Latest / 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids. / Raising Bold, Confident Kids for Christ w/ Special Guest Kirthana Fanning

Transcript

Raising Bold, Confident Kids for Christ w/ Special Guest Kirthana Fanning · 5–Minute Parenting: Tips to Help You Raise Competent, Godly Kids.

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another episode of the Five Minute Parenting Podcast.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Karen Ferguson, wife, mom, grandmom, and children's book author with a background in K-8 education and a passion for equipping parents to raise confident and God-confident kids.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: In this podcast, we'll cover parenting practices for both a practical view and a biblical view.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Our goal is to help you raise kids with a positive, godly self-image so they can become all they were created to be.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: I know you're busy, so we'll keep it short.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Let's take just five minutes and dive in.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to another episode of the Five Minute Parenting Podcast.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: Today I have a very special guest on the show, Keithina Fanning.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Keithina is an award-winning children's author and content creator dedicated to crafting faith-based stories that inspire, uplift, and nurture young readers.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: With over two decades of experience in media and content creation, she has honed the ability to captivate diverse audiences across various platforms.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: At the heart of Keithina's mission is the desire to empower youth with tales of faith and courage, fostering a generation that faces life's challenges with grace.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Keithana, welcome to the show.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Karen, for having me.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: I'm happy to be here.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so excited to have you.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: And your topic for today fits perfect with the mission of this podcast as you encourage parents to raise bold, confident kids grounded in Christ.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 1:39
  unknown: Thank you.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now I know you also important.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it sure is.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now I know you also have a seven-day um free printable guide for our listeners as well.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: So that though the links to that will be in the show notes.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for sharing that, you know, with our listeners.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Freebies are great.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I'm I'm I'm happy to because I feel it's it's so necessary for them to just have something, um, not have to sit and go through the whole uh hustle and bustle of planning and what to come up with.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: So it will be something easy for them to start off with.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: We love practical and and easy.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: Anything that can make life easier, a little bit easier than it, you know, with all the chaos.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Well, again, welcome to the show.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna just let you jump right in to share with our listeners what's on your heart today.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, thank you.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_01: So um, today my topic is encouraging parents to raise bold and confident kids grounded in Christ.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_01: And I was praying about this, and the Lord laid this upon my heart.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: And why this is so important is because with um in the in our in our world today and with whatever that's happening with us, it's more important than ever to raise bold and confident kids grounded in Christ.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: The challenges they face, the peer pressure, fear, uncertainty, anxiety, um, you know, uh, what do you say, like kids that tend to compare themselves to the other?
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: It's always such a difficult place for them in their innocence and in their vulnerability, especially growing in this world as a Christian and trying to stand to your biblical values and not stray to the ways of the world, but to be founded on a faith, uh, to be found rooted in Christ in a manner that's unshakable to them.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: So when kids are rooted in God's word and consistent in prayer, they learn to stand firm in faith.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_01: And that's some that's where I my ministry is, and what God's called me to do is to teach and to encourage and empower children in prayer and in the word of God so they will not be shaken by the wind that blows against them.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: They become overcomers because God's word equips them with truth, hope, and strength.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: His promises will remind them that they are never alone, and through him they can conquer whatever comes their way.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: And for me as a child, I grew up in a Hindu family.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't have this strong rooting and grounding, but my godmother was truly a woman of God, and she she's the one that led me to Christ, and she continuously prayed for me, you know.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_01: Truly, I believe she prayed me into where I am today and into what I do.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: Because if it was my own, I don't believe this was a path I ever even thought of or imagined in my life.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I didn't have that growing up.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_01: I remember and see.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: And I even today look at some of the parents and children from my friends and family, I feel there is a lacking of daily prayer, there's a lacking of the understanding of the power of the word of Christ and how to use that in prayer and in your situations and in your circumstances that you may become stronger.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: So if parents start instilling this uh prayer, everyday prayer and the word of God um in kids as a daily routine, because it's hard.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we are creatures of habit.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: So it's always nice to start off with something small, start bringing them into a habit, into a routine, then this will become a part of their lives as they grow up.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: And now, as children, they're like sponges.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_01: They just absorb everything they see and they do and what we represent and what our actions are and how we speak.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: And that's why it's always um what can you say?
