The Bible lines up for us excellent examples to follow practically in every area of life. While none of the Bible figures was perfect and many of them made huge blunders (who hasn't?) they also had some wonderful wins based on right decisions and pruned characters after being refined by God.

Parenting is never easy, but it's always extremely rewarding. However, the decisions we make and actions we take can have a great impact on our children.  And that impact can either be for good or the not so good. I can't imagine a parent not wanting to positively impact the lives of their children.

Here are four great examples of parenting that we can learn from people in the Bible.  

Hannah, mother of Samuel

Hannah's faith is one of the most inspiring in the Bible. One of the most notable things Hannah does is offer her son Samuel to the service of God by dedicating him to the temple. While we may not be setting our children to work in temples from a young age, what we can learn from Hannah is having a persistent faith and a heart willing to surrender everything to God and seek His will for her child.

Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus

Imagine your spouse one day telling you she's pregnant with a child that's not your own, and then to make matters worse tells you God impregnated her. Any normal husband would probably be conflicted whether to throw a wife like that into prison or into a mental asylum, but not Joseph. He trusted in his wife and importantly in God when things made the least sense and faithfully raised a young Jesus as if He were his own.

As parents, things won't always make sense but that's where faith kicks in and empowers us to act not based on our feelings but based on God's promises.

Abraham, father of Isaac

Sure Abraham might have screwed up big time and many times, but he also persevered through all the failures and stuck it out until God's promise of Isaac was fulfilled. How often do we easily give up on God's promise not just to have children but even to see God's will happen in their lives? And what would you have done if God asked you to sacrifice your child?  Abraham is a true example of faith.

Eunice, mother of Timothy

Eunice does not have a Bible narrative of her own, but we do know that Timothy was a young leader whom Paul trusted and believed in so much. Paul also commended his mother and grandmother in 2 Timothy 1:5 saying, "I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well."

Eunice had a contagious faith that was transferred to her son. As parents, we must pray for the same contagious faith that will also fall upon our children as they grow in trusting God more.