Family

Don’t Squander Your Summer

Dr. Bob Barnes and Torrey Roberts
1 Jun 2018
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summer

In our house it always feels like we come crawling into summer time like someone who just finished a marathon…one they didn’t train for. We are all absolutely exhausted but SO looking forward to a break. Dreams of a beautiful summer of family bliss dance in our heads as parents, but how often is that really the case? One of two things may happen: either we get to August wondering what in the world happened to the summer days, or we get to the end of June wondering when they can go back to school (or both depending what day […]

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Fighting for Kids Takes Faith

Shelly Pond
1 May 2018
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When caring for children in crisis, most agree that faith-based foster care services make a difference.  When children are placed in a loving family with support from the community and the local church, a dire situation is infused with hope. Proper training and support is critical to success.  Besides 4KIDS of South Florida, discussed on page 26, here are three other faith-based foster care agencies making a big difference in the lives of kids. Mount Bethel Human Services Corporation Now in its 25th year of service, Mount Bethel Human Services Corporation (MBHSC) helps low- and moderate-income families in Fort Lauderdale […]

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kids

Grandpa Knows Best

Omar Aleman
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best

He did not have degrees on the wall, a couch or charge $100 per hour, but was a great psychologist and counselor. What he did have was a perennial cigar in his mouth, thinning hair and a constant penchant for a strong cup of coffee. He was a successful cigar maker, community leader and an occasional liar… to me! He “stretched the truth” around me, and I am the better for it. He was a “game changer”; the majority of my few good qualities are rooted in his teachings. “Abuelo” knows best “Let’s go touch the moon,” he said, as […]

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Finishing Well

Dr. Bob Barnes and Torrey Roberts
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We are at that point in the year where everyone is tired… teachers, faculty, students and parents.  Glimmers of summer are right around the corner; however, there are some hurdles to cross before we get there.  For those of us with older children, there are final projects, papers and exams. For younger kids it may be equally as daunting battling the homework every night.  So why is it worth fighting the battles at this point? Why do we want to instill in our children that finishing strong is so important? Well, this is a very valuable life lesson.  We want […]

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well

How Do I Raise A Kid of Conscience?

Dr. Bob Barnes and Torrey Roberts
10 Apr 2018
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conscience

Webster’s Dictionary defines conscience as, “the sense or consciousness of the moral goodness or blameworthiness of one’s own conduct, intentions or character together with a feeling of obligation to do right or be good.” The development of a consistent value system is the foundation for our decisions, for our sensitivity to what is right and what is wrong and for the feelings of those around us. The media has recently been barraging us with stories that show us why the development of a conscience is imperative. It seems scary that many children today are growing up without a moral code. […]

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Pro-Life Campaigns Celebrate Lives Saved

The Good News
3 Apr 2018
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Three local 40 Days for Life campaigns joined March 2 to celebrate the mid-point of the life-saving initiative, observed Feb. 14 to March 25 in 47 nations. But the gathering for food and fellowship had more to rejoice over than just hitting the halfway mark of the 40-day period of prayer and fasting, community outreach and peaceful vigil for an end to abortion. The same day of the celebration, three women chose life outside the abortion facility where Tom Walker leads the Fort Lauderdale campaign. Two of the mothers chose life for their children because of a simple sign that […]

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Legacy Family Businesses Build Community

Shelly Pond
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businesses

“Do you remember these businesses?” a trending post asks on Facebook as readers reminisce about popular South Florida mainstays that went the way of the dinosaurs. Sustaining a business for the long haul can be daunting, and the statistics for family businesses are not particularly optimistic. “About 30 percent of all family-owned businesses survive into the second generation. Twelve percent will still be viable into the third generation, with only three percent of all family businesses operating at the fourth-generation level and beyond,” according to the Conway Center for Family Business. Yet as South Florida has grown and matured, there […]

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Five Reasons Camps are a Must for Every Child

C.J. Wetzler
1 Apr 2018
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  Unlike the traditional classroom setting or family weekend get-away, summer enrichment programs and camps present unique opportunities for your child to mature from a state of parental dependency toward healthy self-efficacy, developing the necessary grit to live a life worthy of their calling. In short: summer enrichment programs and camps should be recognized as an opportunity to invest in your child’s future.   Click HERE to find local summer camp opportunities in the Good News Summer Camp Guide.  Here are five reasons to enroll your child in a summer enrichment program or camp:   1.It’s a place where a […]

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Helping Our Children Process Tragedy

Dr. Bob Barnes and Torrey Roberts
1 Mar 2018
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tragedy

As we write this, one of the most deadly school shootings has just occurred… in our own community. It was surreal as I looked at my phone to see a news alert banner saying another school shooting had occurred. It felt like a dream to open the article and recognize the name of the school. So many thoughts went through my head and heart, so many fears, so many questions. How do we unpack these emotions for ourselves as adults, much less our children? We grieve. We grieve for the families that have lost. We grieve for the loss of […]

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No Home Here

Omar Aleman
8 Feb 2018
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 The successful businessman married the peasant maid much to the disdain of his family and friends, and soon thereafter I was born. He passed five years later, which led my mom and I to leave the country and move to the U.S. Several years later, my mom married a man lacking the sophistication and charisma of my dad; soon, however, I begrudgingly had to admit that these two immigrants with third grade educations and no knowledge of English were pretty good at parenting. However, they could not “hold a candle” to a teenager with vast “intellectual superiority,” knowledge of the […]

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