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Manners Matter
For the past four days, I've walked the streets of Washington, D.C., with a group of eighty-nine 8th graders and twenty other chaperones. We averaged 9 miles—walking—daily, from monument to museum to house of government and back again. Beautiful June weather also meant we encountered other tourists, which added to the crowds and waiting time. Most 13- and 14-year-olds I know aren't the most observant, patient, and thoughtful people. But that's what chaperones are for, right? To guide their behavior, to watch out for them in unfamiliar territory, to help them see the significance of their surroundings. To warn them not to hog the sidewalk so people can pass by in…
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Summer, Songs, and Study
It's only two years old, but Jen Hatmaker's blogpost "Worst End of School Year Mom Ever" is destined to become a classic, reposted annually by moms wading through papers, forms, homework, projects, and reports that still require their attention and signatures. Of my four children, only the 3rd grader continues to present her folder to me faithfully every Thursday to sign the three. separate. blanks. that require my name. For the love… I confess to being right there with Jen, begging for the school year to end so I can fall victoriously on the couch, arms raised in victory. "My job here is done!" Only, as moms everywhere know, even after…
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How mentoring can save your child from walking away from the faith
One of my greatest fears as a parent was that our children would turn their backs on Jesus when they left our home. A mocking faith-buster professor or sexy siren would steal their hearts and draw them away from their roots. It's a legitimate fear in our post-Christian culture. A 2013 study entitled Five Reasons Millennials Stay Connected to Church found that 6 in 10 young people who grow up in church drop out in the first decade of adult life–but there's hope. They also found that these stats held true UNLESS the young person enjoyed a close personal friendship with a mentor. God often uses mentoring to keep kids…
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Mothers Have to Grow Up Too
A couple of months ago, I had to pick out eight pictures that represented the last 17 years of my daughter’s life. The yearbook staff at her high school kept sending me reminders of the deadline for the senior ad. So I did what I didn’t want to do—I pulled out photo boxes, inserted photo CD’s into the computer and I sorted through a lifetime of memories. There among the piles of “maybe,” “for sure” and “no way, she’ll kill me,” I remembered some of the advice I received as a young mother. Well, more like warnings than advice: Just wait, she’s cute right now, but when’s…
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Two Moms and a Vision: FamilyResourceLibrary
In this country we have a plethora of resources, online information, web sites to encourage our growth as Christians, parents and as families. There is no limit to the accessibility of books in our context. In fact, sometimes the sheer volume of what is available makes choosing difficult. This is not true globally. Enter two moms with a vision and an amazingly creative offering was begun called FamilyResourceLibrary. Because this is such an important venture we decided at bible.org to devote this blog to informing others AND to offer an opportunity for the readers of Engage to participate. Lisa Miller and Jill Williams were asked to write an info…
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Encourage Spiritual Growth “Ten Things Parents Should Know”
In our modern world we find ourselves surrounded by a plethora of resources including the internet, books, conferences, counselors, and countless “professionals;” all giving advice on the best techniques, the greatest tools, and the most up to date methods to use to be a good parent. How many times have you looked to these resources for the best solutions, techniques, and tools for raising your child? How often do you look to these resources without consulting the best parenting guide available? How many times do you read page after page, chapter after chapter of how to be a successful parent without picking up the most valuable resource ever written? …
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Are you OK without your Facebook, twitterfeed, instagram…? A report from the front.
True story. Last weekend a group of teens gathered in a nicer than average home in the American suburbs to celebrate the fifteenth birthday of a pretty, popular teenage girl. We’ll call her Miranda. Miranda, her mom and her grandma had knocked themselves out for days making tasty food, decorating the pool, deck and house, and devising a hilarious line-up of games and activities. They even had some movie choices to watch before they settled in for the sleepover. Confident she had everything to keep the girls enjoying themselves for the duration, Miranda’s mom greeted each girl at the door with a promise of great fun and a gentle reminder…
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Father’s Day Memories of my Daddy
My father, who passed away 30 years ago at 63, was a quiet and thoughtful man, a person of great integrity and spiritual maturity. As Father’s Day approaches, I think of him and the life lessons he taught me through his strengths—lessons that have served me well as a person and often as a leader. Daddy loved the Word of God. He never led us in family devotionals, much to my mother’s dismay, but he many nights he read us Bible stories at bedtime. Often when I found him deep in study in his chair, I would ask him what he was reading. He usually responded by taking me in…
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Movie Review: Moms’ Night Out: A Laugh and a Missed Opportunity
Moms' Night Out, the movie starring Sarah Drew ("Grey's Anatomy") opened over the weekend, right in time for Mother's Day. And Christians filled theaters to see it. The film is clean, it's funny…and it's also a missed opportunity. Drew’s character, Allyson, and her two friends — played with expert performances by Logan White and Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond)— want just one thing: a peaceful night out eating food off a menu while enjoying uninterrupted adult conversation. But for that to happen the dads have to parent their kids for three hours. And they are incapable of doing so without endangering their offspring. The film is billed as a “true-to-life…
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Time to Take Inventory?
Imagine you’ve invited all your relatives and neighbors to a banquet. Instead of serving turkey or ham with pie for dessert, what would happen if you emptied the garbage onto the table where the platter of meat goes? And after that, what if you told your guests to “dig in”? Think they’d like it? Think they’d say, “What a fine feast—let’s invite the president next year”? What would your actions say about how much you regarded your guests? We wouldn’t think of treating other humans that way, yet these actions come close to those of the children of Israel during the prophet Malachi’s lifetime. They offered their wilted stuff…