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like such a tough situation, even for parents, because you have to like keep putting on the best version of yourself because the child's always looking at you.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes you just want to be you.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, sometimes you just want to throw your shoes around the house.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you just want to be, you know, wear your messy hair, or you know, maybe like slurp and have your drink.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: But it's like it's so tough because you just have you're trying to do your best, and it's not an easy job.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um we are all mom or dad, right?
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, is a very hands-on, I would say more difficult than even going into the world and doing a job.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: The parenting job is one of the toughest and the most um, what do you say, like a job with very high responsibility because a life is in your hand.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so, um, as parents, it's so important to empower children with the confidence of God's word and how it arm armors them, and also how prayer is their weapon, prayer is their communication, and how prayer is not, it doesn't have to be boring, and it doesn't have to be like you your um uh speaking words or you know, like what do you say, um memorizing and saying words, it has to be like how you speak to a friend and God is your friend.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I through this want to just help parents um to uh you know encourage them to nurture their children as prayer warriors in Christ from a very young age, because that will make them very strong and confident in the Lord when they go out into the future.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: They will know there's nothing they can overcome through prayer because he is a prayer-answering God.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: He is a God who listens, he is a God who speaks, and he's a God who's close to you.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: But his word does say draw near and I'll draw near to you.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't say that, oh, I'll come to you.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: You know, he still meets us where we are, but we have to make that effort to draw near, and that's something the parents have to make an effort to teach the kids and help them with.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and I would imagine, you know, oh yeah, I would just think you'd say for parents who maybe don't have that habit in place already, it really is something that they can learn and start to experience right along with their children.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because I I went to visit one of my friends and I something she did with her son, her toddler, her toddler son was beautiful.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: So in the morning, like this may not be possible for everyone, each one has their own schedules and their timing, so they have to see what works for them.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: But something she did that that was, you know, stood out to me was in the morning, she goes, she prays with him while he's still snuggling and cuddling and all that stuff, and then she will read a chapter of the Bible with him, and that was beautiful because then the child has questions or the child has like some queries, and you are there, and that's a beautiful way to bond with your children when you do the reading together, so they don't feel like they're alone, they don't feel like they don't understand, and you're with them on this journey.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's good for us too as parents to be edified in this manner, yes.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_01: And then she allows this point, yeah, and then she allows him to have his quiet time with God and to speak to God about his uh what he wants for the day or what his thoughts are, and it's beautiful because I'm seeing how God's working in his life, and then he will come up and give us some things about how God spoke to him today and what his thing is, and it's it's just so beautiful to see because God loves the children, yes, and when we push them, you know, to move in that path towards him, he is holding them dear in his hands.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: And the the verse from the Bible does say in Proverbs 22, 6, train up your child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_01: So the job to train is ours as parents.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, and that effort has to be put into training the child.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: But I like how you mentioned about even from a very young age, you know, having at least some time in the word together, you know, not it's great for them to, I think, see us as parents having our own quiet time too.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think there's value in that, but just welcoming them in together, like you say, you know, Jesus said, let the little children come to me.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: So just having that short time even together and allowing them to ask questions, I think if you do that on a regular basis is really powerful.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: And we don't even realize it's like small seeds that are sown, small steps that we take bloom into something beautiful and bigger with time.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: Because it's our job to educate the children, it's our job to lead them in the right path.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_01: The rest is up to God.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_01: He knows how to work in their hearts, he knows how to speak to their minds, he knows how to make himself known in their life, but we still have to do our part.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Very true.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: So prayer, something that the Holy Spirit has been laying on my heart is prayer time is very, very important.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: And I and that's something I see that lacks in a lot of children, even coming from Christian homes, is individual prayer time.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_01: It starts off with prayer family can pray together, the mom can pray together, the dad or whatever, however it goes.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_01: But a child needs to learn to pray by themselves.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: So he or she knows okay, this is my time with God, even if it's a few minutes in the morning and a few minutes in the night.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_01: That's your moment with God, and that's between you and God alone, and that needs to be shared with the children that what you speak to Jesus is between you and Jesus.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: You can share with him your biggest fears, your desires, whatever you want, and to just teach them to be the most honest they can be, because God knows everything already, but he still gives us that choice to come to him with what we want to share.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: So if they understand that nothing's hidden from him, he knows everything, but he still wants you to be the one to talk to him, to share with him, because he's your dear friend and he's always listening and watching over you.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: It would be a little more helpful uh for the kids to start praying and speaking to God as they would speak to a friend.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: And that might encourage them a little bit more to start having their prayer time with the Lord.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we are such an example to our kids.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think they learn the most by following our example, and that can be scary sometimes because we're all imperfect, you know.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: But praise God, He gives us grace.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, He does.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so some of the things that I had in mind, um, oh, one more point that I wanted to share was the Word of God, and that is so important because no matter what we pray and no matter what we, you know, speak, if we don't use the Word of God in our prayers, then that's it's it's just a prayer spoken.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: But when we pray with the Word of God, that is life and that is fire, and that becomes a powerful prayer that will not return void.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: So it is so important for us to pray with the word of God and to teach the children to pray with the word of God, and in order to do that, they need to know the word of God.
