Parent-Child ClosenessMissional Parenting
Creating Homes Where Our Children Truly Belong
“I don’t belong anywhere.” “No one cares about me.” “I can’t trust anyone.” “I’m not valuable.” As a therapist, I hear statements like these from young people all the time. Teenagers and young adults feel alone, isolated, and detached in what appears to be the most connected generation ever. These…
Missional ParentingBiblical Perspectives
Please Talk with Your Kids About Sex
I have three teenagers at home, and l just want to start out by saying that I can’t offer you a magic conversation or a 3-step guaranteed process for your kids to grow up with a healthy and biblical view of sexuality. My husband and I are learning as we stumble along. I’m certain my kids don’t…
Parent-Child ClosenessMissional Parenting
7 Ways to Change Up Communication with Your Kids
Our primary job as parents is to disciple our children— to help them see that they’re sinners in need of a Savior, to introduce them to Jesus, to teach them about Him, and to show them what it looks like to follow Him. We need to communicate clearly with our children if we’re to fulfill this…
Biblical PerspectivesBehavior & Correction
4 Helpful Tips in Teaching Young Children to Communicate
When my youngest was two, he annoyed his older brother continually by taking his toy and running away. My oldest would chase him, screaming and angry, trying to get back what belonged to him. Can anyone relate? My younger son simply wanted to play with his big brother, but he didn’t know how to ask…
Parent-Child ClosenessBehavior & Correction
Teens, Politics, and a Book on Kindness
“Where did you hear that word?!” We realize pretty quickly that children are parrots, don’t we? As a result, most of us attempt to temper what we say and how we say it. My wife and I decided early on to crack down on how we spoke about others— especially in front of the kids. If you had…
Parent-Child ClosenessFamily Discipleship
4 Unexpected Ways Family Worship Blesses Us
In my previous post, I covered why we started doing “family worship time” and what, exactly, we do as a family during that time. In this post, I want to cover four ways family worship blesses us— outside the big ol’ giant obvious one. Family worship is an excellent way to disciple your children…
Biblical PerspectivesFamily Discipleship
Honoring God with Your Body and Soul
This excerpt is taken from Dr. Sean McDowell’s book Chasing Love: Sex, Love, and Relationships in a Confused Culture. We hope it blesses you and informs your conversations with your children. A friend of mine has sex with a lot of women. I asked him if the act of sex means anything to him or…
Parent-Child ClosenessBiblical Perspectives
4 Lessons I’ve Learned as a Sports Dad
You win some. You lose some. And sometimes you really lose some. I drove almost 2 hours on my day off to go watch one of my high school sons play basketball. He played a decent game, all things considered, but his team lost 101-42. Yes, you read that right. They lost a high school basketball game…
Missional ParentingFamily Discipleship
Family Worship Revolutionized Our Home (No, Really)
My husband and I have been married 7 years; our older daughter is almost five. Until recently, we’d never consistently practiced family worship time. Like many young families, we’ve wanted to raise our children up in the Lord. We’ve wanted to show them how precious Jesus is. We’ve wanted to teach…
Biblical PerspectivesFamily Discipleship
Teach Your Children to Worship
Our role as parents is to steward our children— we don’t own them. They are gifts from God, entrusted to us to steward on His behalf. Our goal in stewarding our children is for them to grow as stewards of the relationships in their own life— their relationship with God, with themselves, with others…