parents over your children. He will give you the strategy in how to teach and guide your children in a life of prayer. Enjoy the journey!

Caught More Than Taught

September 2, 2015 esther7dancingLeave a comment

I would probably be a teacher even if I didn’t homeschool. I love the research of finding out new ways to learn and finding out how to get a subject across to a child that doesn’t seem to get it in the usual way. Before I was a homeschool Mom, I was an elementary school teacher in the public school system. I always knew that I would homeschool my kids but I also knew I would teach until the time came for me to teach my own children.

All that to say, character training is particular love of mine to find materials that will help my kids in their journey of practicing the fruits of the Spirit. I use many different materials depending on what I see my kids walking through but I have also been learning from the Lord that even though its good to teach character training, I also need to live it. Things can sometimes be caught more than taught. This is encouraging to me because if my kids don’t seem to be getting what we are trying to teach them about the fruits of the Spirit, I know there’s hope that they will get it someday. Perhaps the best way some of my kids will get their character training will be through watching me. This is a hopeful and scary thought at the same time. I desire them to only see and follow the “good” traits and ignore the times when I am not even close to demonstrating the fruits of the Spirit. I think God has grace for those times when we mess up and I have gone to my kids and asked their forgiveness sometimes. I was reading a homeschool “how-to” book recently and I was inspired by a poem that the author included in one of the chapters. I thought I would share it with you.

I Caught Your Faith

I saw you stand bravely for years

But saw no trace of senseless tears

I saw you stand calmly through stress

But caught no glimpse of bitterness

I saw you stand prayerful in grief but saw no trace of unbelief

Though you spoke well of Jesus Christ

I caught your faith, watching your life

Anonymous

Be encouraged that even if you think you aren’t teaching the right thing or maybe your kids don’t seem to be getting the “character” training like you desire, they are watching your life and actions. You have great influence in your children’s lives and God has chosen you to raise these warriors. You are doing an amazing job!

Blessings

Top 10 Favorite Discipleship Books for Kids

August 28, 2015 esther7dancingLeave a comment

Walking out the journey of loving God and loving people is our ultimate goal with our children. We want to help grow the different talents and dreams that God has given each of our kids. So, part of my homeschooling curriculum to have the kids have a “growth” book. This is usually some kind of discipleship book or inspirational book that helps them grow in their walk with God. Here are a few of my favorites….

Eyes to See and Ears to Hear by Jennifer Toledo

This is a book that teaches kids how to hear and interact with Jesus. Its a great tool for parents to use with their kids. It also has testimonies of other kids and their walk with God. Jennifer Toledo is the founder of Global Children’s Movement. They change kids lives all over the world. If you ever get a chance to hear her or read her materials, its amazing what God is doing through her and her family.

2. Can you Hear Me? by Brad Jersak

This is another favorite book of mine that teaches kids how to interact with Jesus and how he sees them. One of my favorite features of this book is that in the back of the book there is a section for parents how they can teach their kids to hear the voice of God and the different ways God wants to talk to them. Brad Jersak also wrote and adult version that is also excellent.

3. Apologia-What We Believe Series Volume 1-4 by John Hay and David Webb

This is an excellent discipleship series for you to walk through with your kids. It has a lot of depth to the information, so we read just a few pages at a time during our Bible time. We are currently on “Who is my Neighbor?” which is Volume 3. I have enjoyed how in this particular volume they have introduced the main world religions through a biblical perspective. For example they introduced us to a family from India that believes in the Hindu religion. As we get to know the family, the book explains the belief system of the Hindu religion. Then at the end of the chapter, it has the kids discuss the differences between the Hindu religion and Christianity. This has facilitated some thought provoking discussions with my kids.

4. Answers for Kids Volumes 1-4 by Ken Ham

These 4 small hard back books are an amazing resource for all those “Why?” kids that live in our homes. The creative format has each page start with an actual question from a child and then the author proceeds to answer that question according to the Bible. We have loved to include this in our Bible time by reading just one question a day. I believe answering some of the “Why?” questions that our kids have about the Bible helps build their faith.

