Purposeful Parenting

Going for Broke

We all want was is best for our kids but what does purposeful parenting look like in practice?

Follow the creator of Anton’s Antics’ as he negotiates the challenges of being a parent.

“The blog's slogan started off as a joke between my wife and I, as it can be tough making ends meet and parenting is not easy. I want to hear Jesus say ‘well done, good and faithful servant’ with what He has entrusted to me. We have to go for broke don’t we?

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Why parents must rescue Easter from the grave

Details: Created: Monday, 01 February 2016 11:56

Easter Bible stories kids How do you feel as hot cross buns, chocolate eggs and bunnies fill the supermarkets? Excited? Apathetic? Shocked? Nauseous? Didn’t we just have Christmas? Is nothing sacred? Mmm…chocolate bunnies…I used to moan when this happened. It drove me made to see the commercialization of Easter start earlier and earlier every year. It drove me nuts to see the Easter bunny hot on the trail of Santa.
So what do you do? Ignore it?
If you’re a Christian person, the retailers are actually doing us a great favour.
They’re calling us to action. They are saying Easter is awesome…are you up for it?
Easter is a key moment in the year…it’s actually our moment. It’s an incredible opportunity to really get Jesus out there – but what are we doing with it?
In Australia at least…very little…that’s right…few homes, schools or churches do much with Easter. But it doesn't have to stay this way...

Hot cross buns already?

Details: Created: Thursday, 21 January 2016 21:15

The other day a friend posted on face book a gorgeous picture of a hot cross bun. Apparently the supermarkets are now full of them and she was stoked. ‘C’mon they are pretty yummy; I wish they were here all year!’

Many parents will moan when they see the hot cross bun, Christian or not.
Already? It was only Christmas a few weeks ago?
Should we be paying attention?
Does it matter if Easter is on our brains only 3 weeks after Christmas?
Could it even be a good thing? Might it give the faithful the kick we need to note the approach of our most important calendar moment and ponder…what should we be doing with Easter?

I’ve been wondering for not a few years about this conundrum. Easter is our ‘summit’, if you’re a believing Christian. Some people overseas, far from my southern hemispheric island of Oz treat Easter very sacredly. Some even re-enact the crucifixion. Some create a big song and dance. But in Oz, it’s a pretty passive affair. In the land of the long weekend, Easter is a double header with not one but two public holidays to really hit the camping grounds.

Do we as parents need to be concerned that our kids think primarily of chocolate and bunnies and buns at Easter?

What can we do about it?

Surely it's up to the church?

Top 5 parenting NY ‘resolutions’

Details: Created: Wednesday, 13 January 2016 11:30

Some people don’t bother with New Year’s resolutions; it’s just another day, another year, big deal! Some make a big deal of them and try and better themselves or their situation with goal setting. A week ago I was sent some marketing info’ about a course on how to make 2016 your ‘big year’. I was simultaneously left feeling skeptical and guilt ridden: ‘Another course for the gullible!’ and ‘Stephen, you could really achieve if you knew how to apply yourself to a clear set of goals’.

Well I’m broke so the course will have to wait. But it did get me thinking…what about goals as a parent? I’d never thought of it before. Out of all the things we could set our mind to improving…exercise, health, money, business…what about being a parent? Raising our kids has got to be our greatest work. As the book of Proverbs reminds us ‘A wise son brings joy to his father’ but ‘a foolish son brings grief…’ (Proverbs 15:20; 17:25).

Have you ever set yourself goals as a parent? Would you consider doing it now? Can you share your ideas with us?
I’ve got some ideas for you that are firstly about the ‘big picture’ and secondly some soundings to get us started on the nitty gritty. I’m hoping that with this start, you can spring into your own brainstorm...

How to beat Christmas stress

Details: Created: Thursday, 24 December 2015 19:46

The kids are on full hype mode…Christmas eve, here we go!
If you’re a parent like me you’ve juggled work with shopping, cooking, cleaning, organising, wrapping and kids around you 24/7 for the past week of school break. You wonder…can Christmas day really deliver on all this anticipation?
For parents, Christmas is a pretty stressy time. Have we nailed it with the kid’s presents? Do we have enough food? What if it rains…you just can’t fit 4 families in our little house…we need the alfresco lunch…please, please, please don’t rain!
Plus there’s the ‘family stress’ of pleasing all the relatives and not offending anyone. What if you forget to use someone’s dish they slaved over? What if you forget to open the special chocolates someone brought for the occasion? If someone comes really late, how will you treat them?
Come back to the original Christmas and find some peace.
God gave up His Son to a world that did not welcome Him. A dirty, smelly manger for the king of kings. How is that right?!
Christmas should remind us of God’s undeserved kindness and generosity toward us. His most precious Son given to a world that gave Him the cold shoulder from day one. Do I need to mention the crucifixion? You can see it in the manger.

How to build your kids faith at Christmas

Details: Created: Thursday, 17 December 2015 16:34

christmas bible stories with stickers Every Christmas the Santa sacks in our home get loaded with goodies; there are favourite toys, new gadgets, clothes, beach gear…but what about something related to the star of the show? I’m talking about Jesus. As my kids grew out of babyhood, I wondered: ‘How can we make Christmas significant or at least connected to our kid’s faith development?’

