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What Will Be Your Harvest?
Children are listening. They often believe blindly what they hear. Let’s speak the truth in love even in our daily conversations that they overhear and especially when we speak to them. Words can’t be erased or unheard from the heart. Paul tells us in Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows.” What will we harvest from the words we’ve sown this year?
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Meaning-full Holidays Benefit from Advance Planning
My shopping list includes “Halloween candy,” and my neighbors’ yards feature cobwebs, ghosts, and the Grim Reaper. Yet I just received a gift catalog from an aid organization, an invitation to a holiday brunch, and ads for Advent products in my social media feeds. It feels too early to think about whether to include marshmallows on the sweet-potato casserole. But we also know planning ahead will help make the holidays more meaning-full, right? Here on the Engage blog, I have annual tradition of offering suggestions for doing so. Here’s my 2023 Top Ten list: Prefer a book? I love Fleming Rutledge’s Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ. I get…
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IT’S NOT A RELIGION! IT’S A RELATIONSHIP!
I have said it before and I will say it again, “The difference between Christianity and all the other religions of the world can be summed up in one word, ‘RELATIONSHIP!’”
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Prepare for Academic Success this School Year with One Small Family Tradition that Yields Big Results
As we prepare for the school year, most schools kindly offer up a detailed list of the supplies our kids will need for classroom success. I appreciate my child being well prepared for the upcoming year, but I am also aware that many of my goals for them are not actually academic. Consider one simple part of your family routine that has big results for your student’s academic success; family meal time! While we are focusing on the academic career of our children, it can be easy to forget the integral role our family routines and home environments play in their overall stability and success. Family meal time is a…
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He is Bigger Still
The pediatric dentist had delivered bad news. Our son needed oral surgery on not just one or two teeth, but on multiple teeth. And given the extent of the dental work anticipated and our son’s medical history, the procedures would need to be done in a hospital and under anesthesia. I began reviewing the cost estimates the dentist’s office manager had given to me as my husband drove us home. Hospital operating room + anesthesiologist + dental work = big bills. And it wasn’t just about the additional medical and dental expenses. (Though those were sufficient stress alone.) It was also that, due our son’s other medical needs, he’d already…
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Is My Baby in Heaven?
Have you grieved the loss of a baby or small child? If so, you may have many unspoken or unresolved questions. Or you may have received answers from various sources that are neither biblical nor satisfactory, leaving you with a deeper hurt. Take heart. You can place your confidence in God's grace and goodness. When you get to heaven, your baby will be there.
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Legacy & Family
Author: Lucille Williams My father-in-law passed away this past year. Having served in World War II and following the times of his generation, “Dad,” Wally Williams wasn’t one for emotions or feelings. Men were taught to be men: one must never cry, don’t show weakness, suck it up, man up, and never put your guard down, were the theme of his generation. Some perpetuated that theme to the next generation. Growing up, my husband never heard, “I love you” or “I’m proud of you.” Even as an adult, hearing “I’m proud of you” from his dad didn’t happen. Until… Just before Wally passed, we traveled to see him knowing our…
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Strolling to the Finish Line, an invitation to slow down this summer
Summer time is a special time in our home, and by “special” one might say stressful. There is confusion somewhere in between the desire for me to be at home with my precious children which I balance with my work life (which I also love). I devote the majority of my time to my children, which essentially means that… I devote the majority of my time to my children! With little time to myself in the summer, I have struggled with feeling overwhelmed. I found myself giving myself a pep talk that sounds like this, “You’ve got this! Run your race well.” After a few minutes, I was stopped by…
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Memorial Day, A Powerful Teaching Moment
Memorial Day is coming! How many homes and Sunday school classes will make the most of this teaching moment? History is full of memorials. This is a cultural teaching moment opportunity to train our children in the importance of remembering. If we don’t intentionally plan to remember, we won’t. If we don’t preserve what we remember, we forget the most important details, the meaning of the event, the lessons learned, the victories won. The Bible is full of memorials. From Jacob to the calling of Moses in Exodus, to set His people free and continuing throughout the Bible, God sets up memorials. In Genesis 31:45 we see Jacob setting up…
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Pointing Children To Their Strengths
Today our guest poster is Lucille Williams, who has written a children’s book: “Turtle Finds His Talent” is a wonderful addition to your children’s library. Pointing Children To Their Strengths by Lucille Williams When I was in elementary school I can remember feeling extreme panic when the teacher asked the class to read out loud. We would start at one end of the classroom, and as it got closer to my turn, panic would set in. I had trouble reading as a kid, and I’d stop at “small” words as I saw “big” words coming up. During the pause, I’d try to figure out the “big” word. All this to…
