Disciplining Through and with Scripture

For my last birthday (or was it Christmas??) by friend Betsy gave me two wonderful things that I think every Momma should pick up.  The first was "Don't Make Me Count to Three!" by Ginger Plowman.

 

I don't know of many books that attempt to cover spanking and Ginger does a wonderful job.  Do you know how to spank correctly??  I certainly thought I did until I read this book.  It is a light read (you can get it done in one sitting) and if you want to borrow a copy of this book please just let me know!

The second item was also written by Ginger and is an expansion of what is already included in the book.  It is called "Wise Words for Moms" but Dad's could certainly use it too.

 

This is sort of a calendar sized pamphlet that you can hang on your wall somewhere for easy access and reference.   One of the big things in the book is that we spank, not because our children are disobeying us, but because they are breaking God's law and we love them too much to let them continue with their sinful behavior.  In this pamphlet Ginger outlines 22 behaviors that need correction.  For each behavior she gives parents a "Heart Probing" section that lets us ask self-reflecting questions of our children, "Reproof ("Put off")" section that gives a scripture verse about an undesirable behavior, "Encouragement ("Put on")" section that gives a scripture verse about the correct behavior and then finally and "Additional Verses" section that contains more verses on the topic.

Here is an example from a behavior we see almost hourly in our house: Complaining.

If you click on this image it will open a full-resolution version and you'll actually be able to read the sections!

What I love about this chart is that instead of "Mean Mommy" saying, "Stop whining" over and over, I instead ask Ethan, "Do you have a thankful heart right now, or a complaining one?"  I know this isn't exactly what she has down for "Heart Probing" but it's pretty close!  He almost always will say honestly that he does not have a thankful heart.  Then I will quote one of the verses.  He already knows the complaining verse by heart from the Steve Green CDs but now I've been able to add, "God wants you to be thankful and joyful in all circumstances."

The "Wise Words for Moms" is only $4 and is on sale now 4 for the price of 3 on Amazon.