5. Here Comes Heaven by Bill Johnson

I appreciate the understandable way that this book explains who kids are in Christ and how to walk out their journey with God. It also has a journal feature at back of each chapter which allows kids to think about what the chapter was talking about. Its a phenomenal discipleship book that helps kids go deeper with God.

6. The Day the World Went Wacky by Janine Suter

This is a delightful book about creation and the beginning of the world. The illustrations are hilarious and it uses poetic form in the writing so kids remember the story. This book is written for elementary age kids, but my older kids have really enjoyed it too. Even though its written in a story form, the book explains many answers to kids on how God made the world and how sin entered into the world. There are two other books in the series, “Noah’s Floating Animal Park” and “The Not So Super Skyscraper” which is about the Tower of Babel. I am hoping that this author writes more books because she has a talent of explaining biblical principles through amazing story telling.

7. A is for Adam by Ken Ham and Mally Ham

The is an excellent early elementary introduction to Apologetics. The book takes you through the alphabet and walks you through creation and the provision that Jesus gave with the sacrifice of his life. Some features that I thought were helpful is the commentary for parents in the back of the book for each page and the student activities that they can choose to do with their children. The book also has coloring pages in the back that you can photocopy for the little ones that want to color the different alphabet pages you read.

8. Discover for Yourself- Inductive Bible Studies for Kids by Kay Arthur

If you want your children to go deeper in the Word of God then these books are for you. Kay Arthur does an amazing job of leading kids to go deeper in the word. Each inductive bible study that she has written focuses on a certain passage of scripture, a character in the bible or a biblical concept. They are written for upper elementary and older.

9. Battlefield of the Mind for Kids by Joyce Meyer

We teach our kids that they do not fight against flesh and blood but that their true enemy is Satan. Sometimes the greatest battle our kids have is what they think of themselves and what they think is their part in the world. Battlefield of the mind for kids is a great resource for kids to read and help them to start thinking differently. We have even used it with our teenager and it helped him think about things a little differently.

10. Lamplighter Books- Building Christ-Like Character

This is one of my favorite publishing companies for character building books. The books are older stories that teach certain lessons about life by focusing on a character’s problems and how they solve them with God. Our favorite so far is “Sir Malcom and the Missing Prince” which is an amazing story about a selfish prince who learns how to be unselfish and loving. The prince learns to be a great king, he must learn to serve and love the people around him. I usually do these books as read aloud books because they sometimes have a more challenging vocabulary because of the year that they were written in. Any of the lamplighter books are worth your investment of time spent reading them and money spent buying them.

Speak to the Treasure

August 14, 2015 esther7dancingLeave a comment

Graham Cooke is probably one of my favorite speakers to listen to. His wisdom that he shares is always encouraging to me in my walk with God. He has this saying “Speak to the treasure and people will get rid of their own garbage.” I believe all children have their moments when its more difficult to “speak to the treasure” in them. But I know that God wants me to speak to who my kids are and not just how they are behaving. When my kids choose to do things like lying, there are consequences for their actions, but I also have learned to use that opportunity to speak to who they are. Each child is unique and different in how God made them. You know your child best and can ask God to reveal to you the different talents and gifts that your children have. We have had conversations with some of our children who are struggling with lying and talk about how God has made them to be truth tellers.

Another conversation that we have had with one of our sons was about how God has am amazing destiny for his life and wants to use him in adventurous ways. This causes the enemy to want to mess with him. We talked about the armor of God and how we don’t fight against flesh and blood but against Satan. We can make the enemy grow weary with trying to take our peace. God has made our son a warrior and given him the Holy Spirit to fight the enemy and not let him have any foothold in his life. We are definitely not perfect at always speaking to the treasure in our children but when we remember to speak to who God says they are, we have seen a difference in their decisions and behavior.

