Don’t Protect Your Kids From Hard Things

Don’t Protect Your Kids From Hard Things

Since my boys were young, they’ve all helped me mow lawns over the years. They’ve learned how to cut the grass, weed eat, clean out the mowers, and change the oil, etc. But when I asked my 15-year-old son to weed-eat recently, he said, “Sure, but I’ve never done that...
3 Ways to Help Your Kids Avoid Religious Noise

3 Ways to Help Your Kids Avoid Religious Noise

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.” Colossians 2:8 Religious noise is a real problem, and kids raised in church all their lives can easily fall prey to...
A Top Defining Characteristic of Godly Parents

A Top Defining Characteristic of Godly Parents

“She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.”  Proverbs 31:27 I’ve watched a lot of parents over the years, and one of the defining characteristics of godly parents, as opposed to just “good” or even “Christian”...
Letting Go: We Raise Them to Release Them

Letting Go: We Raise Them to Release Them

Proverbs 22:6  Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. There are some things in life that you’re never ready for… no matter how much time you’ve had to prepare for them. The loss of a family pet The death of a loved...
Taming Your Tone

Taming Your Tone

“I think if you said the same thing, but with more heart and less volume, they’d be more likely to consider your perspective.” This was a statement I said to one of our kids a few days ago after an intense conversation with one of their siblings.  Our family enjoyed a...
A Daily One-Minute Back to School Challenge

A Daily One-Minute Back to School Challenge

It’s that time when kids are heading back to school for a new year filled with educational growth, relational challenges, and tons of conversations with you and others. What if you could set them up for greater success with just one intentional minute every morning...
Are You a Positive Parent?

Are You a Positive Parent?

Here’s a question for you to consider… What would your kids say about you behind your back if they had the chance?  I’m not referring to them trying to bash you or put you down, but simply, if they had the chance to express openly and honestly exactly how they feel...
Are you a hugger? 4 good reasons you should be

Are you a hugger? 4 good reasons you should be

We’re a “hugging family”. Especially when our kids were young, we hugged each other a lot. And it was intentional. As parents, one of the greatest things we can do for our children is to give them our unconditional love. One of the easiest ways to...
Did you just hold your child for the last time?

Did you just hold your child for the last time?

When our youngest son was three, I started a bedtime routine of tucking him in at night and doing “the piggy toes.” In fact, his last words verbatim every night before went to to bed were these, “Dad, I love you, hug & kiss in bed, don’t forget to do the piggy...
The Multi-Generational Parent

The Multi-Generational Parent

Proverbs 13:22  A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children. Question: Is it possible that we are in a sense parenting our grandchildren and great-grandchildren by the way we parent our own children now? Is it possible that our life and the...
Love Experienced Is Greater Than Love Explained

Love Experienced Is Greater Than Love Explained

“We love… because he first loved us.” I John 4:19 Few things in life require as much ongoing love as parenting.  From the moment they are born, you are loving your children unconditionally (think poopy diapers, sleepless nights, and lots of money) with the belief that...