We all love fun vacations and big, exciting events, but let’s face it, our bank accounts, brains, and calendars can only handle so much. Fortunately, creating memories and cherishing time with our families doesn’t have to cost a lot of money or require months of planning. This week, Parenting Pathway Mom Sheena Creek...
Marriage and Parenting
As part of our Spring 2023 Parenting Pathway Class lineup, we were honored to learn from Associate Pastor David Ake and his bride, Jamie, as they discussed Marriage and Parenting with a wise and experienced panel. Learn more and watch the class recording this week on the blog. ...
What I’m Listening To
As a mom of 6 kids ranging from 7-15, I am managing different personalities at different stages of life, and it can be a struggle. As you can imagine, I have a lot of time in my car dropping off and picking up kids to 3 different schools, plus their appointments, activities, and errands. I have...
Our Journey in Foster Care
There is a great need for foster families, especially after the pandemic when domestic violence and substance abuse increased. This week, we asked Cameron and Shanni Pacheco, church planters and student vocational ministers in the San Diego area, to share their recent journey through the system with us. While not everyone is called to...
Raising a Highly Sensitive Child
"My second child arrived after a miscarriage and was such a sweet answer to prayer. She never cried, never fussed, and was content wherever we put her. You guys, she was perfect. Except for one thing: my husband couldn’t hold her or speak to her without her bursting into tears. Try as he may,...
Helping Our Children With Nightmares
Are you and your family drained by lack of sleep and the nightly hurt of a child's nightmare? Nightmares are most common in children ages 6 to 10. As children's minds develop and they become more aware of the world around them, there is more for them to process, more to understand, and...
Are You A Drone Parent?
We have all heard of Helicopter Parenting, but have you heard of Drone Parenting? A Drone Parent is a parent who, when seen from afar, might be perceived as having a hands-off approach to parenting. They use technology to monitor, restrict, and protect their children from themselves and the world around them. Most...
Discipline With a Long-Term View
Discipline is one of those things we get asked about all the time. Whether you are dealing with a preschooler who is biting, an elementary child who is lying, or a teenager who misses their curfew, every parent is looking for the next idea that might crack the code to changing those hard-to-manage situations....
Self-Harm and Our Teens
In the life of a parent, few moments can be as terrifying as a child undergoing a mental health crisis, and it’s been happening more and more these days. For some students, cutting or burning themselves is a dangerous way of coping when depression and anxiety lead to an avalanche of painful emotions. A student...
Parenting Hacks for Everyday
One of the best things about being part of a community with other parents is learning how they approach similar problems. Let's face it, there are not a lot new parenting challenges under the sun, but there are many approaches to head them off or tackle them. As we wrap up our back-to-school series,...
Rest in This Moment
Has anyone ever encouraged you to rest? The house is quiet this morning. For the first time in months, everyone is gone. Kids are in school, husband or wife is at work, in-laws have returned home, and the neighbor kids have also returned to their families after a long summer. Your first response in...
A Story of Postpartum Depression
"In the middle of newborn snuggles and baby heaven with the birth of my second child, I found myself sinking into a pit. My symptoms weren’t what I expected, and it took awhile to realize what was happening to me . . . It was there that Jesus met me, weeping and vulnerable and...