10 Books of Inspiration for Tweens/Teens

August 12, 2015September 11, 2015 esther7dancingLeave a comment

I love using books to inspire my kids in their walk with God. I think if they see other kids being used by God to change the world, it will encourage them to believe that they can too. Here is a list of some of my favorite inspirational books for Tweens and Teens.

You were made to make a Difference by Max Lucado and Jenna Lucado
Be the Change by Zac Hunter
City on our Knees by Toby Mac
Do Hard Things by Alex Harris
Live Like a Jesus Freak by DC Talk
Take your Best Shot: Do Something Bigger Than Yourself by Austin Gutwein
Qualities of a Spiritual Warrior (The Way of the Warrior) Book 1 by Graham Cooke
Children and the Supernatural by Jennifer Toledo
The Supernatural Ways of Royalty by Kris Vallotton
The Risk Factor by Kevin Dedmon and Chad Dedmon

Some of these books were actually written by teens. Teenagers and kids do not have a “Little Jesus” inside their hearts. The same size Jesus that lives in you and I lives in them. I have seen and heard of kids and teens around the world changing history and I sometimes feel like they do even more powerful things because of their faith and belief in the impossible.

In the near future, I will be blogging about each of these books in more detail so you can have a better picture of what they are about. I have already done posts about the first 2 books on the list. I am sure there are many more that are not on this list. What inspirational books for tweens/teens would be on your top 10 list?

Trust

August 7, 2015 esther7dancingLeave a comment

As a homeschooler I can sometimes be worried about if I am teaching the right things or fearing that I am not getting enough done in a day. In our family life, we have gone through different storms that have caused me to worry or fear. God has been walking with me on a journey of having peace in the midst of a storm and trust in Him.

During our “Bible” time yesterday with the kids I was reading Hebrews chapter 4 and 5. It talked about trusting God even when things seem like they are not going well. I am sure you have those times when you are teaching your kids and God uses that opportunity to speak to your heart. I was sharing with the kids that when we worry or fear in our lives, we are not trusting God. God desires to have us never worry or fear and to live in peace no matter what is happening around us. I heard a speaker once give a great picture of what having peace in the storm might look like. He was describing how there is a place in the Spirit where you can make the enemy grow tired because he can’t seem to move you from your place of peace. We do not fight against flesh and blood but our true battle for peace is with Satan. I want to make the enemy grow weary from trying to take my peace.

I remember a couple of years ago with my daughter in Children’s Hospital and having to trust God for a miracle. I remember having this peace that I couldn’t explain. People asked me how I was able to not go crazy with worry or how I made it through that time. I couldn’t explain why, but I had an amazing peace that God was going to take care of everything. He did take care of everything and my daughter is a walking miracle. I am still on a journey of having peace. I want to trust God at all times no matter the results or no matter what I am walking through in life. It is a process but I am learning to enjoy the adventure of it.

You are an amazing educator for your children. No one can teach or educate them the way you do. You know your child best. God desires for you to live without worry or fear. I love that we can give those things to Him and do not have to take them back.

Cocoa Fridays

August 4, 2015 esther7dancingLeave a comment

Developing a relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important gift that I want my children to learn and receive from their experience of being homeschooled. The different important subjects like Math, Reading, Writing and other various subjects are tools that they will need to fulfill the adventure that they will be walking out with God but the key to enjoying and experiencing the ultimate adventure is to have them develop a relationship with Jesus Christ.

I, of course, cannot make this happen in their lives. Each of my children has their own journey to God that they get to walk out. But I do believe as parents we are called to disciple our children and encourage them in the things of God. You are the ultimate teacher, mentor and prayer warrior for your child. No one knows or loves your child like you do. I believe God desires to give us creative ideas on different ways to disciple our children.

We try to have Bible time daily. If I don’t get anything else done in homeschooling but Bible time, I have viewed my day as a success. I used to have the kids sit and listen quietly while we read the Bible and different various character training books. This worked but the attention span of my kids were lost quite quickly. Out of my 5 children, I only have one kid who is an auditory learner. He was getting the most out of our time because it was geared toward his learning style. I needed creative ideas to reach all the kids during our Bible time. I wanted it to be an enjoyable time for everybody and an opportunity to facilitate discussions.

