One of the best parts of being a parent and having my own family is getting to pass on family traditions, as well as starting new traditions of our own. Growing up, on Easter, I always wore a new Sunday Easter dress, went to early worship service then headed to my aunt’s house for a late…
Jesus or the Easter Bunny: An Easter Memory
As I think back on the years of celebrating the Easter holiday with my husband and children, my memories are filled with Easter morning church services, frilly handmade dresses, matching ties, and baskets full of fresh fruit, plastic eggs, and inexpensive treats. I remember Easter afternoons spent vacuuming the green plastic Easter grass off our…
Preparing Our Hearts and Minds for Easter
Holiday seasons are wonderful, but it’s easy to get wrapped up in the busyness of preparations for activities and forget that our hearts and minds need preparation as well. Easter is the glorious celebration of Christ’s resurrection! If there is ever a time we want to focus our hearts and minds on all that Jesus…
Dear Twentysomethings…
Imagine Sunday night youth group at a big suburban church. We’re in the gym and its “Parent’s Night.” The high schoolers, some of them reluctantly, have agreed to let their parents join them in the hopes of building a little understanding between generations. We’ve done a few icebreakers and no one has died of embarrassment…
4 Ways to Honor God on Valentine’s Day
I love loving the people who are special to me. I love all things sweet and sappy and sentimental. I love red puffy hearts and pink shiny bows and glittery Valentine cards. I love heart-shaped pancakes in the morning, heart-shaped sandwiches at lunch and heart-shaped pizzas for dinner. I love presents covered in heart wrapping paper…
Songs of Deliverance
Editor’s note: Some books inspire, some instruct, some come alongside to say “me too”, and some are just fun to read. This one, Good Apple, is a little bit of all-of-the-above. Enjoy this far too brief excerpt.* When I get to Heaven, right after I take inventory of which Jewish relatives were saved by…
Walking on the Wild Side of Parenting
In our enthusiasm to celebrate children (a good thing), we are sometimes tempted to overlook the key Christian doctrine of original sin. A child can be raised by godly parents, yet still choose to live an ungodly life: A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke. —Proverbs 13:1…
How to Set Family Goals: Becoming a Family with Purpose
Have you set any family goals or resolutions for the new year? I like the word goals better than resolutions. New Year’s resolutions always seem doomed to fail, and if you don’t start on January 1 or fall off the bandwagon by January 3, you feel defeated. But goals? Goals can be set anytime, and…
New Year, New Family Routine
As families with growing children, we often have to evaluate the family routine. Our children change fast, and as parents, we have to navigate and set the pace for our families. It can feel tricky, but as my family has rolled through quite a bit of different seasons, there’s a few questions that I ask…
How to Spiritually Prepare Your Family for The New Year
How does your family prepare for the transition from one year to the next? One of my favorite traditions is to gather our family and recall how God has shaped our lives during the past 12 months. During this hallowed time, we discuss where we’ve been, share our hopes and dreams, and prayerfully consider where…