My Top 10 Recommendations for Parents
By Pastor Ryan | Posted December 3, 2008
As the City Church Children's Pastor, many parents ask me to recommend the best resources for parenting. Instead of only listing my favorite parenting books (those are here too!) here is my top 10 list of things every parent should do.
Laugh all the time. Laugh about yourself, laugh with your kids and laugh at life. This will give your child a health perspective on life and what really matter
Go to church- Make going to church fun and interactive. Talk about what they learned and take it deeper. This will keep them grounded and strong in faith.
Have Prayer times as a family- Spend time praying together, invite the anointing of the Holy Spirit to touch your children. Lay hands on them and let them experience the presence of God. This will give them a taste of the goodness of God
Read the Bible together- do this everyday and make it fun. Get a good translation like the NLT and act it out, be inventive. This will increase your child's faith, "Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God" Romans 10:17. My favorite kids Bible for reading to your kids is:
a. "Read with Me Bible" by Zondervan
b. "God's little princess Devotional Bible" by Sheila Walsh
c. "Student Discovery Bible: A Journey through God's Word" by Carolyn Larsen
Give to others as a family- Giving is right from the heart of God and this will help your child not be stingy. Model a lifestyle of giving. Start by inviting other families over to your house.
Go on vacations a lot - take time to play with your kids, make your vacation and adventure. This will endure them to you and make the family an impossible bond to break.
Get in a parenting small group- Stretch yourself as a parent. Joining with other parents will help you learn from other parents who may have found success in areas you are dealing with in your own family. Here is the link to The City Church Small Group Website
Read good books on Parenting- Here is a list of my top 5.
a. "Boundaries with Kids" by Henry Cloud and John Townsend
b. "Shepherding a child's Heart" by Tedd Tripp
Guard your children's eyes- Turn off the TV and be careful what movies you let them watch. Don't let TV become the parent while you check out from the most critical years of your children's lives. Read my blog entry entitled "Transformers, more than meets the eye" for more about this topic.
Buy the Jungle Jams audio series -- My family loves this original audio series. Packed with great songs and funny characters it's guaranteed to be a hit with your family too!