Rachel Winkler’s Reviews > Parenting with Hope: Raising Teens for Christ in a Secular Age > Status Update

“When we rest in God’s plans for our children’s lives, we can stop trying to control the plans ourselves. We can’t know what’s best for them, but God knows. We may feel lost and unsure, but God knows the beginning from the end.”

“A teen’s understanding of God’s grace is indelibly shaped by the example of their parents.”

“In the midst of our everyday interactions with our kids, some of the most important lessons are being conveyed through how we respond to their failures and successes.”

“We should take great care as parents to carefully distinguish between deliberate defiance and honest mistakes.”

“If we want our teens to believe the Bible offers timeless wisdom for every generation, they need both our words and our example. Hypocrisy on our part will quickly undermine any rules we attempt to enforce in their lives.”

“We want our teens to understand that God’s rules are good and they are meant for our good. God’s Word teaches us how we work best.”

“We all have to guard against wanting to raise kids in our own image.”

“As parents, we are called to love and encourage our teens, not attempt to satisfy our longings through them. We need to focus on raising the children we have, not the children we wish we had.”

“One of the greatest gifts you can give your teen is to value their character over their performance.”

“The antidote to a love of money, fame, and success isn’t to forsake all these things. The antidote is to love God more. When God is properly worshipped in our hearts, our propensity toward idolatry will diminish. When we cling tightly to God and trust in him, he willlead and guide our lives. This is life. And this is life abundant.”

“Meet your kids with the graciousness you’d like to receive.”

“We can’t insulate our children from the realities of life, but we can be available, helping them to learn resilience by encouraging them to her up after they’ve fallen down.”

“God wants us to be faithful with the gifts and talents he’s given to us; not to work hard to be like someone else.”

“This is a warning to us all. We can be fastidious about attending church, reading our Bibles, and saying our prayers — worshipping the Lord — while still serving our idols.”

“Our kids need us to be clinging to Jesus, looking to him for grace, setting aside our idols, fighting our sin, and walking daily with God. They need to see that our words match our lives.“

“One of the best gifts we can give them is letting church be a normal part of their lives…”

“Demonstrating everyday faithfulness in our own lives communicates healthy spiritual habits to our children.”

“Being calm when they are struggling is one of the best ways to allow them the freedom to ask questions about their faith.”

“As we pray, ‘Your will be done,’ we are relinquishing our desires (and acknowledging the limitations of our understanding) and asking that God would do what is best. We entrust our longings to him, knowing this: ‘If the good thing we desire is good for us, we shall have it. If it is not good, then the not having is good for us.’”

“Taking the time to consider our own need for forgiveness each day will make us more tender-hearted toward others who need our forgiveness, especially our children.”

“I’ve found that praying for and with others is one of the most loving and servant-hearted things we can do for them.”

“Prayer is a form of intimacy with God that we get to teach our children.“