Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Fighting For Our Families

I had the pleasure of visiting with an awesome group of ladies tonight about Fighting For Our Families on Gather Inspirit TV. Thanks Cherie, Marci, Teri Lynne and Michelle for sharing your hearts!

We talked about Media Boundaries, Family Rules and Mission Statements, Family Time and Parenting Resources.

I know that many of you missed the show so I want to share some of our discussion with you. After the show I felt inspired to make some changes in my home and relieved that I am on the right path to raising my girls in faith.

Media
  • Do you limit TV time in your home?
  • How do you set boundaries on the programs your children watch?
  • How do you control the media they are exposed to outside of your home?
These were all questions we discussed on the show. It was interesting to see the different boundaries that everyone had in their homes. Some have very limited TV time and shows and some use the time as opportunities to teach their children.

This is an issue that we struggle with in our home. Our kids love TV. We have to limit the time spent on it. We also have to be very cautious about what they watch and we are not always as cautious as we should be. I am working on setting some boundaries in this area.

The best advice for controlling the media outside of our homes is to know your children's friends and their parents very well. The other households need to know your expectations for your child and the rules you have established for your family.

Family Rules

I shared a link last week to Meghan's Family Rules on The Tuckers Take Tennessee. I am really excited to write up some Family Rules for our house and hang them up for all of us to see. Tonight Teri Lynne from Pleasing to You also shared her Family Mission Statement. Both of these posts are so good. They really focus on your core values as a family.

Family Time

I am always curious about how different families spend quality time together. I like to learn what works for them for prayer and devotional time. How do they focus on faith with their kids? Many of us spend a lot of time with our kids because we are stay-at-home moms, but we still have to be intentional about the quality of that time.

Cherie from Heart and Soul Reflections is doing a Bible School this summer with her girls. She shared about how hungry her girls are to learn. She has done her research and found some amazing products to use throughout the summer.

Resources

We ended our discussion tonight with some great suggestions of resources to help us raise our kids in faith. Hopefully there will be a list of these resources out on the Gather Inspirit site soon. A few of the ones that I would love to get my hands on are:
I would love to hear your thoughts on these topics. We are definitely in a battle for our families. One that God wants us to win. The fight won't be easy, but it will be worth it.

iFellowship

I am joining the wonderful ladies over at Seeds of Faith again today for iFellowship.
Come join the fun.

9 comments:

Star Toaster said...

Loved reading your blog! I am a mother of six whose kids are almost all grown. God does grant the desires of your heart. He blesses the time and energy you put into pursuing His best for your children. You can encourage others to pray for stronger families by posting the prayer request below to your blog's side panel.
http://nationalprayerbank.com/Widgets/nbogdsqlyv/

Many, many blessings!
A Mom

Joy said...

thank you for posting a recap! I ended up missing most of last night. I am enjoying what you ladies talk about on Tuesday nights and have learned a lot.

You and the other ladies you have had on there have definitely been a blessing to me!

Sarah Jessica said...

So very true! For my home, TV is limited and monitored; however, when my stepkids go to their mother's(we have primary physical custody), the kids have free range. This means that we discuss A LOT what is appropriate/not appropriate choices so they can learn good sound discernment too. I found your lovely blog through iFellowship and glad I did :)

Theresa said...

Hello. I am visiting you today from iFellowship. Thanks for the reminder to keep up with monitoring what our kids are watching. Even some shows that seem okay, sneak stuff in that I don't want my kids watching. Sometimes it is even as subtle as the attitude a particular character has.
~Theresa
www.beingrefinedassilver.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

This subject is one of the main disagreements my husband have. Hubby doesnt see the damage in to much television where I believe moderation is the key. Thanks for sharing this as it has given me so ideas.

Also I have given you an award on my blog. Thank you for a great blog for me to read.

Meghan said...

You are already such a blessing to me! Thank you for being you!

Thanks for joining iFellowship. I'm so excited to get to know you even better!

Meghan
www.thetuckerstaketennessee.com
www.seedsoffaithwomen.com

Sarah said...

Shout it! Shout it loud! Delighted to meet you today. I hope you don't mind if I splash around a bit to get to know you better. This looks like a delightful place to slip off my shoes and splash around.

Splashin,
Sara

Michelle said...

Media outside the home is our biggest issue... our oldest (7yo) came home from a weekend with his grandparents and told me all about Ghost Whisperer and Criminal Minds and how he LOVED them and I just had to watch them! Oh my! Don't even get me started on how he played Grand Theft Auto at the neighbors... and we all have VERY similar values... hmmm...

Oops... I meant to just say, "Hi" and Happy iFellowship Day, but I got all tied up in media. :) Thanks for raising the issues (and providing a sounding board)! ♥ Michelle

Michelle said...

What a great show that was! I felt like we could've kept talking for a couple hours. Looking forward to many more great discussions with you about such important things!

m :)