Heart Focused Parenting

Does your child have a teachable heart or do they resist your instruction? Learn what is going on in the heart, what God says about it, and what you as a parent can do.   >>>FULL SHOW NOTES:  Episode #41 What to do when your Child doesn't have a Teachable Heart?   >>>Join HEART-BOOSTERS (free) here . Weekly email digging deeper into the heart-focus topic so you can make real change in your family....

The Bible has a lot to say about how we relate to people and these verses, though they don't specifically address marriage, living by these verses will enrich our marriage relationship.  This episode covers 7 Bible verses often overlooked when thinking about marriage. >>>FULL SHOW NOTES:  Episode #40 What skills does the Bible say you need for a successful marriage?   >>>Join HEART-BOOSTERS (free)...

Create a faith-filled homeschool as you pass on faith, values, develop gifts and teach skills because of who God is. >>>FULL SHOW NOTES:   Episode #39  Does Discipleship have a Place in a Successful Homeschool? >>>Join HEART-BOOSTERS (free) here . Weekly email digging deeper into the heart-focus topic so you can make real change in your family. PLUS Resource Library Pass, and other bonuses.   >>>F...

Once a year the Christian church takes time to specifically remember the death and resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The expressions of this celebration (for I do see it as a celebration) has been taken over by commercialism and the secular world. But it doesn't have to be so in your family home.  Listen in as I talk about how you can use Easter as a prompt to encourage your children's faith...

As a parent what do you think of when you hear Jesus command to go forth and make disciples?  Matthew 28:19-20, says: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you." (NIV)  Do you think of parenting as a way of obeying that?  I certainly do.  Parenting is the...

One of the most important things we can do for our children is to help them feel safe and secure.  When children feel secure they are better able to make wise choices, connect with people, learn, and accept themselves.  It can be challenging though for parents to know exactly how to create that sense of security for our kids.  Today I'm sharing five ideas that parents can do to help their children...

  I believe that self-care is an everyday activity that Mums need to make happen.  But how do we do that when there are so many different things pulling at our time, emotions and energy.  And yet if we don't look after ourselves we won't be able to deal with all those things.  So this week we are looking at how does a busy mum take a break,  how does she find time to recharge and rest in the middl...

#34 - Last week we talked about creating the family standard in our home that we love God and love others.  And I particularly focused on how we can teach our children to love others - or to honour others by looking at the One Another verses in the Bible.  As I applied that in our family - way back in the day - I had a realisation that as my kids lived with me I had an incredible training opportun...

How do we teach our children to love others, to be others aware, to treat others as precious.  All these phrases probably roll off your tongue as easily as they roll off mine - this idea of our children putting others first, treating others with respect and even honour was something that we wanted for our family.  It is a very counter-cultural idea these days.  It is a challenge to live it out eve...

In a classroom situation, the teacher works very hard at creating a classroom environment conducive to learning – a creative, safe, engaging place for children to learn. We immediately envisage posters on the wall, artwork hanging from the ceiling, and a display in every corner but this is only an external expression of a creative, dynamic learning space but there are things that are less seen and...

#31 -  Have you ever paused and asked yourself if you respect your child?  In the middle of their moment - are you responding in ways that shows respect to them?  Is that possible - is it even necessary?  I believe it is. In fact, I believe that respect is a cornerstone for heart-focused parenting.   Listen in as I talk about what respect is, what it isn't, and how it impacts your family.   Go to...

Episode#30- Here at heart-focused parenting, I often talk about being intentional. One thing Peter and I did many years ago that helped us to be intentional was we spent a weekend thinking about our purpose and our vision for our family. As we've found out over the years - the real benefit isn't so much in the succinct statement but rather in the discussion and clarifying of beliefs and values abo...

Today's episode is a little different than usual - I have a handful of questions people have asked - so I'm calling this episode:  Questions People Ask about Christmas.  Original hey!!  Over the last few episodes, we've looked at how to create a heart-focused Christmas - by building up your children's beliefs and values as you celebrate Christmas.  I do hope you have a fun time together with your...

Episode #28: Do you set goals at the beginning of the new year?  To be honest I like to set goals towards the middle to end of January to avoid all the New Year hype.  But now is a good time to think about goal setting - or even better - to think about putting off goal setting - till you are in a healthy frame of mind, after the holidays, so that your goals are realistic and even helpful for the c...

#27 - Being a busy woman is one of the biggest challenges we face when we want to be heart focused.  Busyness robs us of our intentionality, our focus, our purpose.  It side tracks us, exhausts us, and changes us. Today I'm talking about 5 character based choices that you can make - that you need to make - to help you find balance with all you have to do.   >>>FULL SHOW NOTES:  Episode #27   How C...

If we are honest with ourselves Christmas is all about memories and traditions.  Of course, Jesus is the reason - and He is certainly a part of our memories and traditions but when we talk about Christmas we are talking about the things that we do and by doing them every year we are establishing traditions and building memories.  Today I'm sharing 3 keys that will help you make meaningful memories...

Our family talks a lot. A lot. Even now with us spread across the country we still talk a lot. We are interested in each other, we want to understand each other's lives, we value each other's ideas - all this comes from talking with each other.  We do this now because talking with each other is our family culture - it is how we do family - or one aspect.  But when the kids were younger we had to w...

Though we talk about Jesus and teach God's word all year through, Christmas time, or the month leading up to Christmas day, can be a special opportunity to really focus on what we believe and why.  It is an opportunity to address issues of faith - because the idea of Jesus coming as a baby is foundational to all that we believe as a Christian.  Today we are talking about ways to grow our children'...

I know it is only the very beginning of November (if you are listening to this as a new episode) but it is time to start thinking about Christmas - especially if you want a heart-focused Christmas.  I was a Girl Guide as a kid - and their motto is Be Prepared.  I don't know if there is any connection but honestly - the idea of being prepared is a principle that shaped me as a mother - and certainl...

Not all our parenting has to be a big push or hard work.  Sometimes when things aren't going well in our home we can make little tweaks and find big returns - or big changes happening.  Today I'm sharing 3 things that you can tweak that will make a big impact on how your family functions.  They aren't big things - though I wouldn't recommend you try and address all of them in the one week! Have a...

I remember when Jess was a baby, she was our 2nd child with about 16 months between her and Josh.  When she was about 3month I remember feeling so frustrated that I wasn't getting anything done in my days.  I did a little journaling activity where I recorded all that I did in every hour as I went through my day.  After a week of doing this I started to see where my time was going.  Pete was workin...

I had a houseguest once who called me on how important it is to keep your word as a mum.  Let your yes be yes, and your no be no - is what he said. He called me on second guessing myself, on entering negotiations, and on changing what I had said when my kids didn't like it and not following through after I did say something.  He had a point and for a while, after he left us, I heard his voice in m...

It is often quipped that being an intentional parent is more about the parent than the child.  And it is true. We cannot be a healthy parent unless we are a healthy person. Today's society is very fitness and health aware – and we go to extreme lengths to look after our body – but our physical body is only one aspect of our health .  We need to be healthy in all areas of our self: spiritually, mor...

We may have been told when we were kids that sticks and stone may break bones, but words can never hurt you.  But we also know that is simply not true.  No idea why a parent would have ever said that to a child!  We all know that there is power in the tongue - the words we say have an impact on the people who hear them.  And as a parent this is an important heart issue for us to get a grip on.  We...

In order for our children to know and love God and God's Word, we need to include the Bible in our daily lives. I remember a story my parents read to me as a child – I can even remember where we were when they told the story – it was about a family who received a Bible and they were so excited about it, it was so precious that they decided to keep it up on a shelf in their lounge room - they looke...