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_01: So daily Bible verse um meditations to make day uh learning Bible verses fun is something that you know parents need to come up with, and that's what I include in my seven-day uh plan.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: I give them fun ways to meditate the Bible verses and how they can get incentives, maybe some gifts, maybe sometimes they just get extra uh you know, uh playtime, or they, you know, get maybe a dollar, or maybe for some people it's like you get you get to pick a toy at the end of the week, or you know, whatever.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: You have a little box of different goodies that you can give your child and you make it exciting in different ways.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: Um, to help the child learn those verses so they can be used in terms in times of difficult situations when they have problems, they're facing something, then they're like, hey, you know what?
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm going through this, but the Bible says this, and this verse the Lord has given me.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna speak this over my problem.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm gonna speak because they're very, very smart.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: I have, you know, the other day we were at a family get together, and my three-year-old nephew was telling his mom how she needs to use the tissue to wipe his face.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: And I just thought to him, he's like, No, not like this.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: And it just made me laugh because I'm like, he's yeah.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_01: I said, Yes, he's three years old.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: He's gonna tell us now how we to do things.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: They are so smart, they're so adorable.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: And so if we start teaching them, they will grow as uh tough warriors in the Lord.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: And they may be telling us a thing or two, you know, even before they grow up into adults.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: True.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: I have a four uh-year-old grandson who is similar as well.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know, he tells us, yes, uh, what it's about and and what to do often.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: So it's fun.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I also wanted to share um, oh, so there were two the examples that I wanted to use.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: And that one is that um the how important the word of God is.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: One is that when God created the world, he created the world with just his words.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_01: There was no extra talking there, no extra saying that.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_01: He said, Let there be light, and there was light.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: And that's how powerful it is because it's his word, it comes from him.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: And another example is when Jesus was on the in the wilderness and Satan tried to tempt him.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_01: He didn't ramble, he didn't say long prayers, he didn't speak all these extra things.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: He just spoke the word of God to the enemy, and the enemy had to go.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: And that's how powerful the word of God is when we use it in our situations.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: And we may not see the outcome of it right away, but we know for sure that's his word, living word, when it goes out, it will do what it's meant to do.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: So that was that, and um, I just want to share a little bit about my my book too, if you don't mind.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Please do, yes.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: So um, The Girl and the Noble Steed is one is my passion project, is something the Lord laid on my heart.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: And after seven years, um, I actually wrote it in 24 hours, but I had planned different versions of it over seven years.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_01: And when the Lord finally spoke to me and talked to me and told me what needed to be done, I he gave me the grace to write it in 24 hours.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I put all the scenes down in 24 hours and wrote the book in a week.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_01: But it's an award-winning Christian fairy tale, and it's a very empowering book for kids.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_01: It shows children that nothing is impossible with God, and it shows it teaches that God answers prayers, it inspires kids to believe in their dreams and see themselves as overcomers.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_01: The story follows a courageous character who faces many struggles in life, and through prayer and unwavering faith, she experiences how God leads her to victory, teaching young readers about unity, kindness, and selflessness.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's a really cute, fun story.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: It has a lot of quirky words, it's very, very vibrant, it has vibrant pictures.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_01: But what I love about the story is that it empowers kids to believe and to believe in a God who answers.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I feel um that's something that will resonate with families and with children of this podcast.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it sounds wonderful.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we will have that link in the show notes as well.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: So please, listeners, uh, check that out.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds like a beautiful book with such an important message.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so you will have their seven days uh printable guide, and you will also have um there will also be an exclusive story time for the podcast listeners where they get a chance to win a free author-signed copy of my new book, A Feather of the Brightest Color.