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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
We Aren’t Loving Homeschooling
I’m homeschooling my oldest son this year— he’s seven— and I’d like to just confess here publicly: We aren’t loving it. We are doing the math and the reading out loud and a million baking soda volcanos and lots of hikes. And every time I check in with him to say, “Hey, it’s not so bad, is it?” he…
How to Help Your Children Find True Happiness
We love to make our kids happy. That feeling we get when they smile and say, “Thank you, Daddy. That was the best time, ever.” There’s a special kind of a delight a parent takes in their child’s delight. When they’re happy, we’re happy. As they get older, our culture teaches them what they “need”…
Super-Hero Dads & Gospel-Centered Apologies
My daughter thinks I know everything. Like everything. In her mind, there are no problems I can’t fix and no questions I don’t know the answer to. She’s 7 years old, and I am her hero. I soak it up with everything I have. Dad to the rescue She recently came to me and asked me to fix a toy of…
The 7 Minute Conversation Challenge
“Most conversations take at least seven minutes to really begin.” —Sherry Turkle, Reclaiming Conversation The parent-child relationship is primarily a discipling relationship. And it’s hard to disciple someone without engaging them in real, meaningful conversation. Our hearts and souls were…