Generations of Generosity with Lisa Gibson

To wrap up this series on Money Matters, I wanted to talk about the power of service and generosity in the family and how transformative that could be. In this episode, Lisa Gibson talks about the impact of three generations of generosity and serving as a family.

Show Highlights

Lisa Gibson is a wife to Brent, the mother of three, and follower of Jesus. She’s an active member of Covenant Fellowship Baptist Church, and also happens to be my wife Emily’s sister. Lisa was profoundly shaped by her parent’s reliance on the Lord and generosity with others, and she and Brent are seeking to model the same spirit in their household.

Learning from her own father's generosity, Lisa saw first-hand how it can change lives. She remembers him saying "Ask the Lord to show you people who you can be a blessing to." There is no shortage of people who need your help.

In her own family, Lisa and her husband Brent strive to intentionally guide their children in putting feet to their faith on a regular basis.

As a family, they host a life group each week, which entails the kids in the family to make small sacrifices like sharing their rooms with others to make space for the group to gather and study the Bible. The Gibson family has also fostered children.

They make sure to do a variety of hands-on activities that instill the value of service in their kids, such as cleaning the church cafe once a week and inviting some of the older people in the community over to dinner.

At the same time, remember that you can't schedule out every moment of your family's lives. Leave some space for growth and development, and just time together.

While Lisa sees how her children want to serve in their own different ways, she knows there is more room for growth and she believes that the Lord will enable this in their hearts.

[bctt tweet=""Ask the Lord to show you people who you can be a blessing to." There is no shortage of people who need your help." username="jaydholland"]

Resources Mentioned

  • Sponsor affiliate: Hopegivers
  • Previous episode: Episode 123: Creating a Plan for Summer Growth

If you find this podcast helpful, you can subscribe  and click here to find past topics and free resources. Feel free to share with others, as well! If you would like to help support Let’s Parent on Purpose, you can do so by becoming a patron.

I send a weekly email called “Things for Thursday” and it includes things I’ve found helpful related to parenting, marriage, and sometimes just things I find funny! You can sign up for “Things for Thursday” by joining my newsletter on my homepage.

Thank you for your continued support of this podcast. If you have a prayer request or if you have a topic suggestion or question, please contact me at my email.

by Jay Holland

Teaching Kids to Be Smart with Money

Parents are often hesitant to talk to their children about sex and money on a personal level. The lack of serious money talkleads to kids who don't know what their parents make and much worse, what things cost. This often gives our kids a skewed perspective of the reality of money and finances.
Show Highlights
It is important to be intentional in teaching your kids about money. Financial wisdom doesn’t come from a lesson, but from hundreds of experiences wisely processed. It is not just important to go through certain experiences, but to process them and learn from them.
Don't automatically bail your kids out of foolish decisions that they make when it comes to money. Praise God for foolish decisions! There's nothing better for a young person to go through than a foolish decision that they own. It will teach them better than most anything else.
There are 5 principles that you should teach your kids to help them to be smart and wise with money:
1.Working –When we talk about finances, the first thing to talk about is working. Emphasize the importance of earning through honest work. Establish a good work ethic in your children. Try not giving them an allowance. Instead, replace it with a commission system in your household to set them up with a mindset that when they put in the hard work, there is a reward to be earned.
2.Giving –Part of your child's hard-earned money should be allotted for giving. This goes to the Church collection, teaching them to give back to the Lord and be involved in the work of God.
3.Saving –Teach your children to be the best friend of their future selves by allotting money for their savings. Motivate them by setting a goal or item they are saving up for.
4.Spending –Guide your children in making wise decisions when spending their money and making their own purchases.
5.Debt –This is harder for children to understand, but is no less important in your child'sfinancially literacy. Start talking to them about debt when they are young to ease them into an awareness of what it is.Teach your kids to pay the Lord first, their future selves next, and live off of what is left. Strive to raise children who are wise, generous, and smart in the way they handle their money.
[bctt tweet="There's nothing better for a young person to go through than a foolish decision that they own." username="jaydholland"]
Resources Mentioned
Sponsor: Perfectly Imperfect, Oct 23-24
Sponsor affiliate: Hopegivers
The Christian Parenting Podcast Network on www.christianparenting.org
Things for Thursday and free e-book: Text THINGS to 66866
Book: Financial Peace Junior Kit by Dave Ramsey
Previous episode: Anthony Oneal: Debt Free Degree
If you find this podcast helpful, you can subscribe and click here to find past topics and free resources. Feel free to share with others, as well! If you would like to help support Let’s Parent on Purpose, you can do so by becoming a patron.
I send a weekly email called “Things for Thursday” and it includes things I’ve found helpful related to parenting, marriage, and sometimes just things I find funny! You can sign up for “Things for Thursday” by joining my newsletter on my homepage.
Thank you for your continued support of this podcast. If you have a prayer request or if you have a topic suggestion or question, please contact me at my email.

by Jay Holland

Financial Literacy for Parents with Donna Hosang

 

by Jay Holland

Money: The Heart of the Matter

You may not even realize this, but Jesus speaks of money more than of heaven and hell combined, perhaps more than any singular topic. In fact, 11 of the 39 parables that Jesus teaches are on the topic of money and finances.

