When I was young, I loved playing hide-and-seek. My friends from the neighborhood and I would play in the woods behind my backyard for hours — and only quit when the sun went down or when we heard our parents call for us for dinner. The game itself was only part of the fun. While…
Church of the Small Things: Things I Wish I’d Known When I Became a Mom
The Bible says, “Point your kids in the right direction — when they’re old they won’t be lost” (Proverbs 22:6 MSG), which means it’s our job to give them what is basically a road map for life. It takes work and perseverance and dedication to raise our kids. It takes sacrifice and commitment and dying…
How to Make Bible Time Fun for Your Kids
Planning Bible time that’s memorable and fun for the entire family can be a challenge. As parents, we intentionally try to snag some time to be purposeful about learning the Bible together, but if you’re like me, you may struggle with how to hold each family member’s attention! If family Bible time feels stale, try…
3 Keys to Cultivating Consistent Family Bible Study Time
Family Bible study time is an important part of leading kids along their faith journey. But it’s hard to be consistent when life is busy and unpredictable. I think the biggest challenge to being consistent with anything in life is our expectations. When we expect ourselves to be consistent with a grand plan to gather…
What Parents Need to Know About Bullying
What Parents Need to Know About Bullying Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. – Matthew 5:11 Chloe Howard, an articulate teenager who was assaulted by a classmate during her freshman year of high school because she was born…
It’s Never Too Soon To Share Jesus With Our Kids
6 Over the course of our lives we may hold different jobs and fulfill many different roles, but the Bible makes one thing clear: the moment we become parents, raising children who know and love the Lord becomes our most important mission in life. Start children off on the way they should go, and even when…
How to Raise a Strong Girl in a Princess World
When my oldest daughter Leslie was 5-years-old she refused to wear pants… for a whole year… because she was a princess. I thought it was cute for the first month, but we lived in Montana. Have you ever tried to dress someone in a snowsuit while they were wearing a dress? I have seven daughters…
The Courage to be Unstoppable
The summer after I graduated college I packed up my tiny car and moved from New York to Georgia. I had sixty dollars and the promise of a friend’s couch to sleep on. It didn’t take long for me to get a job and I was so excited to get my first paycheck. That was…
When You Can’t Have That Thing You Really Want
When I found out I was expecting my first baby in the fall of 2007, I quickly began dreaming of quitting my teaching job and staying home with my baby. My own mother had left the workforce when I was a toddler, and I don’t remember a time when she wasn’t a stay-at-home mom to…
Why We Should Praise and Worship God With Our Kids
I come from a family who loves to sing, praise, and worship God. Some of our fondest family memories include worshiping God individually in the privacy of our home, lifting our voices up to God with one another and with our church family and, at times, leading others in worship. During times of trouble, we’ve…