This week we have a special guest writer, Nicolette Hutcherson, one of Stonebriar Community Church's missionaries in Beirut, Lebanon, which was devastated by an explosion several months ago. Nicolette and her husband, Caleb, serve the Lord in Lebanon with WorldVenture. While most of us are not raising our children in a "dangerous part of...
Darkness to Light: Preparing Your Family for Easter
The two biggest events on the Christian calendar are Christmas and Easter. It is troubling that we put so little emphasis on Easter. While we are busy months in advance planning for Christmas, Easter seems to creep up on us with very little planning and focus. But Easter should be a BIG deal! This...
Hope in the New Year
We are wrapping up this year and ready to take a few weeks break to rest and refresh before jumping into all that lies ahead. None of us know what 2021 will look like. After all, when 2020 kicked off we were full of optimism and hope for the new decade. None of us...
Managing Teenage Angst
Student Ministry Pastor Nathan Kocurek shares 4 tips for overcoming: stressing about being cool (acceptance), stressing about grades (insecurity), stressing about parents (independence), and stressing about relationships (identity). ...
Find Routine in the Chaos
In an unpredictable world we live in, predictability can anchor our children's need to feel secure. I struggled with routine and schedules for my boys when they were young, going an entire day feeling like nothing was accomplished. Some days were great, and some days we struggled to get anything completed. If we focus...
Making Room In Our Home and Our Hearts
Several years ago my parents moved to the Dallas area to be closer to my family. My son was young at the time and I have long valued the influence his grandparents have had on him over the years. This week Darla Hill, a member of our Care Team, challenges us to look...
Raising the Heart of a Servant
Some kids are natural born helpers, but for most kids the heart for service is developed over time. In Courtney DeFeo’s book “In This House We Will Giggle”, she defines service as “using our hands, feet and heart to honor God and love others.” Our Early Childhood Ministry Leader, Kristin Langford brings...
Help Your Kids Overcome Disappointment, Part 2
In this Parenting Pathway Podcast Part 2, Pastor Dave Carl and Student Ministry Pastor Nathan Kocurek talk about all the losses and disappointments our children are facing in this COVID-19 world. They focus on the steps to helping our children move through their loss experience, recognize the validity of their feelings and embrace their...
To All The Dads
In an open letter to dads from Pastor Dave Carl, he wants to say Congratulations! If you are a dad by adoption, by foster care, by unofficial adoption, or by procreating, welcome! You have now become a superhero. You don’t get to refuse or shy away. It is not optional—you simply have taken on...
Our Lives Are Changed by Our Foster Care Journey
May is National Foster Care Month! We want to introduce you to Paula Bohlinger and her family. She and her husband, Tyson, have two beautiful little girls, and three years ago, they opened their home to a big bubbly bundle of joy. Their foster son entered their home when he was only two weeks...
Mom . . . Where Does Your Help Come From?
How often have you fallen into the mom-comparison trap? Are you judging your own mom cred? Do you look across the street and see the mom of four doing creative art projects with her perfectly clean and dressed children, while you look around and realize it's almost noon and your two kids are still...
See the World Through a Different Lens
April is National Autism Awareness Month, something near to the hearts of so many families we know. If you are not directly impacted by autism in your family, you probably know another family raising a child or loving an adult on the spectrum. Raising a child with autism can be an isolating, frustrating, and...