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Oct 18
Love0

Forced To Be Kind?

By Parenting: Childhood

Kindness in the FamilyIf you have young children, I know that low-level fighting and provoking seem like part of normal life. What did we expect? We gave birth to little sinners and little sinners like to find anything they can to fight about.Yet in the midst of that messiness, we will want to aim for family unity. Notice I said aim. I wrote about that focus several weeks ago. If you missed it, you can read it here on the blog: Aiming for Family Unity. But in the midst of that battle for unity, how can we train our children? In digging deeper…

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Sep 22
Love0

The Memory Pot

By Parenting: Childhood, Parenting: Teens and Beyond

I have said before that the family is to display the Trinity. In the family, as in the Trinity, there is unity, diversity, love, honor, and obedience. And as an intentional parent I repeatedly wanted to cast a vision for all of those values when our children were at home.But do you notice a missing component?Joy. The Triune God is a happy God and overflows with joy! Similarly, I believe one of the most attractive qualities we can strive for in our families is joy. Joy marks us off as different than the world. Joy is a fruit of the Holy…

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Sep 22
Love0

We’re Working On That

By Parenting: Childhood, Parenting: Early Years

When Your Child Embarrasses You  If it hasn’t happened this week, you know it’s coming.You meet up with another family and out of the blue, your five-year-old pushes a four-year-old girl to the ground. You are humiliated.Or your four-year-old whines when given a command or says, “No” to you. And all this happened in front of other parents. Expecting Mess Ups As parents we are not responsible for the actions of our young children. They are children after all. Parenting is a process with many bumps along the road. In Parenting with Confidence, I urge parents to focus on winning the…

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Sep 22
Love0

Aiming for Family Unity

By Parenting: Childhood, Parenting: Teens and Beyond

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity!…For there the Lord has commanded the blessing, life forevermore. Psalm 133:1,3 We just returned from a unique family trip/vacation. All of our children have jobs, so Sharon and I proposed a trip out west where we would pay for housing. All the other expenses would be split evenly. They agreed. And we have just returned from a week where we saw the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, and Bryce National Park. Since all of us are working, we were able to enjoy more adventures than when I was a…

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Aug 31
Love0

Book Review: The Master Plan of Evangelism

By Book Reviews, Family Discipleship

As disciple-making parents, we are committed to doing all that we can to raise our children to love and follow Jesus Christ. We know that we cannot control them or change their heart. But we want to do all that we can to influence them. Who is our premier example in this endeavor? Jesus! The twelve apostles as well as many other men and women turned the Roman world upside down. But did they do it without any preparation?  The answer to that question is a resounding, “No.” When we read the gospels, we learn that Jesus spent time ministering…

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Jul 16
Love0

Teaching Love 101

By Family Discipleship

Practicing Love 101: For Us and Our Children Jesus told us that the greatest commandments were to love God and love one another. Augustine observed that sin causes us to curve in on ourselves – the opposite of love. We want to train our children to love others and we want to practice these things ourselves. But what does it look like? Below, I have created a quick list of what you might call Loving 101 – The Basics. Church is a perfect place to practice these things. Please Don’t Filter This Out But before we start, I need to clear up an…

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Jul 06
Love0

Asking Questions Rather Than Giving Commands

By Parenting: Childhood

I came across the above cartoon recently. It was my second reminder of a helpful parenting strategy that I think reinforces biblical values. I was inconsistent in using it, but when I did it bore wonderful fruit. And it resulted in a more peaceful home. The strategy is simple: respond to a request by asking the child to remember a family rule or principle.  Or ask a question to remind them about what they should be doing. For example: “Mom. I’m hungry. Can I get some chips?” “What is our rule about snacks between meals?” “We only have fruit or carrots…

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Jun 15
Love0

Cameron Cole: Hope When You Lose a Child

By Podcast

On November 11th, 2013, Cameron Cole received a call from his wife he will never forget. Their three-year-old son Cam had died in his sleep. It has to be every parent’s worst nightmare. How do we survive? Where is God in that situation? Where can I find hope to go on? Today’s podcast is one straight for the heart. Do you know families that have lost young children? Are you one of those families? If so, you are part of a fraternity that you never signed up for. This is where Cameron and Laurne Cole found themselves in 2013. How do…

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Jun 09
Love0

Jonas Williams: Chick-fil-A Secrets and Your Family

By Family Discipleship, Podcast

I bet almost everyone listening to this podcast has eaten at a Chick-fil-A. What are their behind-the scenes-secrets, and how can you apply them to your home? You are in for a treat today. In this podcast, we are going to talk to Jonas Williams, owner operator of the Chick-fil-A in Seekonk, MA.  This recorded conversation came about because I wanted to learn from him about how Chick-fil-A restaurants are so well run. Why? Well, Scripture tells us that elders and deacons are to manage their households well. While certainly every lesson can’t directly apply, many can. Jonas became serious…

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May 04
Love0

Honoring Grandparents In an Age of Unhonor

By Uncategorized

Family relationships are tricky. Sin affects everything including our families. And that certainly applies to our extended family.  Grandparents can be a blessing, require some tricky navigation, or be a constant challenge. But more often what I worry about is how our cultural child-centeredness influences how families view grandparents.  The very nature of sin causes all of us to curve in on ourselves. As a result, I wonder if God’s call to honor those who are older, especially grandparents, has fallen on hard times. Are we asking grandparents to honor the grandchildren rather than the other way around? Functionally, who is honoring whom…

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