We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.George Bernard Shaw Excerpted from Happy Now by Courtney Ellis As a little girl, growing up in the northern woods of Wisconsin, I played in our yard with knobbly toads I found hopping around the ferns,...
What if I Don’t Feel Like It?
YOUR will, Father, not mine. Those are hard words to come by sometimes. Adapted from Pray Confidently and Consistently: Finally Let Go of the Things Holding You Back from Your Most Important Conversation by Valerie Woerner. Obedience is hard to talk about, but it plays a crucial part in both...
Don’t Get Too Comfortable: The Truth About Motherhood
The problem isn’t the inevitable moments of discomfort; it’s that I am not prepared for them. I have to stop believing that trials are the exception to the rule, when really they’re just part of life. Excerpted from Grumpy Mom Takes a Holiday by Valerie Woerner. I never fully appreciated...
Looking for Funny
This article is excerpted from A Love That Laughs by Ted Cunningham. On walks with Amy, I look for funny. Recently we saw a sign displaying a city ordinance that I know must have been demanded by a hovering parent: Dog Waste Is a Threat to the Health of Our...
How to Guard Your Child’s Heart
As you guard your children’s hearts on that journey with them, you will as a follower of Christ open their eyes to life that will never end. That’s the ultimate joy of lifegiving parenting. by Clay & Sally Clarkson, author of The Lifegiving Parent: Giving Your Child a Life Worth...
I Am Not a Perfect Mom and My Kids Are Better For It
When I compare my real-life experience as a parent with the online brochures, I can’t help but conclude that I fail constantly and utterly, every single day. I suspect I’m not the only one who has noticed this. by Catherine McNiel, author of Long Days of Small Things I came...
How to Parent From a Place of Faith Instead of Fear
by Heidi St. John, author of Becoming MomStrong In an effort to compensate for my insecurities, I became the consummate people pleaser. This eventually escalated to the point where the very thought of offending anyone set my heart racing. My cries for help were stifled by pride that masqueraded as...
What is the role of Christian parents?
The cultural changes we’re seeing in our current time “under the sun,” not just in matters of home and family but also in attitudes toward Christian truth and morality, are of the fundamental kind, the ones we couldn’t or didn’t want to see coming but that now we cannot avoid—shifting...
10 Scripture Verses to Encourage Parents
Parents need encouragement daily. So, what is a better way to feel uplifted than to see what God promises for you today? Here are Scripture verses to meditate on when you feel like you are losing control of yourself, your day or your family. Jesus is with you and wants...
How Do You Help a Child Heal from Sexual Abuse?
If you discover that your child has been abused, you first need to know when to get help. Professional counsel need not be the first resort. Caring, skilled parents can deal with a lot. But if you have little track record of talking with your kids about sexual matters, and...