The Man in the Red Suit Each family decides how they’ll approach cultural myths and traditions. Before we had children, my husband and I decided how we’d handle Santa Claus. He was taught early about the real Saint Nicholas. We decided to follow that same tradition of explaining Saint Nicholas’ [...]
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. John 15:12-14 Following Jesus’ Example of Love Let’s follow Jesus’ example of love as we train [...]
“As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love.” John 15:9 How do we remain in Jesus’ love? If He IS Love (1 John 4:8), it means staying connected to Him. Be with Him to Become like Him The less time we spend [...]
In my last devotional blog, we talked about loving our children by Lead by Example and serving Others First. Today, let’s talk about Varying Parenting Approaches and Engaging our children. Varying Parenting Approaches If you keep hitting a wall with one of your children, it’s time [...]
As we prepare to face the month focused on love, I’ve turned the word love into an acrostic of parenting tips to help you intentionally train your children! We’ll cover L and O in the first devotional and V and E in the second one. Lead by Example When thinking [...]
In working with countless teens as a youth pastor over the last two decades (plus a few years), I see a trend that is discouraging. Most “churchies” (kids who grow up in the church) know what they know from the Bible based on current Children’s Ministry trends. Many Children’s Pastors [...]
Beware of the post-Christmas letdown! What can we do to prevent our children (and ourselves) from slipping into the post-Christmas slump? Here are a few ideas to help us ready our families to keep moving forward when all the lights and decorations come down. Make your Christmas celebrations and preparations [...]
As parents, we each go through tough seasons with our children. But do we take time to thank God for those seasons when they are done? It’s a great time of the year to do just that. If you’re reading this as a young parent, please read these praises and [...]
Lately, my usual intentional spiritual training times have looked very different than even six months ago. I still work on AWANAs verses and pray for classmates with my youngest each day. I pray with my older kids for a specific teacher each day we ride together. But honestly, each morning [...]
Let’s talk about another reason many children struggle with bedtime. Darkness How can we help our children not be afraid of the darkness around them especially at bedtime? There is one truth we’ve taught our children that has really helped them when they were afraid of the darkness at night [...]
Bedtime is a tricky time for so many parent/child relationships. Little ones don’t want to be away from their parents and, honestly, don’t want to be alone. There are many factors that make bedtime hard. Here are a couple and what to do about them. Finally Slowing Down When any [...]
This title may seem like I’m about to complain about it being hard to win “the game of parenting,” but it’s really a story about teaching self-control, compassion, and grace. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but when children are young, they don’t like to lose. How many of you have [...]
A game our children enjoy playing together as a family is “Apples to Apples”! They love to try to guess what each other’s favorite card in our hand would be. They love to see what others think they like by looking at the cards they’re given. There’s something special about [...]
There are times in parenthood when your children struggle with something that you can’t for the life of you figure out how to help them through. There are some struggles that most of us endure like potty training, training children from saying “no” to “Yes, Mommy”, and staying in bed [...]
When our children are afraid or unsure, we must train them to not let those feelings control them. We must do our best to look at the circumstances and their emotions with discernment and perspective, using God’s Word as our lens. Often parents adopt their children’s fear and uncertainty. The [...]
When our children have grown strong roots into Jesus as their foundation, their faith will grow strong in the truth they’ve been taught. Then they will overflow with the fruit of thankfulness! Let’s remind ourselves of what Colossians 2:6-7 says, And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your [...]
With all the gorgeous green trees around us in the summertime, it’s a great time to remind ourselves of how to help our children grow spiritually following their example. Colossians 2:6-7 gives us a pattern to follow. And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must [...]
In my last post you learned about my adventurous life as a child with my dad and how even going to the bank was an adventure with him. We also did lots of “exploring.” Exploring “Exploring” almost always included being in nature. We’d go exploring at one of the parks [...]
When I was a little girl, my daddy would take me on adventures and to go exploring. It was a pre-cell phone era, so my mom never really knew when we’d be back, but, oh, the adventures we would have. Let me define Dad’s different understanding of “adventures” and “exploring.” [...]
I have fond memories of the Vacation Bible Schools that I attended as a child and that I’ve helped with over the years. My memories are filled with songs that still get stuck in my head, snacks, and sunburns. I also remember story after story of God working in the [...]
About two decades ago, while attending the National Youth Workers’ Convention, I heard a strong woman in youth ministry say that, when she and her husband discovered they couldn’t have their own children, they resolved to adopt the next generation of believers. Why has that stuck with me for so [...]
We need to encourage our children in every way we can. The world is against them. The enemy is trying to distract and undercut them. We need to train them in the truth, but also intentionally encourage them to do the right thing and applaud when we “catch” them doing [...]
Easter is the most important holiday in the Christian faith. Hopefully you got the chance to take your family through “Celebrate: A Family Easter Guide through 7 Attributes of Jesus”. If you didn’t get the chance, you can still get the resource and go through it in your Family [...]
Many people call Hebrews 11 the “Hall of Faith” or “Heroes of the Faith.” I love to study it, because I’m challenged to learn whatever I can from the people in the Bible – from their good decisions and from their bad ones. A good challenge is to see what [...]
Love from friends can encourage and empower. This kind of love is different than the agape love from God. This love in Greek is “phileo.” Phileo love is characterized by approval, kindness, sanctioning, welcoming, befriending, and fondness.1 I think of David and Jonathan when I think of this kind [...]
“Love is a choice.” If you had been in my youth group in the early 2000s, you would have heard me saying that phrase a LOT! Many people are deceived about what love actually is. People think love is an emotion, a feeling. People think it’s something we fall in [...]
