THE AWKWARD MOM

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Tag: spiritual disciplines (page 2 of 2)

Spiritual Life Skills for Kids: 14 Creative Ways to Help Your Kids Praise God

October 4, 2017 / / 2 Comments
Reading Time: 5 minutes

Want to catch up on this series? Start here.

Would your kids believe me if I told them eating mac and cheese could praise God? read more

Spiritual Life Skills for Kids: 13 Simple Ways to Teach Hospitality

September 28, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 6 minutes

Missed the previous posts and the ideas behind this series? Catch ’em here.

He was barely in the front door, cheeks flushed from the bike ride home. He smelled like the cold and that faintest puff of little-boy sweat. “Mom! Guess what! We’re getting a new kid and his name is Toby and the teacher wants me to show him around and tell him all about the school!” He drew a breath, those Chiclet-sized adult teeth still, charmingly, just a bit too big for his eight-year-old mouth. read more

Guest post: God of My Heartbreak: Teaching Teens to Pray

March 24, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 2 minutes

Of the many nuggets I’ve gleaned from my father-in-law, perhaps one I am most grateful for is his response to my husband’s teen years.

A lot of people find merit in Mark Twain’s quip: When a boy turns 13, put him in a barrel and feed him through a knot hole. When he turns 16, plug up the hole.

But my father-in-law wasn’t one of them. Those tornadic years of my not-yet-husband’s were a signal to pull out the outdoor gear, summit as many of Colorado’s fourteeners as they could knock out, and tack on some decent kayaking, cycling, and snow caving along the way. My father-in-law saw the rippling strength of the teen years as a chance to explore manhood together. read more

Spiritual Disciplines for Real Families: Simple Ideas to Teach Fasting

March 3, 2017 / / 0 Comments
Reading Time: 5 minutes

I’m posting this in part for families who’d like to fast for Lent. A few believe Protestants shouldn’t; but Matt Chandler offers this perspective–so it’s your call! At any time of year, I feel families can benefit. Here’s why.   -Janel

fasting for families spiritual discipline

Yeah, I bet you were wondering what I was going to write in this one. (I was, too.) read more

10 Prayer Tools and Printables for Families

November 26, 2016 / / 3 Comments
Reading Time: 4 minutes

In light of the series on Spiritual Disciplines for Real Families, I’m hoping this easy, often printable tools will help weave prayer into the fabric of your family.

If you love this kind of thing, try signing up in the right sidebar for the first chapter of Permanent Markers: Spiritual Life Skills to Write On Your Kids’ Hearts. It’s packed with ideas like this–and connects to more printable resources on this site to help you teach spiritual life skills!

The Prayer of Examen

This printable poster makes it easy for kids to learn to pray through their day with God. (If you’re new to this prayer, don’t let the name intimidate you! Here’s an introduction to this ancient, traditional, contemplative prayer.) read more

Spiritual Disciplines for Real Families—10 Practical Ways to Teach Prayer (FREE PRINTABLES!)

October 28, 2016 / / 2 Comments
Reading Time: 5 minutes

Last week, I heard from my sister in Thailand some of the heartbreaking moments they’ve been struggling through in their community of refugees. An 11-year-old girl sent to possibly “work” in Bangkok with her mother. A stabbing. A man depriving his family of enough money to buy food. And I thought, my kids and I should pray.

Then I thought of our prayers the last several weeks: Mostly stuff about…us.

Of course it’s good to teach our children to seek God for all their needs. But at that moment I thought, I want to up the ante on teaching my kids to cry out to God for other people. read more

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