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Recognizing and Seizing Teachable Moments · 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids.

• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to another episode of Five Minute Parenting.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Today I have a very special guest, Terry Heller Brown.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_01: She's a mom, a pastor's wife, former missionary, and teacher.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_01: She writes devotions, children's books, and homeschool and discipleship materials.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: And discipling the next generation of believers to follow Christ faithfully and boldly is her passion.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: She also has two podcasts, which are amazing.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: I recommend them highly Books at Spark and Everyday Discipleship.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: And she's just written a new children's picture book, which is out as of yesterday.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: You can find the ebook on Amazon and you can order a hard copy from her website, which will be in the um today's podcast notes.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: And the book is called A World of Pancakes, a picture book about trying new things and having a good attitude about it.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: So welcome, Terry.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: We're so excited to have you today and to have you share on recognizing and seizing teachable moments.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad to be here.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we all want to see this generation and the next generation following God with their whole hearts being on fire for Him.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so discipleship is at the center of everything I try to do because it's such an important call that God has given us, and especially as parents, that we need to disciple our children and equip them for living a life following Christ.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And when we disciple our kids, of course, we need to create times for intentional education.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: But many times the most effective discipleship takes place as we're going through our life, you know, like in Deuteronomy 6, it says, you know, repeat them, uh, repeat God's commands again and again to your children, talk about them when you're at home, when you're on the road, when you're going to bed, when you're getting up, which is usually when we are talking to and reading to our children.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so I always say we've got to turn on our teachable moment radar and be ready to seize that moment.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I use the acrostic stop, S-T-O-P, to remind us how to do that.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so first, the S stands for stop and set aside our agenda to follow the Holy Spirit's leading.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And the T is to take notice of the emotions beginning to surface.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: O is open up the conversation.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: And P is praise their insight and present solution and sorry, and present solutions to whatever the problem might be.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: So teachable moments by their nature are not expected and they interrupt our daily plan, our busy schedule, our homeschooling, whatever we're doing, they just kind of interrupt.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: But they're such a gift, and we need to just really be aware when that happens.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: And we need to seize that moment.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I say stop.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: So we stop and we kind of shift gears to make the most of the moment.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then we can ask questions for further understanding if our child has started by asking us something.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: We want to be sure we're answering what they are really asking or saying.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: We all know the old story of the child who asks where babies come from.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: And after the parent explains all the details of reproduction, then the child says, Huh, Sally said her sister came from the hospital.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: Just wanted to know, you know, did I come from the hospital?
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Or my friend's daughter, who came up and said she wanted to be a boy, you know, which strikes terror into most of our hearts.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: And her mom asked why.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: And she said, because she wanted to wear a belt.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so she explained that girls can wear belts too.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to make sure we know what we're needing to address.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: And then we need to take notice of what our child is feeling.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: If we're dealing with a situation where our child is in pain or where our children are about to get into an argument, we need to take notice of those emotions.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: Almost always, with a teachable moment, emotions are involved.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so we want to get into where our children are, what they're thinking, what they're feeling.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: And we want to get them talking.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: We want to hear their hearts, their concerns, and understand what they're thinking again, so we can address the real situation.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: So if we jump to conclusions or offer quick solutions to what we think is the problem, our child won't feel heard.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: And the only thing they may learn is a feeling of I don't matter.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so opening up the conversation is really key and making sure that we're really communicating.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's always our goal.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where the real discipleship takes shape.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: If we are doing all the talking, it's a lecture, not an interaction.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: And real learning is most often a part of interaction and is a two-way street where both people are taking part.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Any discipleship relationship is iron-sharpening iron, as the Bible says.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's even true with our children.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then finally, we need to take the time to praise and encourage.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Our children can often surprise us with their insight, um, or we can be surprised by their misunderstandings, thinking they've understood something clearly when they've really not quite understood it.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so we can do some gentle correction and help them to really understand the truth and double check for their understanding and then praise them that they have grasped something new, that they've learned something new, and that they're just awesome and that we love them.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so we can encourage them and take that time to really uh love on them and encourage them and build them up and help them feel heard and seen.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: So we need to encourage, especially today, their critical thinking and their attempts at reasoning, even if they're a little bit off in their understanding, that they're trying to understand.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: That alone is worth praising.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if they have mistakes in their thinking, we have an amazing opportunity and a teachable moment to help them see the truth because they are open to learning at that moment.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: So it's so important.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: And if they have some great insights, what fun! It's such a joy to encourage those thoughts and to just be kind of blown away at how brilliant our children are.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, either way, our children gain truth in the interaction and feel encouraged for trying.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: So that's how we fine-tune our hearts and minds, listening to the Holy Spirit, paying attention when our children are really open to learning, they're ready for a conversation, and we just need to pray that God gives us the insight and he gives us those opportunities for teachable moments, and that he fine-tunes our teachable moment radar so that we can take advantage of those opportunities.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_00: And if you find that you are missing those moments and you need to, you're just not seeing them, then really, if we just pray, God, it's amazing.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: God just opens our eyes um to those situations and then we're able to handle those and and to take advantage of those.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, God's pretty awesome that way.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: He helps us to have insight when we need it.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: And he wants us to reach our children even more than we do, and he will equip us to do it.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: So I just want to encourage parents that we can do this.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: We can see God draw our children to himself, help them grow in their understanding of who he is, and with you know, our obedience to the Holy Spirit's leading, we can see those teachable moments and grab hold of them and glorify God in those moments.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Those are such important tips that you've given today, Terry.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I think as parents, we all realize that a lot of times those teachable moments interrupt our schedule, interrupt us.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: They never are convenient.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: If God can't be ready, then you know, those are some of the most important times.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_01: I think we don't just schedule time with our children, but thank you for reminding us of that.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: You're welcome.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: Really so excited to have you today.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for being a guest on five minute parenting.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.