Single Parents
Essays
Parenting: The Wonder of an Untidy Life
5/8/13As I drew the broom across our wood floors, the evidence of a life lived with children piled up. Yes, there was dust. But I also saw small sticks, Easter grass, tabs to yogurt tubes, small clumps of mud from shoes, indoor soccer field filings and tiny scraps of crayon-colored paper. I had swept the day before. Discouraging. I was pulling the broom against the dustpan when I saw it: a tiny feather, white and…
Christian Parenting: The Tale Your Life Will Tell
3/18/13
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…
When Our Children Struggle
11/26/12
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…
Teaching Our Children
11/16/12
As parents, we see the big picture. We understand the whys behind the lessons we seek to teach. We know that those sight words in 1st grade lead to fluent reading in 2nd grade. We see that the 5th grade unit on government and laws…
Devotions
Jonah: Attitude Check
12/18/12 Read Scripture Verse: Jonah 1-4
With whom do you connect in the story of Jonah? Maybe you feel like the sailors who don’t seem to recognize God until they are desperate for help and their troubles are looking like they might swallow them up. Maybe you feel like the people…
Parenting: Rising to the Challenge
12/6/12 Read Scripture Verse: Ps 94:16–19
Gazing at the lobby of the Rookery building in Chicago, I marveled at the talents seen in the designer Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright had an eye for reimagining traditional structures and creating artistically stunning buildings that used nontraditional support structures. The Light Court, as the…
Don’t Run: Honoring God in Conflict
5/18/11 Read Scripture Verse: John 16:33
Life is so unfair. We hear this complaint all the time. Our culture will tell us that if we are in conflict then our spouse is not our soul mate and we ought to start looking for someone else. The Bible has a very different…
Resources
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Beyond “I Do”: What Christians Believe About Marriage
This is one of the best books about what a marriage is. It's really a theology of marriage rather than a "how to" manual, but it's perspective provides ample context for why the How-To stuff works.
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The Five Love Languages: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate
This instant classic states clearly what we know intuitively: We all need love, but we don't all love the same way. Some need words, some need touch, some need time together. This is a must read for lovers and parents!
