I came to Christ late in life, after I had been married and been a stepfather for a few years. Though my wife and I have been consistent in our walk with Christ, faithful and active in our church, the "children", now college age, don't seem to have the same faith. I fear that since we were not believers during their formative years, little of our faith was passed on.

But praise God for second chances!! My wife and I just adopted a baby girl and I want to do my best to be a godly father.
I am looking for counsel as to what things you have done in your own families to model and instruct children in the faith.

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Ken Nichols

Hi Bro Ken,

How wonderful of you guy's to do this! I was adopted and love my parents dearly. You never know what get's "caught" more than taught and notwithstanding prayers.

Hope you are encouraged by all the site has to offer and sure there are some here who could speak to this very well.

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Mike Balog

It's great that you are preparing now for rasing this little one in the way of the Lord.

A couple of thoughts here, one is to pray with your child daily. Model a humilty and dependence on God in prayer before your kids.

Next, saturate their lives with Scripture, read it daily with them, post it on the walls, make a game of learning Bible trivia and memorizing verses.

Also read lots of character building books with them such as "A Hive of Busy Bees" and "Seeing God's Purpose" books by DeVern Fromke, which can be found cheaply at the following link, [url=http://www.kingsleypress.com/devern_fromke_books.php]Kingsley Press[/url], you can find them at the bottom of that page. I also recommend reading biographies of Christian heros with them, the lives of George Muller, Amy Charmichael, and Eric Liddell, among many others, will entertain and more importantly, challenge and encourage you and your children.

Also, another resource I can recommend is the series of messages from Denny Kenaston called The Godly Home, they are excellent and will challenge you deeply. You can download them at the following link;

[url=http://www.charityministries.org/tapeministry/listen.cfm]The Godly Home[/url]

In Christ,

Ron

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Ron Halverson

[size=xx-small]Home school[/size]

[size=small]Home school[/size]

[b][size=large]Home school![/size][/b]

Pray for them, pray with them, pray in front of them... let them see you read the Word everyday... read the Word together as a family... set a good example for them by the way you live your like (perhaps the hardest part, at least for me it is...).

Keep the world at bay!

Do whatever you have to do to keep your wife home with her. If she works outside the home, have her quit. If you cant live on one income, then you get a second or third job. If you have big car payments, sell the SUV... buy a used Neon. Live in a ritzy subdivision? Sell the house for as much as you can get... buy a little cottage in the woods. Can't control the credit cards and sinking in debt? Cut them up, never get another one... and sell everything in order to pay off the debt as quickly as possible. [b]But keep your wife at home!![/b]

No amounnt of money, no car, no house is worth losing a child to satan.

Congrats on the adoption. I pray you enjoy the new baby to the fullest extent.

Krispy

I have already had an significant increase in my prayers on her behalf. Funny how God does that.

I have already been very blessed by this site! This is a great resource and I thank God for it.

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Ken Nichols

Congratulations on your adoption! I have 3 children; 8,6,& 2 years old. We have memorized verses together, we have family devotions, I teach them from the Word, but there is something more important that speaks louder to them. My children need to see my life of faith in the living Lord Jesus through the tumultuous circumstances of life. When times get tough, when people are mean and indifferent, or when the future seems uncertain, what(who) are they seeing? A heart that is at rest and trusting in Jesus, or a self-centered man who must take control of every situation?

Psa 116:7 Return to your rest, O soul; for Jehovah has blessed you.
Psa 116:8 For You have delivered my soul from death, my eye from tears, my feet from stumbling.
Psa 116:9 I will walk before the face of Jehovah in the lands of the living.

In His peace, Chris

Hi, Congratulations on the adoption of your new baby daughter.
How wonderful to be given the pleasure to love and cherish, have fun with, watch the growing changes, the childhood and maturing of a new life.
To be able to offer good sound faith, fun, friendship and of being with other children in your church.
I pray that all Godly things would come about for her.

Praise God, Amen.

God bless you, Brother Ken...

I don't have any children (I'm not even married yet), but I know that they are a gift from the Lord!

I also wanted to say, my mother divorced and later remarried (before she was saved) when I was young, and the man who raised me (technically my step-dad) is more of a father than I could ever describe! To me, he is not my "step-dad" or "adopted-dad." To me, he is my father. I love him more than words could ever say!

Congratulations! You and your family will be in my prayers today!

:-)
-Chris
Jeremiah 29:11-13

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Christopher

when my father and mother forsake me the lord will pick me up!!

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Dominic Shiells