An Open Letter For Parents

To my teenager, I just finished reading about another victim of our social media era. You don’t know her, but you probably know other girls like her. Jessica was a teenager in Ohio who texted a photo of herself naked to her boyfriend. This photo was forwarded to other students in other high schools in her city. Jessica was so humiliated and so devastated by the violation that she committed suicide. She felt she couldn’t go on living with that photo of her naked body posted on the web for all to see for the rest of her life. As […]

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How to Teach Your Child to Love

This being the “Love Month” the topic of love is worthy of discussion … even in a parenting article. In fact, teaching children the proper understanding of love might be one of the most neglected areas of parenting. And, that neglect might be very damaging for a child’s future success in life. At first glance it sounds very worldly to challenge a parent to raise a child to “be a great lover.” But should we let our children gain this expertise by encouraging them to watch television shows like The Bachelor or The Bachelorette? This is what the world around […]

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Use Those “Time Eating” Christmas Gifts to Teach

We often receive questions asking about all forms of video games. Parents of the past would ask, “Don’t these video games become addictive and cause kids to waste many precious hours of time? We bought a Play Station for our kids for Christmas, but I’m considering taking it back. I’m also thinking we should not have these temptations in our home.” In today’s day and age not only is it Play Station, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, there is constant access to gaming on their phones as well.   Content It is not necessarily the electronic device that is the problem. There […]

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Gratitude Is Taught

Have your kids caught the virus? It’s the most contagious and one of the most dangerous viruses a person can catch and it is “heir” born. Most of our culture has it. Are your kids negative and ungrateful? Some of that is because they’re still children. Much of it is because they are very impressionable. It doesn’t take much to cave into the impressions this culture leaves that more is better. Gratitude is necessary They can catch it from the culture, but they can also learn it from their parents. Ingratitude is caught in a home where gratitude isn’t taught. […]

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How To Use Storms For Good…

Are storms good for anything? Jesus sure thought they were. On more than one occasion He sent his Disciples directly into a storm. Jesus used storms as great learning tools, and as parents, we can certainly follow His example. Since storms are unavoidable, it is important for parents to take advantage of the training opportunities that come with storms. How Jesus uses storms for good On one occasion Jesus went with His disciples into a storm (Mark 4). When the storm began to sink the boat, the Disciples went to the front and woke Jesus up from a nap.  “Don’t […]

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We Have Lost Something Important!

Today’s family has lost something, and it’s a huge loss. Not to worry though. It can be found. The members of today’s typical family have lost their connection to each other. They have little in common other than the same address. Unfortunately, today’s family members have unplugged from each other. To meet a natural need to be plugged in somewhere, today’s children are plugging into the outside world and working desperately to stay connected. I don’t even think they know why. The answer is, however, it’s the only connection they have.  Texting, Instagram, Snapchat … have become a relationship substitute.  […]

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Choose Wisely

How do you know which way is right? That is a significant question, isn’t it? Where do we go for answers? How do we know which way is right? How does the next generation learn to think for themselves rather than be guided by the latest trends? As parents, how do we give them a compass for life’s direction? We are entering into an election season. Many ideas and statements will be made by the candidates. How do we know which is right and which is wrong?   In one of the final scenes of the third movie of Raiders […]

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Your Child’s Failures are Great Instructors

“We want every child to be free of the fear of failure,” was a statement made to me. This particular school system was pursuing a new way of evaluating the educational progress of their students. No grades, no labels, just an educational experience that each child can feel good about. The obvious question that must be answered is, “Is failure bad?” Is there something that can be learned from the experience of failure? Will life after school not include failures? It reminds me of the parent that said their family never played games because their children couldn’t stand to lose. […]

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Dads, The Heroes We Need Today

Father’s Day ought to be Hero’s Day. A day when the role we traditionally title as “dad” is celebrated so the next generation can see it for what it needs to be. It is time for each of us with children to enlist in the “I Want to Be A Dad Who’s A Hero” campaign. In generations past fathers were heroes. Their role was more easily defined. Dads provided security for the day and direction for the future. Fathers protected the family from the elements and enemies. They also had the chief responsibility to provide a philosophy of life for […]

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Teens and Stress

In years past, the teen years were looked at as a time of “finding oneself.” Behavior, dress and poor choices were even excused by this. It was expected for teens to act out or push back because this time period was a time of exploration to find who you were. Today the focus has shifted to not finding oneself or finding your skillset but to getting into the best college or getting into college. Now not that this isn’t a worthy goal, because it is, but we need to evaluate how it is impacting our parenting. What is going on […]

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