At the first of this year I participated in the book launch of Motivate Your Child for the National Center of Biblical Parenting.  The book is another wonderful tool made available for parents who are willing to get down and real to see serious and lasting changes take place in their lives and in the lives of their kids.

The National Center of Biblical Parenting took it a step further and created a companion guide to go along with the book. They call it the Action Plan…

Action!

Learn how to develop a parenting plan that takes your child’s unique needs into account. Use the outline of firmness, visioning, teaching, prayer, and coaching to flesh out a strategy to move your child from where he is today, to where he needs to go. The Motivate Your Child ACTION PLAN walks you through the process of identifying an area of weakness and then naming the character quality that needs to grow in your child’s heart. Read about the value relationship and learn the building blocks to make relationships strong in your home. From there you’ll have the framework to move through each day with greater direction and confidence.

The Motivate Your Child ACTION PLAN will give you the tools to address sibling conflict, poor school performance, disrespect, laziness, procrastination, sloppy work, emotional outbursts, self-centeredness, and so much more.

This approach will equip and empower you to parent any age child, from toddlers to teenagers, and beyond. If you have a problem to address in your child, this book can help you envision the solution and then lay out the steps to get there.

I can’t say enough about how much I love the materials that Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller make available to us. God has truly gifted them both with insight and wisdom into todays parenting challenges along with the ability to help anyone who is willing to learn to walk through the process of conquering those challenges.

Click the photo or here to purchase: Action Plan

Click here for more parenting tools: Biblical Parenting

To hear interviews and samples of the audio lessons click here: Learn More

Click the picture below if you would like to purchase the book that goes along with the action plan.

I was a part of the book launch for one of the latest books written by Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller. Life got a little crazy and I was unable to post my review during the launch, but yesterday’s iced in Friday gave me the opportunity to finish digging into the book.

One of the most popular parenting strategies of modern day parenting is based on behavior modification, otherwise known as reward based parenting. My parents never bought into this strategy and neither did my husbands… so this is just simply not a parenting tool we ever used. In our house their are standards, instructions, and expectations and they are taught and then are to be followed… period… end of discussion.

Our goal as parents has always been to make our children as independent and self sufficient as possible according to what we know they can do. We have always parented with a “this could be the last chance we have to teach them this” mentality.

We have always parented with purpose and intention knowing that we had to prepare our girls to be able to make wise decisions on their own and to not have to depend on us to be there standing over them constantly telling them what to do and when to do it. It’s actually quite funny the amount of times that our kids have come home and shared how they had to bite their tongue because they were currently under the authority of another adult who felt they had to tell them “how” and “when” and “why” concerning everything.

I strongly support this ministry and these books because they are geared to make your children internally motivated. They want to teach you how to help your children become people of integrity in this evil day. They also want to see you ENJOY your kids.

There are some who promote these books because they have seen the changes that learning these parenting tools have made within there home. I promote these books because they line up with the way we have always parented in our home… we just didn’t know it was “parenting tools” we were using, we just thought we were parenting “old school”.

Just the other night, my body was rebelling against me once again. I had fallen asleep on the couch waiting on a load of towels to dry as I tried to get warm to ease the joint pain. I was awoken to the voice of my ten year old who shook my shoulders and said, Momma, let’s go to bed. She then headed up the stairs as I still half asleep mumbled after her that I would be up in a minute to tuck her in and do our Bible devo time.

When I opened my eyes, the towels were folded. When I went to reach for the dishes that I knew were on the coffee table, they were gone. My ten year old had chosen to take care of those for me. I climbed the stairs and told her thank you as I tucked her in and she said, you’re welcome Momma, I just did all the things I see you do before you go to bed.

Proud Momma moment.

That’s internal motivation.

That’s what these books will teach you how to teach your children… because the simple truth is that many of us who are parents now… were not raised “old school”. Many were not even raised inside the home with both parents. Many of us who have kids now don’t know how to teamwork parent. Many of us feel like we are single parenting even if we are raising our kids in a two parent home. Many of us don’t know there is another way to parent other than the reward based way.

Many of us have no clue how to implement the Word of God and the grace of God into our parenting… implementing grace into parenting is something that my husband and I had to grow in and are still growing in as we parent our girls.

Here’s a quote from the book:

One of the important realities of life is that God is always watching. We don’t want our children to view God as a cosmic policeman, but instead to recognize that God sees the difficult situations we find ourselves in, understands our desires, and offers us strength and power to do what’s right, even when it’s hard. God promises us grace, and when kids gain a larger understanding of what grace is, it helps them live their everyday lives.

