Category Archives: Raising Children

Preachers’ Daughters (2)

April 4, 2013 By in Pastoral Ministry, Raising Children

new-windsor-pewWhat I’ve heard about the latest reality tv show isn’t encouraging, let alone edifying. Thankfully, there are teenaged preachers’ daughters who aren’t doing drugs, getting drunk, pregnant, and ruining their father’s reputations. Some of these young ladies, from different denominations, countries and families, answered a few questions about being pk’s for our second post in this series. We have left out their names to give them privacy. Their answers give insight into what it’s like to have dad as the preacher and give everyone some encouragement: there are many godly pastor’s daughters out there!

Would you marry a pastor?

1. “This is something that I have thought about a lot actually and have had pretty mixed feelings about. In some ways, I would like to marry a pastor as I think that it would help me to go deeper in my faith and having grown up in a pastor’s home, I have experience and knowledge that would hopefully enable me to be a blessing to a pastor. However, growing up in a pastor’s family has also opened my eyes to the amount of spiritual and emotional trials that many pastors deal with on a regular basis. Continue reading →

The Pastor’s Kid (1)

April 2, 2013 By in Pastoral Ministry, Raising Children

510px-Hasenclever_The_Parson's_ChildrenMy Dad is a pastor. Same for Grandpa, uncles, brothers-in-law, and husband. Growing up in a family of pastor’s kids (there were six of us, plus cousins) has given us a different experience than many of our peers, simply because dad was a minister. From not having him in the pew with us on Sunday, to going to every funeral and wedding in the congregation, our growing up years were shaped by his calling.

I haven’t seen much written on the pastor’s kid – pk’s tend to be tight-lipped, sometimes rebellious. So in the next couple weeks, we’ll be posting about different aspects of being a pk. Our hope is to give pk’s encouragement, give their parents some insight on a child’s perspective, and open up the topic for discussion in families.

Last week I was on a panel about growing up in the manse. Future pastor’s wives submitted questions ahead of time, and then a mix of pastor’s children answered. We’ll start this series with some thoughts I jotted down in preparation for that evening. Continue reading →

Self Denial and Evangelical Parenting

July 25, 2012 By in Raising Children

On the weekend I was talking with a mother of teenaged girls about the statistic that 80% of evangelical, college age kids have premarital sex. Obviously, there’s a problem, and this mother was concerned for the future of the church.

People have pointed out the theological and ecclesiastical reasons for this stat: evangelical kids often come from churches that do not clearly teach biblical patterns of marriage and sexuality, and many teens leave church when they move out of their parents’ home for university or work.

Those are problems, certainly. But there may be an even more fundamental issue here: a lack of self denial for Christ’s sake. Continue reading →

Children and Devotions

June 11, 2012 By in Raising Children

We all recognize the importance of instilling good habits into the lives of our young children. We’re pretty good at reminding them to eat with their mouths closed, to make their beds, and do their homework. I’m much less able and prepared to help them cultivate the practice of personal, daily devotions. Or was, until David Murray created this very useful, well-planned Bible reading plan for children.

If your child is old enough to read, they’re old enough to use this. If you haven’t seen it yet (or know someone with a young child who hasn’t), it’s worth a look. It’s been a blessing to our family as we seek to help our children develop the life-long habit of turning to the Word at the beginning (and end) of every day in private worship.

Parenting a Strong Willed Child?

June 4, 2012 By in Raising Children

I’ve been asking older, wiser Christian parents for encouragement on raising a strong willed child. Not strong willed as in, “I have to ask them three times before they go to bed,” but strong willed as in, “I need to put on riot gear before I tell them it’s bed time”. I need help. The parents (with functioning, adult, strong willed children) are amazingly positive. Most of them say essentially, “Congratulations! That’s wonderful if it doesn’t kill you!” So if you have a strong willed child, read the encouragements of older saints below and be refreshed: Continue reading →

What My Mother Did (5/5)

April 13, 2012 By in Motherhood, Raising Children

The fifth major thing I want to imitate in my mother’s parenting is her praying. She knew that all the wonderful things she did could not save us, so she was frequently before the throne of grace asking for God’s blessing on her use of means for our salvation.

I think she prayed for us more than she disciplined us (something we frequently needed). One afternoon, we were all out on the porch, bickering and fighting about something petty. Suddenly, Mum was there, looking not very happy with all of us, and we fell silent. Continue reading →

Mothers & Daughters

April 11, 2012 By in Motherhood, Raising Children

About ten years ago, Carloyn Mahaney and her three adult daughters gave a set of talks on the mother-daughter relationship. The three sessions (one for mothers, the other for daughters, one Q&A) are well worth listening to if you are a mother, daughter, or husband and father. The only caveat I have is that Carolyn Mahaney states repeatedly that the goal of mothering is the children’s salvation. This would mean that a godly mother who has unbelieving children has not reached her goal. Continue reading →