FamilyFire

As a therapist who works with many teenagers and their families, there’s one thing I can say about teenagers; it’s that you know how to push your parents’ buttons.  Instinctively, it seems, you come with an arsenal of tools to get what you want, avoid… (more)

Proverbs 13:10 says,“Where there is strife, there is pride.  But wisdom is found in those who take advice.” When my children were born, I wanted to do it right.  I wanted to work hard and be a good momma and love them fiercely and raise… (more)

Our lives tell a tale.  Each day the story begins as we put our feet on the floor.  Given 1440 minutes, we begin.  Kids up and dressed.  Breakfast served.  Daily tasks begun.  Choices made.  The tale unfolds. As parents, we can tell our children what… (more)

They sit in church and hear the pastor speak.  At the dinner table they listen to their parents discuss.  They hear about calling and mission and work to be done.  They sit nearby as we talk about obedience and directives and commandments and law.  Surrounded… (more)

Our culture is obsessed with physical beauty.  Images bombard us, telling us how we should dress, wear our hair, apply make-up, and what products we should buy to acheive the perfect weight or turn back the clock of aging.  But what does God think about… (more)

The truth is, he was just a baby.  He did not understand a single word I read.  But I sat him on my lap anyway, his head on my chest, facing out.  I opened up the simple book and held it for him to see. … (more)

When my daughter was in 8th grade, I taught her girls’ club at my church. Those girls became my spiritual children. Through a year of Bible lessons and craft projects, we got involved in each other’s lives.  We encouraged and challenged each other. We talked… (more)

The house was quiet, the kids all at school.  Sitting at the table, head in hands, I was frozen in worry for my son.  Caught in the midst of some struggle, he felt hard to reach, distant.  We always worked hard to maintain good communication… (more)

As we prepare for Thanksgiving, we gaze at magazine racks covered with pictures of peaceful presentations: turkeys roasted to perfection, potatoes baked and boiled and whipped and flavored, pies offered in endless variety, and all of it set upon beautiful tables adorned with costly linens… (more)

The trees had dropped half their leaves and the sun fell on new places in the street.  In the breeze, green, yellow, red and orange leaves tumbled like snowflakes on my son and me.  His hand found a place in mine while we walked that… (more)

Ephesians 6:4 tells us, "Do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.” Our mandate as parents is to help our children see their identity as citizens of God’s Kingdom and to inspire them to live a… (more)

There are days when my children struggle, when they wallow in tantrums and trouble, when they move from one poor choice to another.  There are days when all they need is to be pulled close and saved from their own impulses.  But my own sinful… (more)

While walking through a big-box store, I was suddenly accosted by a small child with a Styrofoam sword.  He looked to be about 5 and growled as he repeatedly struck me with this toy he had found in a nearby aisle.  I glanced around for… (more)

One day, I decided to show my toddler-aged daughter a website based on one of her favorite movies.  Like I had anticipated, she had a blast smiling and laughing the whole time.  The next day as I was trying to get on the website again,… (more)

We were driving home from preschool when a tiny voice came from the back of the van.  I was focused only on lunch and naptimes and what-still-must-be-done.  I knew the table at home was cluttered with the remnants of last night’s grade school project, a… (more)

We brought him home from the hospital, tiny and brand new. Our firstborn son, all 8 pounds of him, was wrapped in blankets and a wonder to us both.  We learned that first night home how little we really knew.  Before the birth, we read… (more)

When my daughter came home from China, we found ourselves overwhelmed.  While we processed her adoption, we had time to imagine what life with her would be like.  Yet as parents of four children ages 7 and under, our attention and time and hands and… (more)

We can get so bent out of shape arguing about Biblical roles for husband and wife. If we find these teachings too confusing, how about just looking at how God said we should treat one another? The Bible uses the phrase “one another” often and… (more)

My family went on a week long bike trip last year. My oldest daughter came home from college to captain a tandem with her middle-school sister.  My high-school son rode a single bike and my father came along to drive our van and be “the… (more)