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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 [...]

I am the mother of three adult children and the blessed grandmother of five grandchildren. If I had my choice, my family would all live within three blocks of us, but instead they are flung all over the map. Our oldest daughter lives in Boston with two of our Grands, [...]

I recently had the opportunity to interview Matthew Deprez on the FamTime Podcast and it was a pleasure. We met at Generations Church in Greeley, CO where Matthew serves as one of the pastors. From the moment we met, I could sense his passion for intergenerational ministry. His extensive background [...]

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 [...]

It may seem like an overused description on these top 5 blogs, but the book we are looking at today is truly a one-stop-shop resource for parents. Can we pause for a moment to thank God that so many helpful books are available these days? Just this morning, I was [...]

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 [...]

I remember a youth pastor friend of mine showing me his church’s brand new family ministry resource center. You could tell that they had invested plenty of time and money in making this center a quality offering to their members. As I looked through the books and pamphlets, my heart [...]

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 [...]

If you feel like time is flying by, you’re not alone. We’re almost exactly halfway through 2022 and I bet if you asked your friends most would agree that time seems to be moving too quickly. Of course, our perception of time and the reality of days passing can only [...]

Father’s day marks an opportunity for churches to honor and challenge the men in their congregations. However, Fathers Day can feel pretty different when compared to the events surrounding of Mothers day.    Fathers Day can feel like a beat down for a lot of guys. I’ve even had men [...]

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 [...]

I have to admit that this book has been practically forgotten on my shelf for several years. I was originally recommended the book by a friend and had every intention of reading it. However, dust collected on the cover as I focused on other books. I’m so glad that I [...]

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 [...]

Intergenerational Relationships bring life to all of us. When God knits us together with someone in the body of Christ, those people become family. God gives us blood family, but also gives us chosen family. Hymns, Hard Candy, and Pot Luck Dinners In my personal devotional blog (BethMeverden.com), [...]

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 [...]

The Senior Pastor and the Reformation of Youth Ministry  by Richard Ross We have featured books by Dr. Richard Ross before and there are reasons. This man loves Jesus, loves his family, and is very passionate about youth & family ministry. You can always count on Dr. Ross to [...]

Luke 7:1-10 (ESV) After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him [...]

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 [...]

I love the D6 organization (D6family.com), so when I see a new resource from them, I normally buy it immediately or place it on my Amazon wish list. Recently they published a book by Julie Kurz that sounded awesome! I had not heard of Julie before, but the book went [...]

A Neglected Grace: Family Worship in the Christian Home By Jason Helopoulos I’ve been aware of this book for years but only recently picked it up. I am so glad that I did! Here, we have another example of a seemingly one-stop-shop resources for families wanting to learn about 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 [...]

I met Dr. Williams a few years before he earned his Ph.D. In that first meeting, and in every interaction since then, Dr. Williams consistently has shown his heart for Jesus.  Dr. Williams’ passion for family ministry, and thorough scholarship, comes through beautifully in his book on the practical theology [...]

“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 [...]

I’ve noticed over the last several years that men’s ministry has adopted a general theme of authenticity at all costs. Seems legit…right? Before I became a Christian, using foul language was a part of my daily routine. I took great pleasure in utilizing the worst of the worst four letter [...]

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 [...]

Though Lori has been active in ministry for many years, my first exposure to her came at one of Family Time’s first podcast recordings. From the moment I met Lori, I knew that she had a passion to help families in the name of Jesus.  Lori’s years of training and [...]

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 [...]

The Hope of Christmas is the same as The Hope of Easter. It all rests on Jesus. Easter matters most because Christmas happened. Christmas is important because Easter happened.  As followers of Jesus, we love to celebrate His birthday. We also love to celebrate time with family and time off [...]

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 [...]

When God gave me a passion for family ministry it was so exciting to learn about resources that others had benefited from for years. There were many times when I felt like I was late to a party. This was true when I first discovered Shepherding a Child’s Heart by [...]

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 [...]

Recently, I was scrolling through social media and began seeing a quote by D.L. Moody repeatedly shared by many of my friends. It was the typical situation of one of us finding a quote that we liked and then agreed with the statement by sharing it. My friends were quoting [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

I met Dr. Williams years ago through a recommendation from a mutual friend. I was in an early season of exploration in family ministry and I was hungry for guidance. Our first meeting was over a Zoom call in which I asked him too many questions. However, he was gracious, [...]

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. [...]

Here again I find myself recommending one of the few books that I’ve read more than once! Two amazing Christian leaders, Dr. Richard Ross Ph.D. & Dr. Ken Hemphill Ph.D., collaborated to produce, for churches and families, a seemingly one stop shop on the topic of family ministry. After reading [...]