Grace doesn’t look the other way when someone sins. But grace does identify with our weaknesses, giving us the strength to handle the tough times and empowering us to trust God for His answers in His time.

I also promote these books because I have seen the way these tools have changed the homes of others when parents truly put forth the effort it takes to learn them and use them. If we want our kids to be responsible, we have to first model that ourselves…

 

 

I assure you that your home does not have to be a war zone. It DOES NOT have to be a place of constant battles. Yes, it might be for a while. But you as the parent must not retreat… you must stand firm until there is peace.

If your home is a battle ground now, it is most likely that your kids have already learned your point of retreat. They know how to make you blow. We blow when we are exhausted and feel out of options. If you will pick up this book and read it, then you will be stocked up and fully loaded. You will find yourself confident and ready to do the work.

You will learn what internal motivation is 
and how to develop it in your child.

You will learn:

• How to build a strong conscience to strengthen internal motivation

• How faith changes kids in practical, down-to-earth ways

• Ways to help self-focused kids think of others

• A strategy to help kids who tend to blame, rationalize, or defend

• Ways to use consequences for heart change

• Specific heart-based strategies to develop responsibility and initiative

Parenting is hard work…

It’s hard work because it’s HEART work… and beloved our hearts are a mess!

The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

Jeremiah 17:10

But the hard heart work is worth it!

They are worth it!

The work you do as a parent doesn’t serve to ultimately control children or to magically determine an outcome. You’re only influencing your children for God’s purposes. It’s God who ultimately changes your children’s hearts. But the daily work you do with your kids prepares the soil for the seeds to grow. Your faithfulness in the face of what appears to be little progress is often the tool God uses to provide a strong witness in your child’s life that will be remembered for years to come.

 Motivate:

: to give (someone) a reason for doing something

: to be a reason for (something)

What reasons do you use to get your child to obey? Do you bribe? Do you manipulate? Do you use reverse psychology? Do you intimidate? Do you threaten? Do you yell?

How often do you have to give reasons to get them to do the same thing over and over again?

I am excited to be working once again with the National Center for Biblical Parenting on the release of their latest book… Motivate Your Child. As parents our goal needs to be to raise children who make choices according to an internal motivation of what is right not simply what will bring them, at the moment, the best outward benefit. Our children have to learn to make choices with consideration to the big picture and what the long road will look like according to that choice. If we don’t purposely do this we, will find ourselves with another generation of leaders who vote and lead and live according to their current need and what presently benefits them alone instead of with careful consideration as to what will be the actual long term consequences.

We have to begin to teach this as soon as possible… I mean even before they can talk soon. The NCBP has many tools available to help us do just that. Motivate Your Child is their latest…

To celebrate the release of Motivate Your Child: A Christian Parent’s Guide to Raising Kids Who Do What They Need to Do Without Being Told,  members of the Launch Team are sharing a wonderful giveaway filled with a Go Pro Camera, $50 Mardel Gift Card, $25 Amazon Gift Card, and book bundles from both the National Center for Biblical Parenting and Thomas Nelson Publishing! Three winners will win prizes with a total value of nearly $800!

Here’s what you could win:

GRAND PRIZE  ($500+ value)

Go Pro HERO3+ Silver Camera ($300 value)

HERO3+ Silver captures gorgeous, professional-quality 1080p60 video and 10MP photos at speeds of up to 10 frames per second. Built-in Wi-Fi enables you to use the GoPro App to control the camera remotely, preview shots and share your favorites on Facebook, Twitter and more. Compatible with all GoPro mounts, you can wear it or attach it to your gear for immersive POV footage of your favorite activities. It’s waterproof to 131’ (40m) and built tough for all of life’s adventures. Combined with stunning low-light performance, high-performance audio and an ultra wide-angle glass lens, HERO3+ Silver makes capturing and sharing your life easier than ever.

