Family Life | Fight For The Heart
How No-Drama Discipline Helps Me Communicate with My Toddler
My toddler daughter, Arden, is very toddlery these days. And by toddlery, I mean I can’t help but look at the clock and wonder how in the world I’m supposed… Read More
Fight For The Heart | Make It Personal
What Every Tween Girl Needs From Her Mom
Do you remember the year you turned nine? How about twelve? I remember. I remember playing outside with my friend Erin. I remember my Cabbage Patch Kid dolls. I remember… Read More
Family Life | Fight For The Heart
The Myth of the Perfect Kid
We parents are an emotional, neurotic mess, aren’t we? Sure, some of us are better at hiding it than others, but push the right button or confront the right issue, and every one of us comes to a point when we feel… Read More
Family Life | Fight For The Heart
Nothing Will Change How Much I Love You
Before becoming a parent I thought I would do best with having a teenager right off the bat. If I could skip the sleep deprivation and toddler tantrum-ing and bedwetting, I’d be good. I wanted to get right to the place where… Read More
Family Life | Fight For The Heart
How To Communicate In a Way That Values Your Relationships
I think it's kind of fun that God puts families into a little box called a home—where they bump into each other daily for years on end—and tells them to love each other. Nice experiment. It's always amazed me that many of… Read More
Family Life | Fight For The Heart
A Safe Place to Land
My oldest daughter is 10, and for the past year and a half, she spends most of her free time at the farm. She has always had a great affinity for horses. When she isn’t riding, she’s working at the farm—cleaning stalls,… Read More
How to Lose (and Gain) Influence as a Parent
Every parent wants influence, and while a parent is the greatest influence in a child's life, that influence can wax and wane with the seasons. In fact, a lot of parents I know feel like they're losing influence. Influence is something to… Read More
Fight For The Heart | Middle School (6th-8th)
10 Tips to Connect with Your Teenager
Time flies fast from elementary to college age, so get ready to change your parenting habits. Every child seems to move in warp speed toward the teenage years. I was caught by surprise when a new declaration of personal independence was automatically… Read More
Fight For The Heart | Make It Personal
Guiltless Lessons of Love
We all want to teach our kids to put others before themselves and treat others the way they want to be treated. But how in the world do you do that? That is, how do you do it without using “that” voice:… Read More
Fight For The Heart | Special Topics
Fighting for the Heart of Our Adopted Son
Instinctively as parents we want to fight for our children. Fight for their rights. Fight for their health. Fight for their relationships. And most importantly, fight for their hearts. My husband, Ben, and I knew pretty early on as parents that we… Read More