I ended up making some simple changes that have helped our Bible time be more effective. One of the fun things that my kids look forward to is “Cocoa Fridays”. This was a really simple change but it was something the kids still enjoy today. On Fridays, we serve hot cocoa during our Bible time. On Friday, they will pester me, asking me if its “Cocoa Friday” time yet. Another small change that made even a bigger impact on our Bible time was allowing the kids that wanted to, to draw or paint or color during out Bible time. As long as they were able to still focus on the lesson, they could be creative in whatever they felt like doing. This helped a couple of my kids actually be more focused and retain much more than they used to. I am the type of learner that I have to listen and not do anything else during a lesson or I won’t get what the teacher is trying to teach. I am realizing as I work with all my children, how creative God is in making all kinds of different learners and the opportunity I have as a homeschooler to teach in many different ways. God is brilliant and He can give us all the creative ideas we will ever need to teach and encourage our children.

A New Way of Hearing

July 29, 2015 esther7dancingLeave a comment

“Can You Hear Me?” by Brad Jersak is a book that focuses on teaching people how to hear the voice of God and the different ways that He speaks to us. He also wrote a kids version that is an amazing tool to use in discipling kids on hearing the voice of God. It explains to kids in a clear way the different ways that God speaks to us. For example, He can speak through the Word of God or through dreams and visions. I have loved Jesus since I was four years old but it took awhile to learn how to be in relationship with Him and hear Him speaking to me. That is why I think books like this are a fantastic tool to show kids at a young age how they can interact with God. The back of the book also give parents ideas on teaching kids to hear the voice of God. Each page of the book is colorfully illustrated and talks to kids about a different characteristic of God. When I use this book with my kids, I usually only read one page a day and have a discussion with my kids on what it was about. Kids are amazing at hearing the voice of God and they can be used powerfully to change the world. I have seen kids be so excited when they recognize the voice of God in their lives. I have also seen kids be used powerfully by God to change people’s hearts towards Him. I never really thought about having to teach my kids to hear the voice of God. When I found this resource, I was excited to see how this could help kids have a deeper relationship with Jesus at a young age. God is amazing and desires to speak to the young and the old.

Making a Difference

July 12, 2015September 11, 2015 esther7dancingLeave a comment

One of the ways that I have been able to influence my kids in the things of God is through books. I enjoy researching and looking for books that will challenge and inspire my kids on their journey with God. One of those books that I found was by Max Lucado called “You were made to make a difference”. He wrote an adult version and a teen version. You can also get it on audio. My kids loved it on Audio because they tell a lot of testimonies and stories of how kids changed the world. I wasn’t sure if my kids would find the book boring or exciting. They ended up loving the different stories.

For example there was this kid named Austin Gutwein who wanted to try out for his basketball team at nine years old. Unfortunately he didn’t make the team but he made an amazing impact on the world using basketball. He saw a video on World Vision about kids in Africa who didn’t have parents because of AIDS. He wanted to somehow help these orphans. So he came up with a plan to shoot hoops and raise money for these orphans. For every shot that he got, someone donated a certain amount of money. The money went to Africa to help the orphans. He did great and was able to bless Africa but he wanted to do more, so the next year he got 1,000 of his friends to also get different people to donate and they would all shoot hoops on the same day. Austin ended up starting an organization called Hoops for Hope. In just five years Hoops for Hope had raised one million dollars for orphans in Africa. The money has been used to build schools, medical clinics and orphanages. If you are interested in checking out Hoops for Hope, you can find Austin’s organization website at HoopsofHope.org. This is Austin Gutwein’s book that shares his journey.

These kind of testimonies inspire kids that they can make a difference in all kinds of ways. Austin’s story was just one of the many inspiring stories in this book. I was surprised how interested my kids were and how they wanted to think up their own ideas and ways to make a difference.

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