What Every Son Needs from His Dad
I have sat down with a lot of guys in their thirties who are trying to piece together the story of their relationship with their dad. Many of these guys are successful, but there's something missing inside of them. I'll never forget one guy I'll call Josh, near the...
What Every Dad Should Know About His Daughter
Several weeks ago I was dropping my daughter off for a birthday party. As I was leaving a man stopped me asking for directions. He was standing with one of my daughter's school friends. Immediately recognizing her, I put my hand out and introduced myself explaining...
Growing Roots Deeper
by Cara Martens I’ve got to be honest—I’m more of a planter and less of a water-er. Around this time of the year, I begin to get a little itch to add some color to my world. With great care and excitement, I check out all the local offerings of plants—looking for just...
Five Ways to Fight Entitlement in Your Kids
Like most parents, you feel this terrible tug. On the one hand, you want to provide your child with every advantage. On the other hand, sometimes it feels like when you do that, you're feeding an incredibly unhealthy characteristic in our culture. For whatever reason,...
5 Ways to Build Integrity as a Parent
The more integrity you have as a parent, the more your kids will appreciate your leadership in their lives. Don’t get me wrong, having integrity doesn’t mean everything goes swimmingly as a parent. It’s just better for everyone in the end, and you end up becoming far more of the person God intends you to be. So, how do you build integrity? Here are five suggestions that can help you build integrity as a parent.
Is Technology Killing Your Family?
I kind of like technology. You might say I'm a bit addicted. Three people live in our house–me, my wife, and our teenage son. Ten years ago, we had one family computer that sat in the living room, and I had a laptop for work. Today, between the three of us, we have...
Focus on This One Thing
So, let's do a quick survey: If I asked you whether you would like your child or teen to display any of the following characteristics, what would you say? Love Joy Peace Patience Goodness Kindness Faithfulness Gentleness Let me rephrase that: Is there anyone who...
Making Christmas Better
by Mike Jeffries I'm writing this post from the Latin American nation of Nicaragua where, over the past few days, we've had an interesting international experiment in global generosity from the perspective of five young children. Three families decided one of the best...
The Lesson of the Ringing Bell
I’ll admit it. I battled a cynical attitude for the ringing bell. I would purposefully walk to a door on the far end of a store’s entrance just to avoid the clanking kettle and eager face petitioning my contribution. Internally, I wrestled both annoyance and guilt on...
Beauty: Reshaping our View
No one has to be reminded when it’s swimsuit season. Imperfections become obsessions and the pressure to look photo-shop perfect is almost unbearable. It is tough to instill a “character counts” mindset in our children when they are surrounded by the societal message...
Children are Like Dogs
The middle school years are a time of transition—both for your kids and you as a parent. One of our staff members heard the following excerpt at a parent middle school orientation, and if you've raised a child through the middle school years, you'll find this analogy...
Parent for Life
For some reason when my kids were little, I used think that I only had them until they turned 18. Like my job would suddenly end. When they were babies and I imagined the end, I imagined them graduating from high school and then I was done parenting. Boy was I wrong....