What if I told you, you only had 832 opportunities to get your children ready for the world?   We all know that our time with your kids is short and our most important task as parents is to get them ready for the real world. More and more we might wonder what the world is coming to.  I often catch myself scratching my head or jaw dropped in surprise (and often shock) of what is rolling out on the global arena. Assortment of problems here and I do not intend to go into any of these loaded topics but all of a sudden things that use to seem obvious (such as gender and discipline ? ) ar ..read more

Are you finding that you are more exhausted at the end of your work week than you used to be? Don’t worry - you are not alone! Over the past few months, mentions of Zoom fatigue and zoom burnout have been popping up everywhere. To many of us it sure was an easy enough transition going from normal living to online living. To some of us it might have even been more convenient. Most of us had working, schooling, shopping, socializing, churching and connecting remotely options in place before COVID was announced. There might have been a bit of a pause when we were all in stricter lockdown but lif ..read more

Success is not final. Failure is not fatal: it’s the courage to continue that counts. – Winston Churchill As if a global pandemic was not enough to bring the world to their knees, we are now also seeing violent global protests in the name of equality and peace. It seems amongst the chaos – that now more than ever the world needs the redemption and hope of a loving Christ.  The media is full of negative events and our children are being exposed to it everywhere. I am sure you’d agree it seems that having resilient children with solid foundations of faith, now seems more important than e ..read more

Easter presents us with the most significant event in the Bible – and the highlight of our Christian calendar.  Sorry, Christmas – but Jesus was born so that He could die; go to the cross, become the substitutionary atonement for our sin, and be resurrected for our hope and future. All of which presents a difficult problem for parents.  Easter is hard enough for adults to understand, let alone communicate to children.  Christmas is so much easier – no torture or death involved!  And then with Easter you also have the prevalent invasion of bunnies and eggs to contend with ..read more

She lived a life of service. She also lived a life of longevity. There was great privilege in her life, but there was also great responsibility. Where some may fold under the stress of the responsibility, she thrived. We would all like to think our children will grow-up to be adults with the ability to thrive under the weight of responsibility. As we honour the life of Queen Elizabeth II it got us wondering, at Faith4families; what are some things we can learn from her? How can we guide our tamariki to shoulder responsibility like a Queen. We looked into 3 principles that shaped her life : 1 ..read more

Maybe it’s just me, but the thought of my little ones feeling or getting thirsty gives me physical anxiety. When I see other mums rushing after their children with forgotten drink bottles, begging their toddler to ‘just take one little sip’, or just straight pouring the h20 into resistant mouths - I have a suspicion I’m not the only one. The Guru of survival, Bear Grylls, tells us - ‘Water is the source of life and we need it to stay alive. In fact, we can’t go any longer than three or four days without water. So if we ever get stranded in the wilderness, the first thing we should do is searc ..read more

A family that prays together stays together. The Bible instructs us to “Rejoice always, praise continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thess 5:16-18). Prayer is said to be the breath that gives life to any Christian home. Many families say grace at the dinner table and most say a simple prayer with their kids before bedtime. The question is, do you want to do more? Do you want your family prayer time to make a difference? Here are SIX benefits of praying together as a family:   1.       COMMUNICATES SP ..read more

Ever wondered how to explain the concept that we are all part of God’s spiritual family to your younger kids? Here are some fun and easy steps you can follow to have fun and faith filled session with your kids.   Start with: Get the talking stick out…. Choose a random utensil from your home (example a spatula from the kitchen) and introduce it as the ‘talking stick’. Take turns holding the talking stick and introduce yourself to the rest of the family. Example: Hi, I am John and I like soccer.   Continue with: Play the baby photo competition…. Print and place a baby photo of each mem ..read more

A special part of being a New Zealander is understanding and enjoying our Māori cultural traditions. This year at Faith4Families we have put together a downloadable Matariki Faith Box session for you to enjoy learning about this special cultural tradition whilst building faith. We suggest that just as many cultures celebrate each year a time of Thanksgiving – that our very own Matariki is a tradition we can embrace and together, as wider families, celebrate the goodness of God; the Lord of our past, present, and future. It’s a way of reaffirming identity and our bonds with each other. Matariki ..read more

  As a parent, you’ve probably spent hours reading books to your younger children. If you choose wisely, most children’s books have great hidden lessons or uplifting messages and usually end with something to warm your heart. Children’s storybooks also very often end with a ‘they lived happily ever after’. That got me thinking - do our children also expect real life to always have a happily every after and if the going gets tough do they have resilience to stand firm through tough seasons? I think we can all agree that the last two years of the pandemic have been hard for most families ..read more