Family

Raising Kids in an Upside Down World

Brody Howell
30 Dec 2014
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In Disney’s third installment of “The Pirates of the Caribbean” series “At Worlds End,” the pirates of the ocean blue are faced with an unpredictable dilemma in which their ship is flipped upside down. Their world is flipped and seems normal until a pirate figures it out. Parenting in today’s world feels much like the pirates of the Caribbean must have felt as parents navigate their kids in a world that is completely upside down compared to the world that God originally designed and the world in which believers will one day live. It’s a daunting task helping our children […]

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The Common Core: Solution or Intrusion?

Steve Davis
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What is “The Common Core” and how will your child be affected by it? The Common Core is a K-12 English (language arts) and mathematics minimum academic standards set of benchmarks meant for all students in the US with an emphasis on preparing for college or career.   The National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers appointed a commission to develop these standards in 2008. The 2008 report, “Benchmarking for Success: Ensuring U.S. Students Receive a World-Class Education” asserts, “…because benchmarking is also-and most critically about improving policy, states must take the lead.” Therefore adoption and […]

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Geocaching – A Family Hobby for the New Year

Bob Woods
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Looking for an idea for a hobby for the New Year that will provide an activity for the family, promote physical exercise outdoors and be a fun way to get your kids away from their video games and new electronic devices? Then you are ready to discover Geocaching. Geocaching is an outdoor game using hand-held global positioning systems (GPS) devices. It’s an inexpensive, interactive high-tech treasure hunt that’s a great way to learn geography. Participants use location coordinates to find caches. Some caches are easy to find; others are more difficult. The biggest reward is the thrill of the search […]

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Is My Example Good Enough?

Lyette Reback
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A new mother wrote to me last week worried about whether she will be a good enough example to her child as he grows up. I remember entering into parenthood terrified myself. I hadn’t always walked with Jesus, and I believed in “bad kid karma.” You know, when your mother says to you, “I hope when you grow up you get a daughter JUST LIKE YOU.” I had been a tough kid, so I thought my odds were pretty good that my daughter would turn out to be just like me — a challenge to say the least. I strived […]

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Step Back in Time at Bethlehem Revisited

The Good News
9 Dec 2014
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Bethlehem Revisited

First United Methodist Church of Coral Springs invites you to step back in time to Bethlehem Revisited, a living interactive recreation of the town of Bethlehem as it may have appeared 2,000 years ago. This five-day family-friendly event begins Friday, December 12th and will close on Tuesday, December 16. On week nights, you can enter the city between 7 and 9 p.m. with entrance an hour earlier on Saturday and Sunday at 6 p.m. The historic recreation includes a walled city utilizing more than 30,500 square feet of lumber. While awaiting entrance into the city gate, visitors may encounter Roman […]

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When Choosing A Gift Has You Stumped

Tami Gomez
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What to get, what to get…? So many options, but nothing seems right. Finding Christmas gifts is sometimes the hardest part of Christmas, especially when looking for someone important to you who seems to have everything he wants or needs. However difficult it may seem to be, it is not impossible. Before we continue, it’s important to realize that your gift does not have to fill a void in any person’s life; it’s just a Christmas present. The job of void-filling is the Holy Spirit’s, not yours. If this person already has everything he needs, then your gift ought to […]

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The Mind Manual – How a Life Skills Program is Changing Lives

Keisha McDonnough Virtue
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There is a song titled, “Wounds in the Way” that is particularly haunting, describing the damage and hurt many women and men hold on to from their childhood. An especially poignant line goes: “As time passes by, they begin to multiply…. adding up secretly, like the rings of an old oak tree…” So many of us have gone through devastating hurt and struggle at some point in our lives, even from our formative years. And yet, instead of dealing with those crises and the problems that result from them, we often sweep them under the mat, ignore them, even try […]

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Will the Real St. Nicholas Please Stand Up?

Penni Bulten
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In America, St. Nicholas (aka Santa Claus) is seen as a jolly, fat, bearded man, who drives a sleigh pulled by reindeer. But this is a caricature, coming from illustrations for Harper’s Illustrated Weekly in 1869, done by Thomas Nast. This art was a continuation of the chubby, plump “jolly old elf” image in the poem “The Night Before Christmas.” (This depiction is normally attributed to Clement C. Moore, professor of Biblical Languages at New York’s Episcopal General Theological Seminary. However, Don Foster’s book Author Unknown suggests that Henry Livingston, a patriot and author of humor and children’s verse, actually […]

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Christmas Near the Beach

Gabriella Morris
6 Dec 2014
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Christmas Near The Beach, a South Florida-style celebration, returns to the Arts Park at Young Circle in Hollywood on Saturday, December 13 from 4 to 9 p.m. With more than 5,000 people in attendance last year, the free event will feature bands, dancers, singers, vendors, a classic car show and a free photo with St. Nick at his Beach House.  Now in its 8th year, Christmas Near The Beach is a production of Expressions of Joy, a Christian dance academy serving Broward and Palm Beach counties. Their objective is to boldly share the good news of the gospel in a […]

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Simplifying Christmas With 15 Kids

Lyette Reback
2 Dec 2014
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I know the feeling. It’s Christmas. And you want to give your kids the perfect family memory. Glowing tree, beautifully wrapped packages beneath it, matching pajamas and the sweet smell of something delicious wafting in from the kitchen. But the WORK! The sheer prospect of decorating, shopping, wrapping, and cooking up all this perfection is mind-boggling. Come mid-October many of us are already dreading the Christmas card chaos and by Thanksgiving panic is approaching. Stop. Breathe. Let me share with you some ways I have simplified the holiday to make the meaning of the season remain the reason. As a […]

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