002 - Doing church well, even when it's hard. With Al James

In this episode of Timeless Parenting, we spoke with Elizabeth Urbanowicz from Foundation Worldview about how to help our children develop a robust Christian world view in a world where they encounter many competing visions of what is good and true. We discussed questions like: What is a world view? What are the blessings of having a 'big story' to live in? How do we and our kids find out what is real and true? How can we foster evidence-based trust in our kids? How should we go about answering our children's tough questions? How can we show our children that the Bible is true? How should we explain the relationship between science and the Bible? What if we feel inadequate to answer our kids' questions? This episode is full of simple, practical ideas that will encourage and equip all parents as they help their children think biblically and critically about the ideas they come across. Links: Foundation Worldview, founded by our guest, Elizabeth Urbanowicz, where you can purchase comparative world view curricula for families and churches.

In this episode of Timeless Parenting, we had a great chat with Kat Ashton Israel, early childhood educator, mother-of-five and contributor to Parenting in God's Family, about the importance of literacy, books and reading for our children. We discussed questions like: What is literacy and why is it important? Why should Christian parents care about literacy? What are some everyday ways to foster pre-literacy in our babies and toddlers? How can we help to prepare our preschoolers for starting school? What if our children struggle to learn to read? How can we encourage a reluctant reader? How can we find good books for our avid readers? This conversation is full of insights and practical suggestions and is sure to reassure and encourage parents of children of all ages. Links: Parenting in God's Family and Parenting in God's Family Volume 2, which include several chapters by our guest, Kat Ashton Israel. Timeless Parenting Episode 6: 'Schooling: positive starts and positive partnerships' with Kat Ashton Israel. Growing Faith: articles and resources to encourage and equip Christian parents and carers. Related articles: 'God's plans for my kids are better than mine' by Harriet Connor 'To my child who didn't get an award' by Harriet Connor 'How to pray for your child's teacher' by Rebecca Sharley 'Back to school and the achievement game' by Jess Chilton. Mothers Union Sydney. Listen to talks from previous seminars on Soundcloud. MU Parenting seminars, including 'Parenting in a technological age'. Theme music: Soul's Getting Wet by Ali Maegraith. Produced by Ali Maegraith and Gerard Masters. Available on SoundCloud.

In this episode of Timeless Parenting, we spoke to two Christian fathers about the lessons they have learnt along the way. Andrew Horsfield is a father of three adult sons and Dan Connor (Harriet’s husband) has four sons aged 16 down to five. They shared honestly about: the role confusion facing modern fathers how understanding God’s fatherhood can help the unique role that Christian dads can play how dads can gain confidence in caring for their children how mums can support dads’ involvement with their kids how Christian dads can encourage one other how to manage when your own dad was not a perfect role model how to manage when you feel you have failed. This conversation will be hugely encouraging for all dads, whether they are just starting out or further down the track. Mums will also benefit from listening to the perspective of these Christian dads. Links: Parenting in God's Family Volume 2: More Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Issues, which includes a chapter by our guest, Andrew Horsfield, on 'Dads, let's get to the heart of family'. Growing Faith: articles and resources to encourage and equip Christian parents and carers. Related articles: 'Are you a dad or a father?' by Dale Brown 'Three habits of a gentle dad' by Dale Brown 'Let them wrestle!' by Harriet Connor. Mothers Union Sydney. Listen to talks from previous seminars on Soundcloud. MU Parenting seminars, including 'Parenting in a technological age'. Theme music: Soul's Getting Wet by Ali Maegraith. Produced by Ali Maegraith and Gerard Masters. Available on SoundCloud.

In this episode we spoke with Christian psychologist Alexis Hudson about how to build up our family's mental health 'immunity' through practising four simple habits. We began by discussing how everyday habits can build up psychological resilience for hard times—for us and our children. Alexis emphasised how this framework, which is drawn from positive psychology but aligns with the Bible, helps us to keep a balanced perspective—acknowledging both the positives as well as the negatives of life. For each habit, we spoke about what the research says, how this fits with our Christian values, and how we can put it into practice in our family life. We also answered questions like: Which ancient Christian practices are now proven to be good for our wellbeing? How can we help our kids to stay positive in the face of challenges? How can we have good after school or dinner table conversations with our kids? What is mindfulness and can Christians embrace it? What are the signs that we or our children might need to seek professional mental health support? We hope this conversation about integrating positive psychology and the Christian faith will prove to be informative, encouraging and practical!

In this crossover episode with Al James from the Effective Ministry podcast we spoke about how Christian parenting is a balancing act. It involves balancing—or holding in tension—a number of different truths about the context in which we are raising our children. We need to view our family life through the different 'lenses' or layers of where we are in God's plan of salvation. We are raising our children in creation—within the natural, created order of human life. But we are also raising our children as finite beings in a fallen world, where sickness, death, sin and confusion mean that our experience of family life sometimes falls short of God’s creational ideals. Christian parents are responsible in Christ for raising our children to know, love and follow him. Yet we do this in a changing world that is often working against us. Christian parents also raise their children within the Church, the larger family of God, which also has a responsibility to pass the faith on to the next generation. Finally, we are raising our children in the light of eternity, where earthly relationships will be overshadowed by our ultimate relationship with God. So how can we keep all these realities in balance? What happens when we drift too far in any one direction? In this episode we chatted about how Christian parents can keep the balance and remain 'anchored' in Christ. As we did this, we explored how the chapters of Parenting in God's Family Volume 2 fit into this framework. Listen and be encouraged to anchor your family in Jesus, the one who holds us steady through the storms and changes of life in this world.