NCBP Book Bundle ($115 value)

The Christian Parenting Handbook  and Companion Guide

Parenting is Heart Work

God’s Awesome Story

Hero Training Camp Children’s Curriculum

Thomas Nelson Book Bundle ($90 value):

The Best Yes by Lysa TerKeurst  Desperate by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson

Say Goodbye to Survival Mode by Crystal Paine

All Pro Dad by Mark Merrill

The Passionate Mom by Susan Merrill

***

FIRST PRIZE ($165 value)

$50 Mardel Gift Card

NCBP Book Bundle ($115 value)

The Christian Parenting Handbook  and Companion Guide

Parenting is Heart Work

God’s Awesome Story

Hero Training Camp Children’s Curriculum

***

SECOND PRIZE ($115 value)

$25 Amazon Gift Card

Thomas Nelson Book Bundle ($90 value):

The Best Yes by Lysa TerKeurst  Desperate by Sarah Mae and Sally Clarkson

Say Goodbye to Survival Mode by Crystal Paine

All Pro Dad by Mark Merrill

The Passionate Mom by Susan Merrill

To enter, use the Rafflecopter below. Giveaway dates: January 12, 2015 @12:00am ET through January 28, 2015 @ 11:59pm ET

Terms and Conditions: This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only.  Void where prohibited by law. Must be at least 18 years of age. This giveaway is in no away associated with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, or Amazon. No purchase necessary for entry. Odds are determined by the number of entries. Selected winner will have 48 hours to respond to email notification to claim their prize or another winner will be drawn.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am working with the National Center of Biblical Parenting to help promote a new book by Dr James D. Dempsey titled Parenting Unchained: Overcoming the Ten Deceptions That Shackle Christian Parents

Here is a little bit of how this book came to be from Dr. Dempsey himself…

“I want to give you just a little background about the book so you can appreciate how God leads us even when we don’t know we need leading.  For nine years the book sat 90% finished under the working title of “The Ultimate Father Figure.” Over those nine years, I had to undergo a radical change to my approach to parenting because of my arrogance. God has ways to humble us, and mine was through my children as they grew up and left for college.

My wife, Gail, and I first heard Scott and Joanne in January of 2008, and we recognized immediately that we’d pursued a behavior modification approach to parenting and were seeing the predictable results. In September of 2013, I took the time to re-write the book using much of what we learned through our exposure to the National Center for Biblical Parenting.  I sent it to Scott and asked him to read it and give advice. He had kind words for it, and mentioned his three-fold test for books. Mine passed the first two, but he said it fell short in the third test: It was ‘not compelling.’ In his words, what would compel someone to pick up my book rather than the scores of parenting books out there? I was so glad to get his feedback because that set me on a course to make the book compelling (or at least more so.)

Almost overnight, and simply by asking God, the Lord gave me a new approach to the book, changing it from giving ten Biblical principles for parenting to sharing the ways Satan deceives Christian parents by trying to hide these ten principles.  I thought the re-write would take months, but in one weekend, it came together miraculously as Gail looked on in amazement.  She says she had never seen me write so fast and with such purpose.”

And here is a little bit more…

You’re an author. Can you tell us about your book?

The book’s title, Parenting Unchained, reflects the freedom that parents can experience IF they understand the way Satan tries to deceive them. You can’t avoid the pitfalls you don’t see!

What was the motivation for writing the book?

I felt that the Bible has much more to say about parenting than the few verses that speak specifically to parents. I saw in God’s interaction with the nation of Israel, and in Jesus’s interaction with the disciples, many great lessons on how to parent, so those lessons are explained. But most of all, I want Christian parents to avoid the parenting mistakes I made so that Christ becomes real to the next generation.You are self published.

What has that been like?

I was blessed to be able to publish under the banner of the National Center for Biblical Parenting, so in some ways the process was similar to traditional publishing. Working with them gave me the ability to put their logo on the spine, which brings credibility. They provided the cover artist and interior designer, plus advice on formatting. Dr. Scott Turansky of the NCBP provided the ‘tough love’ editing I needed to improve the book. I’m very grateful to him and proud to be associated with the NCBP. 

What will we learn in your webinar?

Because churches need to involve and train parents, I try to promote close interaction between parents and children’s ministry workers. Participants will learn essential attitudes and actions kidmin workers must cultivate in order to involve parents. You have to make these connections and build relationship before you can train them.

Who should register for your webinar and why?

Anyone involved in children’s ministry, including senior pastors, children’s ministers and teachers will benefit. Parents are the key to developing the next generation of spiritual champions, so we need to connect with parents and form partnerships with them. A great way to start is to get them involved in the ministry to children at church.

If you have any more question to ask Dr James D Dempsey feel free to ask them in the comment below or email me at nicolelhvaugh@yahoo.com if you want to keep your identity between me and you 😉

You can also join Dr. Dempsey on Thursday December 11th at 9pm for a Parenting Unchained Facebook Party

And beginning Monday Dec 8th through Dec 12th you will be able to purchase the ebook/kindle version of Parenting Unchained for a whopping $o.99 on Amazon!

 

I have read this book and look forward to sharing my review of it  🙂