Educating Yourself Spiritually and Academically

Last month, I loved the fact that I introduced my Pediatrician to Dr. Sear's latest book "Vaccines." He had no clue as to it's existence, and Dr. Sear's is a renown Doctor in Pediatrics. I have a really awesome Pediatrician as well. The next month, I went back to Laney's Pediatrician to tell him that we still were studying up on vaccines and that we weren't ready to move forward yet. He recommended to me Dr. Sear's book "Vaccines," and had completely forgotten that I was the one who introduced it to him. I was smiling on the inside. I love it when that happens!! I felt like a good student who did her homework!

As a parent, you face so many decisions on behalf of your child:

• How much t.v. should your child be exposed to
• How to prepare and feed your child the best food for their health
• What should discipline look like for your extra-sensitive child
• How to know which car seat is ranked the best for safety and protection
• Should I home school my children
• Should I avoid all vaccines, do a delayed schedule, or accept all vaccines
• What toys should I avoid buying due to recent discoveries of lead
• Should I give my child antibiotics for her ear infection or take a risk with alternative methods to possibly bring healing

These are only just the beginning questions of parenthood, and what better way to start parenting than by studying up and showing oneself approved. We have got to push ourselves as parents to find out for ourselves what we really believe by digging deep into the shelves of amazon.com. Gone are the days of relying solely on our Doctor's opinion or for some of you, even our parent's opinions as to how you should raise your children. Great things in technology have opened up incredible doors for us as parents, doors through which previous generations did not walk. At the same time, new doesn't always mean better. Here recently, I've learned how to take a step back and look at the richness of what used to be concerning nutrition, family life and education. Research, research, research! Parents, let's get our noses stuck in these pages! Granted, we don't have a lot of time on our hands to do such, but at least try to read one book every month. You need some room for fun reading as well, so you could read at least 3-4 books a year dedicated to parenting alone. There are SO many things you could read about, and once you make it your goal to read at least four books a year, you have a hard time picking which ones to read first! What a great problem to have.

If you are a parent who is a believer in Jesus Christ, who has a growing relationship with Jesus, you also have the responsibility to continue growing to KNOW HIM. READ YOUR BIBLES!! Find at least a 15 minute window for starters and seize that time to breathe in those life-giving words from the Word of God. As parents, we've GOT to be tapped into the VINE, for where else comes discernment, self-control, a love for others, selflessness, joy, forgiveness, direction, dreams to have a God-glorifying family....and the list is endless. I can tell you that having a baby will turn your WORLD upside down and inside out for a while. However, there are still creative ways to get some of the WORD into your day, even if it doesn't look like what it used to look like. Fight for that time with the Lord. If your sitting in that glider for eight of the twelve daytime hours you're "supposed" to be up, and you're so cross-eyed from no sleep (thus unable to read a sentence,) download a few sermons onto your ipod, shuffle or simply burn a cd. Put on a praise cd and PRAISE HIM! It is well for your soul to praise the Lord DURING tough times, as well as during bountiful times. Write scripture on index cards and flip through them throughout the day committing them to memory. Carry one around in your back pocket (or in the pocket of your daytime robe. Hee-hee!) Accept the fact that your time with the Lord is going to look way different than you've ever experienced before and then, roll with the punches. Here are a few resources that may help you get going again (or gear up for this time of change that's ahead):

One on One with God : Even if you haven't been through this study, check out the Daily Bible Reading Plan that you can download for free under the link "order". This is an amazing study and you could even teach yourself using the teacher's manual. I did! :) Most of the time people don't study up in the Bible, because they don't know where to begin, and they don't have a plan.

Scripture Memory Box: I LOVE this method of hiding God's Word in my heart. It's the most amazing method I've heard of. I had someone give me a box in college about ten years ago(wow. ten years ago. time flies.) and it's proven to still be the best system yet. Check it out!

We are now at the end of April and almost to May. I'm curious to know what you've read this 2008 year that educated and benefited you as a parent. You should have at least read one book or some kind of parenting resource in the first quarter of this year. So readers, impress us! Share with us either what you've read or what you're wanting to read this year (titles of books.) Thanks for dropping by!