Finances often trigger anxiety and stress. From what I've experienced, I've realized: my worry was not fixing my financial situation and I belong to Jesus and He is taking care of me.

Today, I want to share five over-arching heart principles on money and finance.

by Jay Holland

The Prodigal Son Comes Home with Shane O’Neill

Over the years, I've had the chance to pray with parents who are in grief over the current spiritual state of their children who have chosen the path of rebellion. My friend, Shane O'Neill gives a powerful testimony of hope after a long season of rebellion and how his parents were a steadfast witness to him as God brought him back to the faith.

Thanks to our sponsor www.lazybearcabinrental.com. The Lazy Bear Cabin is three bedroom, two bathroom cabin in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Northwest Georgia. Consider this getaway spot as the perfect socially distanced family or romantic getaway. If you know a family who deserves a special vacation, nominate them and tell their story at www.lazybearcabinrental.com to register for a free 3 day, 2 night getaway.

by Jay Holland

The Power of a Family Sabbath with Joy Tanner

These days, it's hard to make a distinction between work days and weekends. Many working moms and dads find their weekends overflowing with chores and to-dos, and even recreation that exhausts them, leaving them weary.

One of the ten commandments is to "remember the Sabbath and keep it holy" but we tend to ignore this need to rest. Jesus said the Sabbath was a gift that God gave to us, but even I am not very good at receiving that gift.

Joy Tanner and her family has been doing a great job at incorporating a regular Sabbath practice in their life. Here's what it looks like to celebrate the Sabbath day with your family and what it can do for your household.

Thanks to our sponsor www.lazybearcabinrental.com. The Lazy Bear Cabin is three bedroom, two bathroom cabin in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Northwest Georgia. Consider this getaway spot as the perfect socially distanced family or romantic getaway. If you know a family who deserves a special vacation, nominate them and tell their story at www.lazybearcabinrental.com to register for a free 3 day, 2 night getaway.

by Jay Holland

The Heavy Lifting of Prayer

Prayer is what gets us close to the heart of God as we shepherd our children's hearts. After more than 20 years of legitimately seeking the Lord, 18 years of parenting, and thousands of prayers, I have realized three fundamental things:

1.There is no manipulation in prayer. We cannot compel the Lord to do anything for us through prayer.

2.There is great mystery in prayer. Sometimes our prayers are answered in a way that there is no human explanation for it.

3.There is spiritual movement in prayer. I have seen the Lord move in hearts when the outside seems totally hard. We cannot change a child's heart, but we can try to shepherd it. So, whenever you feel overburdened and powerless, needing to pray, but at a loss for words, here are four prayers from

scripture that you can pray for your family members:

Ephesians 1:15-23 ESV

Ephesians 3:14-21 ESV

Philippians 1:3-11 ESV

Colossians 1:9-14 ESV

by Jay Holland

Serving and Generosity with Steven Argue

Instilling the concept of service and generosity is one of the most impactful things that we do in the formation of our children's character. It is something that definitely must be started in the home and not just at church. Steven Argue talks to us about the practical strategies that will help grow a heart of service and generosity in our children to ultimately make it a way of life.

Thanks to our sponsor www.lazybearcabinrental.com. The Lazy Bear Cabin is three bedroom, two bathroom cabin in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Northwest Georgia. Consider this getaway spot as the perfect socially distanced family or romantic getaway. If you know a family who deserves a special vacation, nominate them and tell their story at www.lazybearcabinrental.com to register for a free 3 day, 2 night getaway.

by Jay Holland

Teaching Children HOW to Think with Virgil Tanner

Virgil Tanner has been married for 20 years and is a father of four. He has lived on three continents and currently oversees strategy and global operations for a non-profit with hundreds of staff scattered all over the world.

For our kids' entire lives, they are going to be confronted by societal complexities that need both the lens of the Gospel and an engaged brain for them to be able to face these issues properly.

Virgil and his family have lived everywhere from Nashville to Central Asia and Spain. Because of this, his kids have been exposed to several cultures and have become discerning of what in those cultures are not applicable to their own beliefs.

As parents, we should aim to equip our children to hold their own and think clearly, especially when they set out on their own into an environment where everyone is screaming and nobody is thinking carefully before they talk.

Keep in mind that it's not a point of inculcating your own beliefs or opinions on your children, but make them strong enough to think and reason out on their own.

Identity plays a big role in your child's decision making. If they know who they are and have a strong sense of self, some decisions will come easy. If they know their values and what they stand for, they will also know what is worth their time and energy.

Another useful skill you can teach your children to do is to simply notice. See and notice without the need to make an evaluation right away, with the understanding that there are things they do not understand, and notice what they feel about something, and why.

The problems our children will encounter in their lives will involve sin. Virgil explains, in the Biblical approach, the primary location of the sin is in the individual human heart, with echoes in the collective and in the systems that humans build.

Locating where the evil is in their hearts will empower your children to do something about what is in their locus of control. Let them realize that their actions are under their control and not a result of someone else's actions. They have agency.

Get your kids used to the idea of having conversations, not conflicts. Talk to them about the differences between a conversation and a conflict. If there is a winner and a loser at the end, it's not a conversation. If anyone's yelling, it's not a conversation. Conversations are all about understanding each other.

by Jay Holland