My sons are now becoming young men, and along with it comes the memories of a simpler time, when they were boys. Today I want to share with you a blog post that ran back in 2007. The main idea of this piece – to allow your children to make mistakes as they grow up – remains true today. I hope you enjoy this walk down memory lane with me… and that you heed the lesson I learned years ago while hanging out with my boys at a local Lowe’s store.
Why Parents Should Raise Boys Different Than Girls
Here’s a scenario that will likely play out tonight in households everywhere.
Somewhere a parent will sit down with his or her son and jump into a long-winded monologue that forces the son to sit still and patiently listen. Over the course of that talk, the son’s eyes will glaze over, and the parent will repeatedly say, “Sit still and look at me while I’m talking to you.” When they’re done, the parent will feel compelled to ask, “Did you hear what I just said?” and the son will feel compelled to answer, “Umm, not really.”
The nursery rhyme says it all.
Meet Two “Ordinary” People God Used to Accomplish Great Things
Our spirits are uplifted when we see ordinary men and women who overcome amazing obstacles in their lives through unwavering faith.
Like Corrie ten Boom. Almost 34 years after her death, she is still a spiritual giant for millions of Christians around the world. We’re drawn to her because she was a common person who had moments of doubt, but who also had tremendous faith in God.
While imprisoned in a German concentration camp, her barracks were overrun with lice.
Men Can Escape the Trap of False Intimacy
I want to speak directly to the men today.
Some of you are probably tired of reminders about the importance of your sexual purity. But I encourage you to join me today and tomorrow for our broadcast, “Men: Maintaining Sexual Purity.” Our guest is author Fred Stoeker, the president of Living True Ministries and an expert in this area.
He speaks from personal experience and from biblical wisdom to show both younger and older men the value of honoring God with their sexuality.
Does Your Family Need a Year Off?
I like how author Joanne Kraft describes the hectic schedule she used to run herself ragged trying to keep. She swept through her days like a “busy mom hurricane.”
Can you relate? Do you feel like you’re always running? Is your “busy” switch permanently in the “on” position, and you just go, go, go?
If so, maybe you can also relate to what Joanne’s busyness cost her. Like the time she skipped her son’s baseball game for potato salad.
They Trusted God with Their Micro Preemie Baby
Kayla and Jeff got excited about all of the choices that were coming when they found out they were pregnant. Baby names. Nursery decorations. Pink clothes or blue?
But they could never have anticipated the gut-wrenching decision that doctors would soon confront them with about their baby.
Before they were married, Kayla and Jeff had been told that it was highly unlikely they’d ever be able to get pregnant. So the newlyweds were ecstatic – if not a little surprised – when a pregnancy test came back positive.
Incompatibility Doesn’t Have to Destroy Your Marriage
Author Leo Tolstoy once said, “What counts in making a happy marriage is not so much how compatible you are, but how you deal with incompatibility.”
Tolstoy’s profound insight is precisely why a successful marriage isn’t a matter of fate, chemistry, or a roll of the dice. Good relationships are about finding common ground in the midst of differences that naturally occur between two people.
The problem is, a lot of couples give up on each other too easily.
How to Love Your Neighbor… Without Being Weird
“And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29).
If we’re being honest, a lot of us would admit that we like the idea of loving our neighbors more than actually getting to know them and investing part of our lives into theirs.
I’m sure your family’s schedule looks a lot like mine. You’re busy with work and kids and everything that goes into making that all run smoothly. If you’re introverted, maybe just breaking the ice with the couple next door and starting a conversation is hard.
Do You Require Excellence from Your Kids… or Perfection?
Preparing a child for adulthood is pretty serious business for parents. After all, the adult world is a competitive place, and we want our kids to be ready for it, don’t we?
That’s why we expect our children to do well in school and in their extracurricular activities. We even want them to behave with their siblings and the neighborhood kids. We parents understand how important it is for them to make good decisions in life.
What Would You Do with a Parenting Do-Over?
What’s the biggest “do-over” you’d want as a parent?
If you’re like many parents, your answer is probably some variation on the theme, “I wish I would’ve spent more time with my kids.”
“I wish I would’ve taken my son to more baseball games.”
“I wish I would’ve tucked my daughter into bed more, instead of yelling, ‘Good night!’ from downstairs.”
“I wish I would’ve left work more often and shown up to their games and school activities.”
I doubt any of you picked, “I’d think up a lot more rules,” as your biggest do-over.
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