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I am so happy to be able to let you know the new book, Praying Deeper Through the Psalms for Children, is now available! My three grandsons collaborated with me and illustrated this book so, as my middle grandson says: "children will use it and learn how to talk with God." As Christian grandmas (and grandpas/parents, too) we want to hand down the faith. We want the ones we love to learn to read God's word, learn to pray, learn how to develop their own walk with God, but often we wonder how to do this. We look for resources to help us and happily, now there are many available for us (just scroll down and look at the right side of this blog to see the resources written/developed by some of the Grandmas with Heart), but this book, Praying Deeper Through the Psalms for Childrenis unique in how it is written/designed as a tool for you to use with the children you love.
As someone who serves in and/or leads a Children's Ministry in your church, it is obvious the primary people you need to communicate with, back up and help equip to hand down the faith to the children in your ministry are the parents. In most cases, in most churches, the parents are the ones who bring their children to church. The parents are the ones who are handing down the faith to their children. The parents are the ones upon whom you need to put your focus when it comes to communicating, equipping and encouraging. But, they are not the only ones.
More and more churches have more and more grandparents who are the ones who bring the children they love to your Children's Ministry. In most cases, if the grandparents are the ones bringing children to your church, it is because the parents are not. If these grandparents do not bring their grandchildren to church, nobody will. If these grandparents do not tell their grandchildren about God, the Bible and how much they are loved by Jesus, nobody will. If these grandparents do not pray for their grandchildren, nobody will. In most cases these grandparents are alone in handing down the faith to their grandchildren and they NEED their church to make this easier, NOT harder. Keep in mind, it is the grandparents/parents job to hand down the faith - not the job of the church. But, the Children's Ministry/church has a definite "job" when it comes to coming alongside the grandparents and parents, and when it comes to helping the children connect/make friends and when it comes to providing additional adults for the children to connect with and learn from - for them to hear from these adults the same things their grandparents and parents are telling/teaching them; particularly if the grandparents are the only ones who are handing down the faith. Yes, you have a "job" and so do the grandparents/parents, but there are things you may do which makes it harder for grandparents, in particular, to do their job and hand down the faith. How do Children's Ministries/churches make handing down the faith harder for the grandparents who bring their grandchildren to church? Consider the following . . .
Today, October 7, 2019 through Friday, October 11, 2019 you are able to get for free the Kindle copy of my new book - The DNA of Grandparents & Parents who Hand Down the Faith. You will find it at this link - please download your free copy and tell the parents and grandparents you know, so they are able to get a copy for free as well.
One week from today on October 7, 2019 you will be able to receive your own Kindle copy of my new book - The DNA of Grandparents & Parents who Hand Down the Faith. In this book I look at what it takes to develop a walk of faith, how to live as someone whose faith is real and ways to reproduce and hand down the faith to the generations who come behind you. I wrote about people from the Bible, people from time and people from today and how they did these things to develop a strong Spiritual DNA. Look at some of the things people are saying about my book!
When I was a child I always received books as part of my birthday and Christmas gifts from my parents. When I became a parent, my children always received books as part of their birthday and Christmas gifts from their dad and me. Now I am a grandma and my grandchildren receive a lot of books from their poppa and me. Books make wonderful gifts - any time of the year and for any special time . . . or to make any time special. So, with Christmas just three months from today (yes, just three months from today) I would like to encourage you to consider purchasing a special book which will help the children you love learn to pray the Psalms and journal their prayers for themselves. This book - Praying Deeper Through the Psalms for Children - will help you hand down the faith to the children you love and it will be released in October.
October 7-11, 2019 you will be able to download the Kindle copy of my new book - The DNA of Grandparents & Parents who Hand Down the Faith for free. In this book I look at how just like with our physical DNA which gives us the code we need to develop, live and reproduce, we are able to have a "spiritual DNA" where we develop a faith of our own, live as people of faith and reproduce by handing down the faith. To do this I looked at people from the Bible, people from time and people from today who developed, lived and reproduced a strong Spiritual DNA. Two of the people from time whose stories I share in my book are Fanny and Eunice Crosby. You are likely familiar with Fanny Crosby - she wrote more than 9000 hymns - yes, more than 9000 - many of which we still sing in our churches today; such as Blessed Assurance and To God be the Glory. Fanny was blind and since her dad died when she was a baby and her mom had to work, she was mostly raised by her grandma, Eunice, who had her memorizing five chapter from the Bible every week - yes, every week! By the time she was fifteen she had memorizedthe Pentateuch, the Gospels, Proverbs, the Song of Solomon, and many Psalms; there is a reason her hymns were so solid, Biblically. And, stop and think for a moment. Since Fanny was blind, for her to memorize five chapters from the Bible a week, someone had to read those chapters to her. Someone had to spend the time necessary to help her memorize. This someone was her grandma.
