It’s Good to Require Obedience
It’s challenging to require obedience from our children. Just like us, our kids are sinful and naturally resistant to any will other than their own. Additionally, many of us struggle to exercise good and healthy authority because we know we aren’t perfect parents. Those internal…
3 Big Problems that Lead to Unmet Expectations
We all come into marriage and parenting with expectations. We may or may not realize it, but we have expectations about everything in life. Our expectations come from a variety of sources, including media/social media, our parents/family of origin, other friends, and from God’s Word and the body of…
Blessed Boundaries
I’m currently reading through the Pentateuch again. If you’ve read the first five books of the Bible, you’ve probably noticed that God gives his people a lot of laws and demands their obedience. As I read through this time, however, I’ve noticed how often God says He wants to bless His people. Even…
Little, Developing, Overstimulated Brains
We often talk about how what we consume, and what our kids consume, impacts the conditions of our hearts. And it does. But did you know that what we watch also impacts our brains? Especially when it comes to children. While we might bristle against the idea of boundaries, adults and children both…
Trusting God Together
“I’m scared, Mom.” I saw the text message on my phone. It was 11:30 p.m. and my daughter was away on a school trip in Florida. We had just gotten a late-night phone call from a foster care worker asking if we could take in a sweet little 7-month-old boy who had medical complexities and needed to…
Transparent, Trustworthy, Wise Tech Use
As we parent tech-savvy kids in a tech-dependent age, we must emphasize transparency. Our individual screens offer the illusion of privacy, anonymity— even secrecy. But these are misnomers of our tech age; our every move online is followed, our information is mined and often sold, and even…
Fear vs. Faith-Based Parenting
Today our 10-year-old boys (twins) rode their bikes to school by themselves for the first time ever. That might sound insignificant to you, but in our house it was a huge milestone. We chose to trust our good God, our parenting, and our children. In short, we chose faith over fear. Fear vs.…
The Importance of Culture in Family Worship
When I first learned about family worship— the practice of reading the Word, praying, and singing with my family at home— I was eager to get into the habit. In chapter five of his great little book on family worship, Donald Whitney asks a compelling question— “Isn’t this what you…
Fierce Trust Leads to Fierce Love
“You can take care of him because I’m taking care of you.” This statement has recently become a common reminder in our home. My son is constantly trying to hoard his stuff away or show he is the best or the fastest. He wants to be in control— he wants to prove he’s worthy— and he doesn’t want his…
Teaching Kids to Trust
“Mom and dad, I need to talk to you about something.” Beautiful words. They could also be frightening words for parents to hear. Yet they are priceless words because they communicate that our child trusts us enough to share what is on their heart. And such is parenting. Parenting consists of…