A to Z Blogging "K is for..."

"Keeping It Honest (and Trying to Keep My Eyes Open)!" and "Kids...Bringing God into their Lives"
From the series "Lifehacks for Christian Moms"
by Shelly Burke, RN, Author, and Publisher, Nebraska Family Times newspaper

First, keeping it honest (and trying to keep my eyes open)...I am TIRED! On Monday and Wednesday every week I get up about 4:15 AM to get to my job at an outpatient surgery center (we do mostly cataract surgeries). I LOVE my job, the people I work with, and our patients! On Mondays I take people to and from the Operating Room and am part of the team caring for them in the OR. On Wednesdays I work in Pre-Op, getting people ready for surgery. Our center is very fast-paced--the days just fly by! And I learn something new every single day. Today was no exception! It was a good day. But it was also a long day, and an early day. 

After work I came home and blogged on my other blog (Nebraska Family Times), visited a friend, and

walked with a friend. I made an unplanned trip to the grocery store when I realized that if I was to continue in my good habit of eating a salad every day, I needed more salad stuff. And now I'm home...and tired. (And a little embarrassed...I didn't realize how smushed down and at the same time sticking up in fully places my hair was, after being under a surgery cap for 10 1/2 hours...and I was seen by a LOT of people in public!) And I still get to do the most important thing of the day, spending some time in Bible study and prayer. 

So today, I'm going to re-post a post from last year's challenge (with a slightly different title). I hope you will enjoy it if you missed it last year, and if you saw it last year I hope it will give you some new ideas...or at least that you'll have enjoyed reading a little about my day. 

God's blessings to all of my readers! 

Kids--Bringing God into Their Lives

(Also in the A to Z Challenge, hints for taking your children to church and making God part of your life every day. 

To instill a love of God in your child, God must be a part of your life every day—at home, at school, wherever you go and whatever you’re doing. Here are a few tips to make God an integral part of your life every day.

• When you read to your child, include Bible narratives. When your child is old enough to read, provide Bible stories; give tweens and teens Christian fiction to read.(Caution: read the books first, to be sure they are really “Christian” books.) Consider subscribing to faith-based magazines; again, preview them first to be sure they give the message you want your kids to read.
• Give each child a Bible of their own; consider a study Bible so they can learn even more from the study notes. Give them highlighters so they can mark in their Bibles too, and encourage them to write down what they’ve learned and questions that come up as they read.
• Have Bible-study/devotion time as a family. Teach what you learned in Bible study, or read and discuss passages from the Bible. Many Bible study and devotion books are also available.
• Write Bible verses on note cards and post them around the house. Encourage your kids to do the same so they memorize verses or are reminded of God during a tough time.
• Pray for your kids…and with your kids. Ask them what they would like you to pray for, for them. Pray that they will desire to have God in their lives and follow Him. Encourage them to start a prayer journal, recording their requests and God’s answers.
• Set a good example of showing Christ’s love wherever you go. Be polite even if the checker is rude. Return change when too much is given. Give to charity as you feel led. If you lose your temper with another driver, apologize, explain why what you did was wrong, and ask God’s forgiveness out loud.
• Bring God into situations in your child’s life. When she talks about a new child at school, encourage her to talk to him and explain how Jesus was kind to everyone. If a teen at her high school gets pregnant, talk about the consequences of not obeying God’s laws and the impact on the rest of that teen’s life. You can also use this as an opportunity to talk about choosing life, and God’s forgiveness.  
• It’s normal for teens to ask questions about faith and your religious denomination. Allow them to ask these questions (I think God is glad when we think about Him and His Word and ask questions!). Discuss them as a family; find the answers if you can, or ask your pastor or priest. Even if kids are questioning their faith, make attending church a rule.

How do you make God a part of your kids’ everyday lives? Please leave your comment below! 

“Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Proverbs 22:6

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This post is an excerpt from the book “Home is Where the Mom Is; A Christian Mom’s Guide to Caring for Herself, Her Family and Her Home” by Shelly Burke. This post is part of “Lifehacks for Christian Moms”, available for download May 1^st.

I’m also blogging the A to Z Challenge at Nebraska Family Times, with the theme, “Words Matter.”  Today's post: "K is for...Kids Behaving Badly".