Grandparents are special people. I have a thousand wonderful memories of all four of my grandparents and maybe you do, too. Maybe it was… Playing “Sorry” at the kitchen table eating grilled cheese and homemade tomato soup. Eating Christmas dinner at their home, opening presents under their old-fashioned tree, and singing carols together. Walking…
5 Ways to Help Kids with Back to School Anxiety
Do your kids suffer from back to school anxiety? My two older children are both in grade school. Neither had experienced any type of school anxiety before, even when entering Kindergarten. I’ll never forget standing outside of my son’s Kindergarten classroom and thinking “WOAH, that was way easier than I thought!” Then, last year we…
Doing Life with Your Adult Children: “Wear Beige and Keep Your Mouth Shut”
“The first forty years of parenting are always the hardest!” A woman I know was asked at her son’s wedding, “What is the responsibility of the mother of the groom?” She smiled and said, “Wear beige and keep your mouth shut.” She got a chuckle, but it was great advice, especially when it comes…
Christ-Centered Easter Traditions for Kids
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…