Equipping Parents for The Journey
Recently, at church on a Sunday morning, I saw a young elementary-age boy having a bad morning. He started to throw a fit because he didn’t want to go to class. I felt for him and was two seconds from stepping in when his mom bent over and calmly explained, “We talked about this...
Busy school days and fall activities are in full swing. Your days are busy working, running to and from school, carting kids to sports and music lessons, running errands, packing lunches, and maybe even a little house cleaning. Having dinner together as a family right now can seem like an overwhelming sense of obligation,...
In this episode of the Parenting Pathway podcast, Pastor Dave Carl introduces you to our new Associate Pastor of Junior High Ministries, Gary Steffes. Gary followed a unique path to ministry through professional hockey at the ECHL and AHL level. ...
Parents, A few years ago when I was working in Southern California as a new youth pastor, a handful of students in our youth group asked how they could reach out to their non-Christian friends at school. Before we came up with a plan or a strategy, we began with prayer, mostly because I...
When I think about praying for our kids as they go back to school, so many things pop into my mind. I can pray for: Good grades Good study habits Good behavior with teachers and friends Good friends But I wonder if this is really what I need to be praying for them. Is...
It’s almost fall, and football season is right around the corner. Though my favorite is college football, really all football is fun to talk about, debate, understand, and even play. Much of that joy is rooted in reminiscing about the glory days of the past, taking stock in the facts of the present, and...
As a species, we humans are an optimistic group. We build for the future with vigor. When something goes terribly wrong, we usually brush ourselves off and rebuild because we tend to believe things will be better going forward. Occasionally, we experience a setback that we cannot brush off, a tragedy that we as...
We recently invited Julie Hornok, a friend of our church's special needs ministry, to sit with us and talk about her new book and the ministry she leads for parents of kids with autism. Julie shares her personal journey of watching her daughter Lizzie slip away from world at about 9 months, and the...
I think we can all agree that there are times when we LOVE our children, but maybe don’t LIKE our children. I won’t lie to you, it’s a bit weird to admit this in public, but I have caught myself on several occasions saying to my sons, “You are making it really hard for...
I have heard this conversation more than once in the last couple weeks… Mom A says, “Hi Mom B, I haven’t seen you in a few weeks, how’s your summer going?” Mom B replies, “We’re making it.” Mom A nods her head in complete understanding. I love summer. I start looking forward to it...
The weird thing about teenagers… Let me start over—one of the weird things about teenagers is how self-contradictory they are. For example… Non-conformity conformity Knowing everything without knowing anything Never making food but always hungry Loving their dog while ignoring their dog Tons of clothes but nothing to wear Another way teenagers contradict themselves...
The summers of 2004 and 2005, God took me on an adventure that I would have never imagined, one that continues to this day. I grew up going to church but did not hear much about serving others, missions, or much activity outside the walls of the church. I am not being critical or...