Let’s put a puzzle together. On the box cover is a picture of a big heart. There is a passage in Romans 12 that says, “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” The NLT says it this way, “Don’t just pretend to love people, [...]
Who will my children become? Will they continue in the faith as adults? What if I did something wrong with them? What kind of spouses and parents will they be? Did I teach them enough? When we ask ourselves questions like this, especially as parents of teenagers, we have hope [...]
For the last few years, I’ve spent some time journaling on the last couple of days of the year, processing what God taught me, and what I still need to learn. And, oh, there is still so much to learn. Last Year Last year, I wrote 2020 in big bubble [...]
There’s a great Christmas preparation resource for families on famtime.com! You’ll find it under the Resources tab and within the “Featured Family Activities” link. If you look at December’s activity, you’ll find the Christmas Quiz! I have used this activity with my children, elementary school Sunday school, and my youth [...]
There’s just something about the sights and smells of Christmas that floats childhood memories to the front of our minds. When I think about my childhood Christmases, I think about family get-togethers, even in big snowstorms, and sitting in front of our big radiator drinking hot chocolate, eating cookies, and [...]
If you’ve followed this month’s blog series, you’ve probably put the puzzle together that I wrote about being Thankful for: (TH)ings, (A)ctive life, and (N)o. So this week finishes off our (THANK)ful series with being thankful for… (K)indness. In Romans 2, Paul talks about us passing [...]
I don’t like to say or hear “no.” I do what I can to respond to my children with “yes” answers about playing things they like, connecting with people, and eating fun foods. I do this in part because I used to be a “No” mom. My default was to [...]
Snap-Crackle-Pop I’m middle-aged these days. My knees and ankles remind me about it when I’ve not exercised in awhile. I have snap-crackle-pop joints my first time back to High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) videos after a hiatus. I played a VERY short stint of sports growing up and I wasn’t active [...]
Recently our fridge broke and leaked into our basement. The leak happened behind our fridge because our floor slants, so we didn’t see it. The broken fridge warped and destroyed the floor beneath. We spent a month sorting out all the details in our first insurance claim. We got a [...]
It can be scary to think about our children being soldiers in a war, but it’s our reality as believers. We are all in a war. Our thoughts are extremely important. What we think becomes our beliefs and our beliefs become our words and actions. “Out of the overflow of [...]
I don’t know about you, but it comforts me to know my children are prepared for the battles they are in because of the full armor of God and Him fighting with them! I realize I must show them how to use the armor. Each day on the way to [...]
Let’s continue the conversation of fighting like Jesus does. Last week we read, “ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does,” 2 Corinthians 10:3 Verse 4 of 2 Corinthians 3 says, “The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of [...]
“These are tough times to raise children in this world.” It’s true that there are so many things our children must deal with that we never did. They face integrity decisions at an early age. Deception rages and disillusion deceives due to loss of moral standards spreading all around their [...]
September 26th is National Situational Awareness Day. It’s a great time to teach your children to be aware of others. BIG IDEA Serving others includes being attentive to them and how they feel. KEY SCRIPTURE Matthew 7:12 MATERIALS None needed PREPARATION 1. Make 5 changes to things in the room [...]
September 20th is National String Cheese Day. Here’s an activity your family can do to celebrate in a snacky way! BIG IDEA We can support and encourage people by standing up for them. KEY SCRIPTURE 1 Samuel 17:17-18 MATERIALS supplies to make your cheese stick snack PREPARATION 1. Choose one [...]
September 12th is National Encouragement Day. Here’s an activity your family can do to encourage one another. BIG IDEA We should encourage each other as a family. KEY SCRIPTURE 1 Thessalonians 5:11 MATERIALS Enough Sticky notes for each person to give to everyone else in the family, markers PREPARATION 1. [...]
September 9th is National Teddy Bear Day! Here’s a fun Family Time Activity you can do as a family to teach your children about comfort this week! BIG IDEA God comforts us so we can comfort others KEY SCRIPTURE 2 Corinthians 1:4 MATERIALS your favorite stuffed animal PREPARATION 1. Find [...]
AFTER Hannah dedicated her son to a life of serving God at the temple learning from Eli, she rejoiced in God. She praised Him. She called Him her horn, which is a symbol of strength. Without God’s strength and provision, she would have never been able to entrust her son, [...]
By this time, you have likely entrusted your children to teachers to begin the new school year and are a couple weeks into your new routine. Let’s think about Hannah and her courageous step of entrusting her son into God’s hands. She made the commitment that if God gave her [...]
There are many more things to learn from Hannah and her parenting journey. Last week we talked about her longing for a child and the importance of our children knowing they are gifts in our lives. Today, let’s talk about what she did about her longing. Sometimes when people long [...]
It’s back-to-school time again. The first day of school used to be one of my favorite days of the year when I was in school myself. I loved the smell of new crayons, the feel of brand-new clothes, seeing all my classmates again, and being in my new teacher’s class. [...]
You know when you are drinking a milkshake and there are just a few last drops left in the bottom of the glass? That’s what the end of July feels like to me. You’ve got to get your straw and savor it! So why not pick one or a few [...]
If you don’t teach your children what the Bible says, who Jesus is, and the life and eternity God wants for them, they may never learn. If you rely on your church’s children’s and student’ ministries to teach your children these truths, you are at the mercy of ministry scheduling. [...]
In continuing my study through Jenna Hallock’s book, What is Family Time? Exploring God’s Plan for Engaging in Biblical Home Discipleship, the second chapter talks about the beautiful partnership that can exist between parents and those other people in our children’s lives who invest in their spiritual growth. One of [...]