Family

Home Education is a Growing Trend

  As back to school sales mark the approach of another school year, a growing number of both secular and religious Floridians is choosing to educate their children at home. From 2003 to 2012 the percentage of children who are being home schooled has gradually increased from 2.2 percent to about 3.4 percent. Home schooling parents are still a small minority, but they are a vocal minority. The reasons people choose to home school are different for each family, but the most common reason cited is the environment the children are expected to learn in. Another reason stated very well […]

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Creating a Family Mission Statement

  Time passes quickly. Goodbye to the hazy, lazy days of summer. Hello to getting ready for school and college. Checking items off our “to get” list and merely thinking about schedules and routines make our heads swim. A new school year calls for recommitment and is the perfect time to create a Family Mission Statement. Trust me; like any well-planned vacation or activity schedule, if we do not plan, we will miss the opportunity to establish purpose and wander aimlessly throughout the year. “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1 NLT). […]

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Preparing For The Unknown And Seeking Peace

My youngest daughter is beginning Kindergarten this year. She is excited, but a little nervous, as she prepares for this new grand adventure, filled with growing responsibilities and a charge to be a big girl. We can sense and clearly see that she is both filled with a sense of boldness, new kitty cat backpack and all, and battling a growing fear of the unknown. Just the other day she told her mother and me that she wants to be a baby again. While she answered, when pressed, that she wanted to stay home with mommy and daddy, I knew […]

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Deja’Vu: Caring for An Aged Loved One

Standing in line at Home Depot with a cart full of boxes, moving paper, bubble wrap, and tape, the cashier said, “Ma’am, you’re next.” In a haze, deja’vu, so to speak was I. An overwhelming sense of familiarity, “I’ve done this” washed over me. Less than two years ago we lost Mother to cancer, moved Daddy to the independent/assisted living apartment of his choice, packed up and sold their home, and then took a plethora of furniture and heirloom items to the grandkids. Daddy had hip replacement surgery last January and has spent most of this year in rehab. Advance […]

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Summer Fun in Broward

As excited as everyone becomes about summer vacation, the time eventually comes when the typical ideas fail to relieve boredom. Even people with two-week vacations can find the time moves too slowly without something interesting to do. Many find reading an interesting book, visiting friends or a trip to the library enriching, but there are plenty of alternate activities. South Florida has one of the richest environments for summer learning activities for all ages of any area in the state. There are museums of all types to visit, many of them with hands on activities for families to enjoy. Activities […]

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Family Reunions Help Tell the Story of Us

In “the good ol’ days,” Jim and Shirley Cox, of Plantation, celebrated their annual family reunion at their beach house in a little coastal town called Garden City in South Carolina. The reason for the reunion was simple: to bring family members together. There was no schedule of activities to be planned, no internet ideas, themes, resources, free reunion registry and message boards or invites to address and deliver…via email. There was only the anticipation of 24 hours of shared memories and another day in which new ones could be made, and undoubtedly last a lifetime. Four generations later, that […]

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Our Children Are On Loan To Us From God; Invest in Them While You Can 

Well, I believe that whatever choices my son makes, whether good or bad, Godly or godless, wise or “what were you thinking,” we feel as though we managed and invested well. We’ve known from his birth that our kids belong to God and that we are simply managers and investors with what God has given us “on loan.” Life is about knowing and following an awesome God who by His grace offers forgiveness and freedom, even when things get difficult and challenging. We’ve guided Toby from birth to understand the importance of God’s inherent Word to teach and guide his […]

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When We Love Them, We Fight for Them!

As parents, we will face countless trials and tribulations.  Sometimes the issues are small — sometimes they can spiral out of control.  As a mother there have been more times than I care to count where the possibilities were frightening, but the options were few. Many times my only option was…fight. When we love our children, there may come a time when the only thing that stands between their stupidity and/or destruction is our will to fight. We fight them with words, with actions, with consequences and most importantly we fight on our knees to God in prayer. We ask […]

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Serving a Healthy Movie Menu for Summer Blockbuster Movies

  What does a proper diet mean in your home? My kids would be fine replacing broccoli and carrots with chocolate and soda at every meal. No doubt they would feel satisfied and content, but the truth of the matter is the end result would be they would be “jacked up” with short term energy and long term health issues. One of our favorite movies in our home is the 2003 holiday favorite called “Elf” in which Will Ferrell plays Buddy the Elf. He is a fun loving elf who enjoys maple syrup on every meal. One of the greatest […]

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Study Reveals Strategies for College Success

  Eager to have a family picture taken, 18-year-old Natasha Atencio nearly sprinted, in heels, through the West Broward Church of Christ lobby toward her mother’s Bible study class. She knocked on the closed door, opened it and motioned for her mother to come out. “That’s Natasha,” said Melvern Atencio, Natasha’s mother, who excited the room with a serious expression. “When she wants to get something done she’ll get it done no matter what!” Natasha is one of more than 25,000 Broward and Palm Beach high school students graduating from high school this spring. And her determination to achieve her […]

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