I am so happy to announce the release and the Kindle copy giveaway of my new book - The DNA of Grandparents & Parents Who Hand Down the Faith. In this book I look at how our physical DNA is a truly amazing and essential part of who we are, as it holds the "code" or instructions for the things which make us unique as well as for the things we share. It connects us with the generations who came before us; as well as with those who come behind. It is the core of who we are physically. Yes, our physical DNA tells our cells and bodies how to Develop, Live and Reproduce, but let's think for a moment about another type of "DNA". A Spiritual DNA. More specifically, our "Faith and Prayer DNA". What are a, "Faith and Prayer DNA" you ask? Well, just as our physical DNA provides the code for how our bodies develop, live and reproduce, our "Faith and Prayer DNA" gives us the code or instructions which help us learn to develop a strong walk of faith, live as people who believe and reproduce by handing down to our children and our children's children a strong and healthy walk of faith. The DNA of Grandparents & Parents Who Hand Down the Faith will introduce you to people from the Bible - including Hannah, David, Jeremiah, Elisha, Jesus, Job, Joseph, the Kings of Judah, the Prodigal Son's Father and our own Heavenly Father, people from time - such as George Muller, Billy Graham, Fanny & Eunice Crosby, Elisabeth Elliot, Joni, Corrie Ten Boom, Martin & Katherine Luther, Charles Spurgeon and Dwigh L. Moody and people from today - including my friends Teresa Holmgren who shared how God answered her prayers for a child and then for a grandchild, Brad Burkhead who shared what it is like when your grown children and grandchildren move to Africa to be missionaries, my friend Ragaee Daniel shared how God saved him from an Egyptian prison, and my friend Janae Dean shared the powerful account of how God gave life back to her son when he was dead; all these accounts show us what it looked like for them to develop this strong and healthy "Faith and Prayer DNA". It also looks at how you are able to hand down the faith to the children you love in a way which will positively impact the generations who come behind you. Mark your calendars and please, please tell every grandparent and parent you know - October 7-11, 2019 you will be able to get the Kindle copy of my new book - The DNA of Grandparents & Parents Who Hand Down the Faith - for FREE! Look what people are saying -
Today, September 2, 2019, through Friday, September 6, 2019, you and the grandparents/ parents in your ministry are able to download the Kindle version of Generations Quest - Cultivate the Faith! . . . completely for free! It is our Grandparents Day gift to you - whether you are a grandparent or parent! Please feel free to get your free copy and then plan to use it over the coming year as you hand down the faith. You all will find 52 Bible adventures with science projects and activities written to provide you the tools you need to sit down with the children you love to focus upon handing down the faith.
I'm old enough (experienced enough??!!!) to remember when we first began running background checks on volunteers for our Children's Ministries. It was new; and many established volunteers did not like it one bit. But, we did it, because it was the responsible thing to do and because the times demanded we do so. I also remember when we began having parents sign in - and pick up their children to and from our Children's Ministries. I had several parents who strongly disliked having to do this. They felt insulted and like we were wasting their time - after all, we knew who they were and we knew who their children were, but we did it, because again, it was the responsible thing to do and the times demanded we do so. (As were more and more insurance companies.) Now days it is basically a "given" churches will take these steps to protect the children in their Children's Ministry. But, there are a couple additional things we need to be doing.
I am very happy to say, It is Impossible to Spoil Grandchildren is available on Kindle for you to get your own copy for until July 11, 2019! If you are a grandparent, parent, aunt, uncle or someone who works with children, this book is for you. For years I have written Sunday school curriculum, children's storybooks and Bible Adventures. Curriculum; these types of books come easy to me and I have had the privilege to write for publishers and magazines (curriculum for VeggieTales, SuperBook, Calvary Church Grand Rapids, Deeper in 4 Children and the Manner's Mentor as well as articles for Children's Ministry Magazine, Christianity Today's Your Church Magazine and Legacy Coalition).
I am so happy to be able to let you know the new book, Praying Deeper Through the Psalms for Children, is now available! My three grandsons collaborated with me and illustrated this book so, as my middle grandson says: "children will use it and learn how to talk with God." 
