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 to forming humans who can eventually wake up on their own, bathe themselves, sort out tasks for the... Read More
Choose Less Stress
I don’t know about you, but I never use an alarm. Alarms make me grumpy. I just wake up. I know when it’s time, even when it’s a different time than usual. . . It’s internal. I sense it. Except on this one particular morning (and maybe a... Read More
Finding Life as a Parent
One of the best things you can give your kids is a a full tank. The reality is that life constantly empties our tank. How do you refill it? As we talked about in a past post, more than a few parents have probably leaned too heavily into... Read More
Can A Kayak Help You Be A Better Parent?
The funny things you do when you imagine the end. If all goes according to plan, my kids are going to become teenagers. Though I encourage them constantly to stay young, they have this annoying habit of growing up. Some mornings at breakfast it feels like they’ve put... Read More
What You Expect to See in Your Kids
Remember that internet craziness over the color of a dress? If you missed it, the world was taking sides over whether the picture of a dress circulating the web was white and gold or blue and black. It sounds silly now. But at the time it was splitting... Read More
Wipe the Slate Clean
So there we were, standing on a sidewalk in the middle of downtown Gatlinburg, Tennessee. A couple in their mid-thirties with three kids ages 5, 8 and 10 struggling to have fun and enjoy a vacation together. It wasn’t happening. People were passing us on either side much... Read More
3 Key Words Your Kids Are Longing to Hear
*Portions of this blog post are adapted from “The Sticky Faith Guide for Your Family” by Kara Powell. Our friends Dale and Jody have a great relationship with their kids. So great their 24-year-old son drives ninety minutes across Los Angeles (in traffic!) for family dinners or to watch... Read More
Little is the New Big
The funny thing about having big fun with your kids is that it doesn’t take a big moment. Have you ever noticed that? The times you planned something expensive and complicated with your kids, they barely blinked an eye. The time you washed the car in your driveway... Read More
10 Things I’m Thankful For as a Parent
You’re supposed to say Jesus. Let’s just come right out of the gate and say that upfront. You’re supposed to say you’re thankful for Jesus and your favorite book of all time is the Bible. But let’s be real for a second. As parents, let’s push aside the... Read More
What You Should Be Striving For as a Parent
There are no perfect parents, and there are no perfect kids. So what is the ideal family? What should be our goal? When I look at my family, there is a tension between what is real around me and what is ideal. While I should be a patient... Read More