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Parenting: What to Do When You Lose Your Cool
I used to be terrified that I was ruining my kids when I didn’t model the right Christ-like behavior. Many times, this came in the form of running short on patience or losing my cool with my very strong-willed child. Later I would agonize over what I said or did, and how I didn’t respond in grace. Then this question came to me… If God only used perfect people to be parents, who would He use? The answer is obvious. There are none. We all fall short (Romans 3:23). We will lose our temper, react in fear to a certain situation, or say an unkind word. And…
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The Beautiful Benefits of Thanking God in All Things
As we scroll through social media today, we are bound to see all the wonderful things people are thankful for–and rightly so! But we seldom see gratitude for the losses, the challenges, the really hard times. I would imagine that God did not author 1 Thessalonians 5:18 to remind us to be thankful for the good days (as those are pretty easy to be thankful for), but more likely as a reminder that He is still working in the difficult ones. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:18 NLT There are some things that happen in our…
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You are Training Your Kids Even When You Think You’re Not
I went out to dinner a few weeks ago with a family and their adorable toddler. I was forewarned, “Our little girl just won’t sit in a highchair when we go out to eat.” And in fact, it was true. Every time their little one got antsy or began to fuss, her parents took her out of the high chair and let her sit (or climb) on them. From there, she would stand on the booth bench, try to climb under the table, run between patrons–you get the picture. The poor mom, exhausted before the entrees even arrived, half-joked with the waiter, “Can I just get mine to go?” Both…
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How to Set a Child Free from the Lies She Believes
If you work with kids, or have kids, or know kids, you are sure to come across a broken-hearted child: one who has a downcast spirit due to the actions of someone else. It might be after one (or more) of their peers has been cruel to them, or maybe it’s after someone talks behind their back. It might even be a foster child whose own mom or dad has broken the sacred trust of parenthood. Kids (and adults, for that matter) can so easily absorb unkind words and actions, and allow lies to shape what they believe about themselves. I deserve this, I’m not as good as those other kids, I am…
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Kids Need Prodigal Leaders
If we ever wonder how God feels about His children, we need look no further than Luke 15. So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.– Luke 15:20 In your mind’s eye, can you picture this respected, gray-haired land owner stooping down to scoop up the ends of his robe so that he could run – RUN – to greet his son? One by one, the servants in the fields probably froze in place as the scene unfolded. This father set aside his…
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How to Get Over What You Can’t Seem to Get Over
Are you losing sleep over something? Maybe it’s something someone has said or done to hurt you, or a time when you were treated unfairly. Maybe it’s a mistake you made. Maybe it’s knowing you were excluded from something. Whatever it is, it gets under your skin, and although you try to move past it, it’s stealing your joy. At the beginning of this year I set out to read the Bible in a year. So I found a chronological reading plan that looked doable. And there it was – in day one of my reading. How quickly God’s word jumped off the page with a very clear message for me. You see, I…
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How to Help Kids Increase Their Joy
Theodore Roosevelt wisely said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.” It’s hard to think of our turn-of-the-century president, looking stoic in his in black and white photos, and imagine that he struggled with comparison way back then. I mean, they didn’t even have Instagram! One wonders how people even compared themselves without Facebook. The truth is, comparison goes way back…way, way back. The devil tempted Eve with comparison. “You will be like God…” In other words, you are not as good as God right now. And what was Cain’s problem? He compared God’s reaction to his offering with that of Abel’s. He was so eaten up with jealousy that…
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Is There Such a Thing as a Healthy Dose of Doubt?
Several years ago, when my son was about ten years old, ready to shake off the remainder of his 5th grade year and launch into middle school, we had some deep discussions about apologetics. The first convo started something like, “Mom, I know what the Bible says and all, but how do I know if it’s really true?” Fueled by our discussions at home, I asked my small group at church (comprised of 5th grade girls) to raise their hands if they had questions about how we know the Bible is really true. They looked at me for a moment. I assured them it was fine to be totally honest. Not just…
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Are Your Kids Prepared for Battle?
We have a saying around our kid's ministry: Church can either be a cruise ship or a battleship. It can either be a place of light entertainment, or it can be a place to ready its inhabitants for combat. If this sounds over-dramatic, please consider the words of Jesus, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” (John 10:10a) Our kids are under assault.The enemy craftily conspires to steal their innocence, destroy their families, and take their very lives. And the weapon he most readily uses is deception. He can accomplish his mission when he entices our kids to believe his lies. The only counter to lies is truth. …
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How to Train Kids to Be Givers Instead of Takers
Jesus famously said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) Do you ever wonder why we so often rob our kids of this blessing? We unwittingly train our kids to be little takers instead of givers. It permeates our culture in America. Kids can’t go out for lunch (which, in itself, should be a treat) without clamoring for a toy to go along with the meal that was purchased for them. Years ago, for our Wednesday night program, our system was to set up a “store” in which our kids could “spend” the credit they earned by memorizing verses. The result? Kids pick out two or…