Social Life | Widen The Circle
Bigger Than Your House
I wasn’t expecting her joy to make me question mine. Part of my job as a youth pastor has been to rally parents to embrace the development and growing independence… Read More
Character and Values | Faith | Imagine The End
Compelling Your Kids to Serve
There’s a film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s autobiographical novel Little Women that includes a moment when Jo, the heroine, receives criticism from her German professor on her first novel…… Read More
Current Events | Fight For The Heart
Giving Your Kids Permission to Break the Rules
“Resist much, obey little.”― Walt Whitman It’s really not the advice I thought I would pass to my daughters when I imagined them before they were born. Even so, as… Read More
Coaching Friendship
Imagine a parent of a child you know approaching you. “Can (insert their child’s name) and I speak with you and (insert your child’s name) privately for a minute?” Maybe… Read More
Being Present During the Awkward Years
Last week, I was sitting with a group of teenagers at a retreat in the mountains. The high school guys at the table were humoring the youngest in their group.… Read More
Fight For Their Heart
Parents don’t usually post pictures of their kids on the second day of school. That made me consider taking another set of pictures this year, one at about 6:30 PM… Read More
Through the Tough Decisions
During my first year of youth ministry, my husband and I had siblings that were also teenagers. My youngest sister would tell you that my role in her life was… Read More
A Place to Fail
Ninety percent of parenting is mental, the other half is physical. In other words, it takes all of you and a little more. Parenting is no joke and lends itself… Read More
The Face of Grief
Grief has no face until you see it in the face of someone you love. It has no shape until you watch it gather in an instant, one usually out… Read More