• #29: The School Of Love

    #29: The School Of Love

    Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. (1 Thessalonians 4: 9) You want to love each other but you don’t know how. Perhaps your parents were cold and distant all your life. Maybe they gave…

  • #28: Little Foxes In Our Marriage

    #28: Little Foxes In Our Marriage

    Then you must protect me from the foxes, foxes on the prowl, foxes who would like nothing better than to get into our flowering garden. (Song of Solomon 2:15 MSG) These “little foxes” dig holes and passages in the marriage vineyard, loosen the love and intimacy that exists in the marriage and weaken it in…

  • #27: When Plans Don’t Work Out

    #27: When Plans Don’t Work Out

    In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it. (Isaiah 30:15) The nation of Israel in Isaiah’s day wanted the good life. So they made big plans and developed friendships with other countries to help them get ahead (Isaiah 30: 2). But it…

  • #26: What The Mirror Shows

    #26: What The Mirror Shows

    If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin. (1…

  • #25: Knowing When To Move

    #25: Knowing When To Move

    Then the family heads of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and Levites – everyone whose heart God had moved – prepared to go up and build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem. (Ezra 1:5) Cyrus, king of Persia, was moved by God to allow the exiled Jews to rebuild God’s temple in Jerusalem.…

  • #9: Defining My Heritage

    #9: Defining My Heritage

    The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. (Psalm 16:6) Every family has a heritage, a legacy passed from generation to generation. In truth, though, the heritage is something few parents really understand. Too many times we are not sure what it is or the impact that…

  • #8: Establishing A Family Identity

    #8: Establishing A Family Identity

    “We don’t have any traditions, but it would be really nice to have some because they bring people together and they sound fun too.” – a 13 year old The Benefit of TraditionsTraditions give our children a sense of belonging within our family. Traditions can be great fun as well as building stability and rhythm.…

  • #24: The Sting of Sarcasm

    #24: The Sting of Sarcasm

    Then Job replied: “How you have helped the powerless! How you have saved the arm that is feeble! What advice you have offered to one without wisdom! And what great insight you have displayed!” (Job 26:1-3) Job had endured the criticism and bad advice of his three friends about why God was allowing so much…

  • #23: Keeping Each Other Accountable

    #23: Keeping Each Other Accountable

    Seek the Lord, all you humble of the land, you who do what he commands. Seek righteousness, seek humility; perhaps you will be sheltered on the day of the Lord’s anger. (Zephaniah 2:3) According to the Bible, God created the universe as an act of love and enthusiasm. Earth, among the planets and stars, was…

  • #7: Handling Anger (Ours & Theirs)

    #7: Handling Anger (Ours & Theirs)

    “Anger is a signal, and one worth listening to.” – Harriet Dancer Anger and stress are a part of life, as much for our children as for us. Life is not perfect! We cannot protect our children from experiencing these negative emotions, nor should we. Either the family is the place where children learn to…