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: And Karen will put that in as well, uh, the link for that as well.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so yeah, that's I guess that's about it.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: And um some of the what was the other thing I had on mind?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, the tips, like fun tips to share uh of how you can make um Bible uh you can make Bible reading um and scripture fun is to have like different games, um, to have different challenges, maybe play Bible charaz, bible pictionary, to have like Bible treasure hunt, um, just to have like fun quizzes.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna include all these extra additional things in the seven days guide so you don't have to ponder and break your head about it over all the things that you have to do.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: So um parenting is is is a lot, and um, I pray God gives you the grace and blesses you with all that you need and the strength in Him.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_01: So that will be all for me.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that is so awesome.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for sharing and just such an encouragement to parents, you know.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think, you know, the the topic for today about raising those bold, confident kids, it really does come down to prayer, to the word of God.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_00: And and we are on the same page there.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm just excited for uh listeners to be able to download um your your guide.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's going to be super helpful for so many families.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_00: And also before we do close out, I want to mention to the listeners that you have a YouTube channel for kids um called Yes, I do.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Read, Believe, Grow TV, which looks like such a fun channel.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I am amazed at what you do with graphics.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how you do it.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you, Karen.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: Truly, I'm telling you, I'm I'm amazed at what I do sometimes because I'm like, Lord, how did I even like I look at some of my videos and I go back and I'm like, I don't even remember how I put this together.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: It truly is his grace.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: And the ideas that he gives me.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's truly his grace.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and it I love it because it has that wholesome content for kids and it's so engaging that and pulls them in with those beautiful graphics.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: So just uh before we close out, just share a little bit about that.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: How do you started that and what you hope you know it can be a benefit to parents?
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so read, believe, grow, tree, uh tree, I'm saying, sorry, read, believe, grow.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: Hopefully it becomes a tree of life for kids.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but read read, believe, grow TV.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the Lord laid this upon my heart um in 2023, but I didn't get to do, I didn't start off on it until mid of 2024, because that's how shy I was about TV and and you know, filming myself and speaking and coming in front of the camera, and I was just pondering and wasting time until I would say, not a scolding, but I had a stern moment when the Lord said to me that you gotta get this done.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_01: Or, you know, so I was like, okay, fine, I'm gonna like just get there.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: And I was thinking of ideas of what I wanted to have on the channel.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_01: I prayed before everything, and you know, the truly the Lord helped me in putting the content together and um, you know, to have devotions, to have book readings, to have fun, inspiring stories.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_01: But the uh what do you say, the core of the channel is everything leads to Christ, and everything leads to the heart of Christ, and everything leads to who God is and his love for the children.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_01: And that's that's what Read Believe Grow TV is.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's about Jesus and how in him uh we are perfected to be like him and how we can reflect his love and um and and allow for him to be glorified through us.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: So it has different things, it has um devotionals.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_01: I do devotionals every week for kids.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um there is story time, there's like empowering, there's little inspirational stories.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um now recently I've just started uh Psalms for children and I've also started Daily Grace, which is like a short empowering message for children just before they start their day or even through the day to work on that.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's a lot.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'm I feel like there's a lot going on, but I'm gonna get there slowly.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I highly recommend that listeners check that out.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_00: We will have that link in the show notes as well.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: But again, thank you so much for being on here today and sharing your heart.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: And um I I just want to thank you listeners for joining us as well.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: And be sure to check out the show notes again for books, for links and resources that were discussed today.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: And join us next week for another episode of the Five Minute Parenting Podcast.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, have a blessed week.