Equipping Parents for The Journey
I was thinking this morning about the concept of grace. Grace as in being generous or helpful, offering goodwill toward others, granting forgiveness without being asked, or giving allowance and room not to be perfect. How often do we find ourselves giving grace to others, but not allowing ourselves the same? This week, I...
What does "grace" mean? What difference would it make if I drank deeply from it and lived in the joy and freedom God has offered us? It would change everything, absolutely everything. A misunderstanding of grace can keep you from the very relationship with God you were created to enjoy. In this podcast episode,...
Our special thanks to Junior High Pastor David Ake and his wife, Jamie, for sharing some relationship truth after a long season of summer busy-ness. The Challenge One of my greatest frustrations with my cell phone is hearing the recording “All circuits are busy.” The situation may begin with a mild annoyance, but it...
We see this in our ministry to teens and families more than you would think. We meet a family in crisis because the husband is having an affair, or the wife is emotionally disconnected. We meet teens who have watched hours and hours of porn to the extent that they are isolated, scared, and...
I think we can all agree that no child has ever had to be taught how to misbehave, make bad choices, or even lie. That is something we are all born with—the ability to sin. The Bible tells us that “we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)....
There is a biblical foundation for our conversation about dating and sexuality. Looking at 1 Corinthians 6:9-20, we see that Paul’s letter to Corinth is about living differently in a fallen world. Paul explains that believers are to have different attitudes toward lawsuits, sex, and other controversial topics. Historically the attitudes toward sex in Corinth...
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort. 2 Corinthians 1:3 We had a plan. My husband and I got married in December of 2007, we bought our first home in September 2008, and we would get pregnant fall 2008....
When I was a kid, my dad had the cure for everything: Vicks VapoRub. Got a scrape there, buddy? Slap some Vicks on it. Coughin’ with a cold? Slather yer little-man chest with Vicks and get to bed. Got a sore throat? (you are not gonna guess the cure for this) Swallow a dab...
Does this sound familiar? Yesterday morning went something like this: Me: Liv. Liv! Olivia! Olivia Marie! (at the top of my lungs) Liv: Crickets. Me: Stomping up the stairs, muttering under my breath, Disrespectful! She’s ignoring me!? I bet she’s just hoping I’ll give up. I’m not giving up! In fact, I’m the opposite of giving...
She didn’t see. She didn’t hear. And she will never know the full scope of our days. And after much prayer and a few little tears, I’ve remembered that is more than okay. My child did not go to bed when my mother told him. Five different times. You read that right. Five different times. He got...
As I open my master closet, the door seems heavy. It’s time for spring cleaning. I have a natural gift of purging and organizing, so why does this chore seem so hard? I hesitate and draw a breath. My hand reaches for the knob, and I know on the other side waits my uninvited friend—loneliness....
We are well into the new year and, for many, the newness is already waning. “Normal” days have returned, and this can mean greater peace and less stress. But for many, the stress has increased and the focus has again shifted to the daily grind of jobs, traffic, bills, and children all vying for much...
