Each month, I have the privilege of sharing what’s been on my heart. This month, I wanted to offer that space to someone whose heart I consistently learn from — my friend and colleague Tom Lukasik. Tom and his wife Linda have lived the reality of foster care for over thirty years, and what he carries on the subject of reunification is something every one of us needs to hear. I think you’ll find his words both honest and hopeful. More than a cliché “Home, sweet home.” “Home is where the heart is.” “A home for every child.” You’ve probably […]

As we head into summer and our families slow down, it is time to do a “check-in” on our parenting plan. We are at the halfway point of the year, so it is a great time to see where you are on achieving the goals for the year. It is also a great time to set some goals for the summer. Is there a behavior that you are seeing that you want to correct, like arguing? Is there a skill you would like to teach, like how to do laundry or clean the bathroom? When you take a deeper look […]

There was a movie circulating a few years ago that, in its time, caused quite a stir. The documentary movie: “Race to Nowhere.” The theme: we are jamming our high school students into such a frenzied schedule that they are missing the teenage years and learning to run rather than think. It can be found on YouTube today. It would be a good watch because even though we were shocked 10 years ago at the pressures on our teens, we didn’t change it. In fact, there seems to be even more pressure. The documentary follows four high performing teenagers in […]

Where home begins  As we step into May, I find myself returning to a question that feels both simple and profound: Where does home begin?  We talk about home in many ways — a place we live, a feeling we carry, the people who steady us and remind us who we are. But the more I’ve sat with it, the more I’m realizing that home didn’t begin with us at all.  Home has an origin and that origin matters more than we might think.    A home created first  In the opening pages of Scripture, before there were families, before […]

Children who grow up in a house of screaming parents often grow up to be screaming parents themselves. The volume and words a parent uses around their children and TO their children have an impact on them. But what about the more subtle things we say? What about the things we say on our phones, when we forget the kids are in the back seat listening? What about the things we say when the kids are in the other room … listening? And they are listening!  What do my kids hear when they hear me? What are the lessons we […]