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Let this mind be in you….Part 2

Hi everyone, how has your week been? I read a post some days ago that said “any adult who has time on their hands is definitely procrastinating” ….hahaha…I found this so funny and thought to share.

Anyways, following our conversation last week (see previous post here), I thought it would be productive to talk about helping our kids guard/guide their minds.

Children are vulnerable, and like we used to say when Princess T was a toddler, they are like sponges and soak up everything.

Their minds are designed to learn the world and how it works, and they do this by processing every information they hear, see or read, and they lack discretion (sadly like many adults). They are easily swayed and this degree of fragility and even impermanence can be either a great advantage or a pitfall. I believe this is the reason the bible says

Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it

Proverbs 22 v 6
  • What are they watching?

It is no news that kids these days spend an alarming amount of time in front of the telly and on devices. What I find more disturbing is the amount of unsupervised time they spend doing this. Children learn a lot from their mates in school and we are not entirely in control of that, however, I believe the primary aim of parenting is nurturing and this cannot be outsourced.

A lot of us parents have become so busy (with good reason most of the time) that we are not aware of what is going into the minds of our children even under our roofs.

Not long ago, my 2 year old daughter was stopped from having extra chocolates and she said ‘I am ruined’. She did not even understand what it meant (I’m sharing this to make you understand I’m also in the same struggle as you).


I was unable to sleep that night as she couldn’t tell us where she heard the word or what it meant. I spent most of the night just thinking of what we were doing wrong, this is despite having strict TV and devices time and they’re not allowed to watch them unsupervised, yet, something slipped.

There is nothing wrong with TV. The only problem is the people who make those programmes for our kids do not necessarily have the same values as us and actually only want to make money.

They don’t care about your children or how they turn out. This is something to keep in mind and it is extremely important we pay attention to what our little ones are exposed to.

  • What are they reading?

Princess T loves to read and will pick up just any book in sight to keep herself busy (she got this from my side of the family *winks at Dr. O). I quickly realised the impact of what she reads when she started asking certain funny questions.

So I went on amazon and bought books relating to topics I wanted her to learn about without forcing her. I said amazon specifically because I see the look of sheer envy every time I get a package. I order books in her name and when it arrives, she is extremely thrilled about this and can’t wait to get through it and talk about it with us.

Just yesterday she overheard me talking to her dad about my vision for something and upon hearing that word, she started to talk about the vision John had in revelations and all the angels he saw. I listened in amazement and this was particularly emotionally rewarding for me because we bought her a fancy book of bible stories which she has now finished.

  • What are they saying?

Kids like to talk , particularly before their teenage years and the longer you are with them, the more they tell you. Most of the awkward and sometimes disturbing conversations your kids have in school will be told to you if you spent enough time with them. This is the only avenue we have to correct whatever they heard from their mates in school or lessons that are against our own family values or beliefs.

We also should be very careful when listening and avoid being overly judgemental, this makes it easy for them to tell us just anything. Princess T has told me certain things that rings alarm bells in my heads, I try to hold myself back at that time and just listen. Without referring to it, I bring up a related topic at a later time in order to address it.

Most importantly, let us pray……

Personally, I believe that despite everything we have said (although important), there is only so much we can control.

Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference.

Max Lucado

One of the best books I’ve been privileged to own is The power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Martian. This book is only second to my bible since I became a parent , it has each chapter for each day of the month and very truly covers every aspect of a child or individual’s lives. I often find myself praying some of those specific prayers for myself.

Below is a prayer page for your child’s mind…..

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61FF0569 02F2 43E1 ACED E69046C82970 1

I will like to encourage every parent or aspiring parent to buy this book and use it diligently. My mother has always said “the places that I cannot get to physically to protect you, my prayers will get there”

I’ve definitely not exhausted this topic and as I always say, I’m also a learner. Please share your ideas with me in the comment section and what you are doing to safeguard your children’s minds.

I leave you with the peace of God.

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Amaka

First commenter. I need a badge please. Thanks. I agree with all youv written above. Just like us adults kids need to learn mindful engagement with information.

Aderonke Oshungbohun

You deserve a golden badge my darling!! 🏅 🥇 🎖

Adejoke Olaitan

Sincerely, this is the only way of training the little minds…..letting them express explore and praying for their little but mighty oaks of a mind. Kudos dear Sis Ronkus

Aderonke Oshungbohun

Thank you Ma! 😁😁

Ibuks

What I find is that kids are a blank canvas, it’s best to fill it up with the ‘good stuff ‘because there is no vacuum in the mind.
Thank you for this message

Aderonke Oshungbohun

They are indeed a blank canvas. Praying for grace for this journey

Lara

This is a very lovely read, and timely as well. Thanks for sharing. Parenting is definitely a journey that requires extra grace, may God guide us.

Aderonke Oshungbohun

May God grant us all grace in Jesus name

Yinka Ademola

I enjoyed reading this and I definitely learnt from it. Raising children is a full time job.

Aderonke Oshungbohun

Thank you for reading!!

Beatrice Olubusi

The bible says,’Teach the Children the way of God when they grow up they will not depart from it. There are so many factors that make many parents not to have close relationship with their children in recent times. In those days ,there used to be what we call “tale in the moonlights “–Story telling by adults to the younger ones.Children learnt a lot from such stories and it aided their perspectives about human ideologies in this world.For parents to teach the Children the way of the Lord is a great enthusiasm. There are some Programmes on TV that parents should prohibit their children from watching. Not all their programmes are ideal for children. Thanks so much for your parental Care for the Children despite your busy duties. Impacting the words of God in them by buying them short bible story books is a great investment. Another good thing is parents prayers for the Children, it works like a burning fire. We must teach our children how to pray without Ceason. Creat in them that prayers changes situation. Prophesy positively to their lives, they too wil learn how to make positive confessions. Make sure you know their peers in school, it also has impact in their world. Parents musr allow their children to have free access to them.May we live to see them growing in God’s wisdom.

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