Let me share with you something we’ve been doing to encourage our kids each Christmas. Around the same time as I started thinking about this, I began doing my live shows, Anton’s Antics, Gospel Shows for Children and Families. So I thought, why not have Anton buy a Christian book and sign the card? Now every year the kids get a book that we will read with them (or they can read on their own as they get older) during the year that is given to them at Christmas. These books were sometimes Bible stories (preschool, early primary years) but more recently we’ve turned to biographies of Christian leaders and missionaries that have been written for kids.

One of the great benefits of these types of Christmas gifts is that they continue to have impact long after Christmas and nourish our kids in ways that toys and clothes never can. We get to hear stories of real people facing real challenges and we see how that shapes their faith in Jesus. I love these biographies because they put ‘meat on the bone’- by showing real faith in Jesus in action.

Christmas resources that make you win!

Details: Created: Monday, 07 December 2015 17:39

christmas bible stories One of the things that gets me a little disappointed with church ministries around Christmas time is what I call the ‘filling in time church’. It’s the temptation for churches to get so darn busy; they just end up filling in time with kids. Christmas day, for one, becomes little more than a service for adults with a few light touches introduced to acknowledge the ankle biters. Other times the kids are whisked away but because there is a leader shortage in the crazy Christmas rush, the team gives up and just fills in time while the adults do their thing.

Folks it doesn’t have to be this way! Anton is here to help! Here's how...

How to read the Christmas story with your kids

Details: Created: Monday, 30 November 2015 20:49

Christmas bible stories Christmas is almost here and parents we are up against a big challenge: How do we bring Jesus into the centre of our family’s Christmas in the face of the tsunami of commercialism?

Today I want to take a quick and fresh look at a practical example of how we as parents can take up our mantle and make Jesus the centre again. We’ll briefly go over a familiar text and I’ll show you how to avoid just repeating your church’s potentially narrow expression of the Christmas story. Plus with the help of some ideas people like yourself have sent in during our pre-Christmas quiz, I’ve got a list of ideas to share with you that will inspire you to get active.

This post is actually part two of a four part video series (these being the written version) exploring of how to bring Jesus into the centre of your family’s Christmas. Last time we saw how important it was for us not to outsource the teaching and celebrating of Christmas to others.
This might be your first dip into the series, so you may be wondering …Surely we can leave it to the experts…surely we can leave the teaching about the real meaning of Christmas to our churches, our Sunday school teachers our kids club leaders, our Christian school.. Surely we just have to worry about the food and presents right? …Wrong!

Why you can’t trust your church to get Christmas right

Details: Created: Wednesday, 25 November 2015 17:40

Christmas is coming, how exciting! I bet your kids are as excited as mine.How are you feeling? As a parent I’ll bet you’ll be feeling maybe not as excited but more likely a bit daunted by the task ahead and a little under prepared to handle the juggernaut of Christmas. I mean setting aside all the meals, gifts and decorations and events…I’m talking about feeling overwhelmed and a tad disgusted with the whole commercialism of it all. Do you ever feel or think…‘where is Jesus in my Christmas?’

How do we as parents make Jesus the centre of our family’s Christmas?

I’ve got a great little ride for you to join me on; it’s a four part, FREE video series exploring this very question and offering some concrete solutions.

Every Christmas for the past 10 years I’ve loved performing shows for kids and families; there’s just so much energy flying around and it’s awesome to be able to tap into that and really own the season for sharing the good news about Jesus. Wanting to connect kids with Jesus through live performance art all began when I had my first child. I was so stoked to have my first child and just so keen to do whatever I could to help them grow up knowing Jesus.

As parents I know that we want our kids to tap into the real significance of Christmas. We see the commercialism all around us and just feel out numbered. If we’re going to rescue our Christmas from commercialism, what are we replacing it with? You might be sitting there going…but what a minute, my church, my school they’ve got this covered..they’ll balance it out…won’t they?

Mummy, what is terrorism?

Details: Created: Thursday, 19 November 2015 19:57

Earlier this week my kids came home asking about terrorism and why people do it. “Is it all about religion and do only Muslim people do it?” one child asked.

So folks what is terrorism? How do you answer your kids in a way that make sense and don’t just reinforce your own prejudice, anger or indifference?

In this post I want to focus on the Muslim extremist terrorism we are now seeing absorb our headlines after the Paris massacre. As we approach Christmas I think these events really throw focus on the necessity and beauty of Jesus. There’s a bunch of things that make a terrorist; in this post I’m going to focus on just one and maybe look at some others in later posts at some stage. Today, it’s all about being inquisitive or not as the case may be, if you’re a terrorist. But let me take you back to a hard time of questioning in my life…

How to stop your kid’s birthdays becoming bigger than Ben Hur

Details: Created: Thursday, 12 November 2015 17:32

I used to think that Christmas came only once per year, but that has all changed with the rise and rise of the kid birthday celebration. Are you familiar with this?

If you think I’m exaggerating wait until you hear this: On the night before one of my children’s birthdays earlier this year I tried to summon the family to pray together. Upon which the ‘birthday girl to be’ moaned “but it’s Birthday Eve!” Birthday what? You heard it…Birthday EVE!!
In my child’s mind the birthday celebration has already begun the day before and nothing should compete with its ‘hallowed ground’. Then the actual birthday arrives but let’s skip that circus for the moment and go straight to ‘Birthday Boxing Day’…a day to be traded or bequeathed to siblings for further privileges if needed. Did I miss something? Are you familiar with this? How has each of our children’s birthdays gradually become a recapitulation of the Christmas event? But it’s no longer a corporate event shared by the rest of society. No. Instead it is a purely personal matter where all the hype, anticipation, celebration, gifting and post event blues are focused on one individual.