Parenting
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A Disconnected Connected Society
Posts, tweets, pins, links, updates… The list goes on and on. IMHO, we are becoming the most disconnected connected people who have ever lived. (By the way; did you see how cool I am? I know tech speak for “in my humble opinion!”) We know what is going on with somebody half-way around the world whom we have “accepted” as a “friend” (even though we’ve never met them), or “follow,” are “linked in with,” or are in some other way connected electronically. At the same time, we have no idea what is going on with our spouse who is sitting right next to us; our children who live in the…
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Being the Bad Guy
Parenting is not for wimps. I know a young couple who married in 2013 and had their first child this year, about a year after their wedding. In a recent conversation I asked them if their newborn was resting well at night so they could get some sleep. They said it was off and on but getting better. They informed me that they realize now that nothing could have prepared them for some of the things that go with parenting. Which leads me to this next thought… In doing pre-marital counseling, when I ask young couples what their plan is for having children I often get this response: “Well, we…
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How’s Your Family Growing
Recently, a couple of things happened that were not actually related. In my sometimes unusual way of thinking, there might have been a connection. My wife and I hosted our “second annual Cousins Camp.” All of the grandkids were at our house. It was a little — no, make that a LOT — loud for a few days. Thankfully, we had some “counselors” to work with us — our daughter and our daughter-in-law. Cousins Camp is the brainchild of my wife. It is an attempt on our part to help develop and nurture the sense of family that is so important to us. It is also an opportunity for us…
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When Tragedy Strikes the Family
Tragedy struck our church family a few weeks ago. It was a tragedy of the worst kind. Lives were lost and bodies were damaged which will take months to heal. Emotionally the damage was severe to everyone involved. You see a tragic car accident turned a vacation trip for a mother, grandmother, and daughters into a nightmare from which it will take years to recover. Our church family lost one of its vital members. When a tragedy like this strikes a family our hearts hurt to see them going through such hard times. When a physical family is close to one another, as this one was, and one or more…
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Set Your Priorities : Balancing Work and Home as a
“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…” Philippians 2:5 (NIV) The heart-tugging story has gone viral. A young child wants to know his parent’s hourly wage. The parent is offended thinking that the child is presumptuous to ask and might be using the information to compare his parent’s level of success to that of a classmate’s parent. You know where this is going: the young child simply wanted to how much money was needed in to buy an hour of his parent’s precious time. My question is this: why does this pull at our heart strings so strongly? Could it be that within this…
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Would You Like to Make a Quick $1000?
Now that I have your attention, let me share with you where I got the idea for that title. I heard something interesting the other day about some mothers in New York City who are paying professional organizers to get their children prepared to go to summer camp. The “going rate” for these professional organizers is $250 per hour. According to one of the organizers, it usually takes about four hours to get the kids ready. After all, they just must have the proper soaps, shampoos, scented candles, sheets, etc. Everything must be in place in order for the kids to have “all the comforts of home.” So — if…
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Greatest Thing a Father Can Do {Quote for Pinterest}
Today, we share another quote for you that we’d love you to take and pin on Pinterest. Enjoy! To receive all our blog posts via email for free, click here. Photo credit: Nina Matthews on Creative Commons
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Don’t Lie to Your Children
My family had a wonderful Monday evening last week. We went to a gospel meeting. I appreciate Tom Stafford for inviting me to come to Buffalo Valley to hear Dwight Fuqua preach on “Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness.” The kids behaved very well and we enjoyed a spiritually driven night that we all needed. I am looking forward to other opportunities this summer to take my family to a VBS or a gospel meeting in our area – it is nice when you don’t have the next morning of school staring you in the face – you have more time in the evenings for…
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Parents, Remember This… {Quote for Pinterest}
Today, we share another quote for you that is designed in such a way for you to put it on your Pinterest board to encourage others. This one’s for us parents. To Receive All Our Blog Posts via Email, Click Here. Photo credit: Leagun on FreeImages.com
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Must Do’s for Dads
If you are a father you are blessed. If you have or have had a godly father you are beyond blessed. Unfortunately, many children are growing up today without a positive spiritual influence from their father. Some do not have any kind of relationship with their physical father at all. Still some fathers, though present in their children’s lives, are too busy spending time in the world to spend time with their families. But I know some GREAT men who deeply love the Lord and who are strong spiritual leaders. These men all have several things in common – things they practice that qualify them as good fathers and teach…