Monday, May 07, 2007

The Spiritual Role of Moms



I was checking my email this morning when I came across an interesting email from George Barna (www.barna.org).

Here is a short excerpt:
May 7, 2007
(Ventura, CA) - Mothers inhabit many roles inside and outside the family. Within the household, they are often counted on to be the emotional compass, organizer, and multitasking manager of the family. Add to that list another common function: spiritual energizer.
According to a new Barna study, women who are raising children are among the most faith-minded and spiritually active segments of the American population. The study explored faith-related activities, commitments and perspectives, relying upon nationally representative interviews among more than 10,000 adults and nearly 2000 women who are currently parenting children under the age of 18.

The study shows that more than three-quarters of moms identify "family" to be their highest priority. At the same time, a majority of mothers strongly agree that their faith is very important in their life. In contrast, fathers also tend to list family as their top priority in life, yet they are much less likely to equally attribute importance to faith.
You can read the rest of the article here.

I am blessed that my husband has grown as a spiritual leader over the years. I think there are three major reasons for this.

1. God convicted me years ago of my tendency of being John’s “Jr. Holy Spirit.” God reminded me that He can and will speak to my husband ... Thank you very much.
2. I’ve allow John to "do" spiritual leadership his way … not how I think things should be. I have my ideas of the types of family worship or Bible Study I’d like to try, but my way does not mean the only right way.

3. I pray for my husband’s success. I pray that He will listen to God’s leading. I pray that I will follow and be an encourager.

Also, I thought of something else that ties in … as parents its our job to raise our sons to be the spiritual leaders of their future homes.

In fact, just this morning I was talking about this with my 17-year-old son. I told him, “You know what? The type of girl you’re looking for will be more attracted to your spiritual maturity than anything else. So the more time you spend with God, the more you’ll attract a girl who has a heart for God.”

I’m also excited because of a new resource I just bought. This weekend I was super-blessed at a women’s retreat that featured the speaker Sheri Rose Shepherd. Sheri is a fellow Multnomah/Waterbrook author.

One of Sheri’s books that I bought is Preparing Him for that Other Woman. I can wait to start reading it! With two teen sons I need all the encouragement I can get!
Oh, and if you haven't read Generation NeXt Parenting yet, then make sure to check it out. I give more ideas about how to train our kids while also being a helpmate to our husbands.

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posted by Tricia Goyer @ 8:17 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Guest Blogger...Cara Putnam


Gender Matters?

If you have kids, you’ve probably noticed that there seem to be innate differences between girls and boys.

Boys (at least mine and my nephews) are simply more physical. Let’s slug each other. Tackle each other. Knock the wind out of each other. All in love of course.

Girls are into frills, dolls, quiet play. At least most of the time.

But how do those differences play into education? There’s a really interesting sight that talks about some of those basic differences. At http://www2.blogger.com/www.WhyGenderMatters.com Dr. Lenoard Sax, a family physician and Ph.D. psychologist, elaborates on why boys and girls behave differently in school.

Some of the highlights:

Boys don’t hear sounds (or register them) at the same decibels that girls do.

Boys do math better standing up…hmmm, maybe that explains why they get so restless if required to sit in a chair for hours on end. Come to think of it, my six year old daughter has some of the same ants in her pants syndrome at times.

Boys respond better if the temperature is six degrees cooler than girls. So when I tell my son to put on a jacket and he strips it off the moment it steps out the door it may actually be because he’s warm and not disobedient. Who can play when they’re roasting?

Anyway, I think these ideas are interesting. I’m going to check out his book, Why Gender Matters, and see what other insights I can glean into helping my son and my daughter become everything God placed them here to be – in their own unique ways.

So what gender differences have you noticed in the children around you?

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posted by Tricia Goyer @ 9:17 AM 1 comments

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