Teaching Your Child to Hear the Voice of God

Anxious to be independent? I couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel in high-school. Learning to drive meant I no longer had to wait on my parents to take me where I wanted to go. Always in a hurry, not willing to miss a single thing, having keys meant having control. For most teens, middle school and high school is a time of hormone-crazed emotions mixed with future-impacting decisions. If we haven’t already, these years are a great time to begin helping our kids learn the importance of seeking God’s direction. Even if we ourselves are just learning to consult …

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When You Want Your Children to Care for Others and Have a Great Big Global Heart

We want our children to care about others, to love well, and to have the kind of compassion that motivates them to move. But it’s so easy to get caught up in baseball practice, ballet recitals, homework, and the unending to-do list that every family deals with on a daily basis that we completely miss the world of hurt that is going on around us. Today, I’m going to cut to the chase and ask YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN to SPONSOR a CHILD through COMPASSION INTERNATIONAL and I’ll tell you why… 1. Because YOUR CHILDREN will never understand the reality of …

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Heroes at Easter

When Easter comes around some of us struggle with the dilemma of how to approach Easter with our children.  Christmas is pretty easy.  It’s the time Jesus was born as a baby. Children understand that.   But Easter? How do we explain the significance of Jesus’ death on the cross and His resurrection, so a child can understand it?  And then to compound these issues, how do we handle the Easter bunny, which is the part of Easter that children do relate to, but which has nothing to do with the true meaning of Easter?  How do we explain the …

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Dear Moms: Guide Your Children Without Judgement

  Dear Lovely Moms, One of the most beautiful things about God’s love for His children is that it is unconditional.  Because of this unconditional love, we get to be close to our Father in Heaven. This close relationship helps us grow into who He wants us to be. Through careful direction and love from our Father, we learn how to walk in His ways and become wiser as a result, hopefully making less mistakes through His guidance. If God was harsh and unforgiving, our tendency might be to run from Him and not to Him. The same is true for our children. When we are harsh with our children, they …

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What Mom’s Do Right: Raising godly children

We all have those proud mom moments when our children surprise us and make us look like the mom of the year. You know… that rare family dinner out where all of the kids display their best table manners with no whining or crying and they remember the magic words …  “please” and “thank you” and the waitress and the table of elderly ladies behind you congratulate you on how well-behaved your children are. And your chest swells with pride as your imagination plays a movie of the Mom’s Choice Awards and they call your name. Your children jump to …

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Our Family Formula

A friend once asked me long ago to share my family formula for a healthy family. It really made me think, because I KNOW what it FEELS like, but have never really put it to paper. So here’s a snapshot into my family about 8 years ago, which is very close to what we still do today! First of all, I am constantly analyzing the attitudes of my family….wondering, where did that come from? What may be contributing? So I find that the best way to get all in line is a little “pull in” time. That is when we have a …

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