Leading Our Kids Toward Jesus

Where are we trying to let go of one thing, but ending up letting go of some other things we wanted to keep? Honestly, I think I threw the baby out with the bathwater...

Today's podcast looks at a question many of us ask from time to time! Spoiler alert: No! I think you will find this post encouraging :) Honestly, is being a working mom keeping me from being available?

Honestly, is it worth the effort?

Honestly, moms are really good at springing into action...

Today we look at how to notice the wolves in sheep's clothing in our lives and guard against false teaching and falling prey to bad advice. Honestly, this is not what I thought it was

Today's podcast looks at how technology impacts the lives of our children, but not in the way you'd expect... Q & A: What are appropriate limits on technology?

Today's podcast looks at BOUNDARIES... and where we sometimes can unintentionally miss the mark with them. Honestly, I think I just won the battle and lost the war...

Today's podcast reminds us that the love of God is truly an upside down kingdom, not what we'd expect, deserve or have without Jesus... Honestly, maybe God's extravagant love is the answer after all...

Sometimes my kids seem so impulsive or demanding... and I know this isn't the normal version of them, because they have such kind hearts and really work hard to be polite. When I go to gently correct them, I suddenly realize that the exact phrases they've been using are direct replicas of things they heard me say....and that they are mimicking my impatience. Hence today's podcast: Honestly, I think my impatience is the biggest problem in our family...

The words "let me model it for you and then I'll come help you" spoke deeply to me this week as an adult... I wonder how they might impact our kids if we tried them there? Check out today's podcast on modeling and meeting needs: Honestly, "how can I help?!?"

Today's podcast explores my heart as a mom and a wife and what gets in the way of my goal to be more grateful. Honestly, could I get a little better at expressing gratitude?

Today's podcast looks at whether second chances are helpful or counterproductive, and if do-overs or earn-backs should ever be a part of our parenting toolboxes. Honestly, how much is enough here?

Today's podcast looks at an important question that could make a long-term impact on our kids: What if one parent wants to use punishment and the other doesn't think it's wise?

Today's podcast looks specifically at marriage - can one spouse save it if the other spouse continues to be apathetic or try to stay disengaged? Honestly, am I the one carrying this all?

We continue to get a lot of questions about how to navigate if co-parents have different ideas about parenting. Today we explore the problem of what to do if one spouse doesn't want to stay engaged in the conversation to find alignment. Q & A: How can I help my spouse stay engaged in the conversation if we disagree about parenting?

We've talked about trying to stay on the same team...what about when it's hard to stay in the game at all? Honestly, I think I just want to quit...

This might be the question we parenting educators get most often! Join us for today's podcast: What if my partner doesn't have the same vision for parenting?

Check out our newest podcast: Honestly, Thanks for the Gentle Reminder... Who in your life is good at giving you gentle reminders? How do these impact you?

At our wedding, one of the pastors did a beautiful homily about being each other's balcony people, and cheering each other on. As we grow in marriage, this has ebbed and flowed, and I think we are in a season right now where we are doing it well. As I reflect on my parenting today, I realize that in addition to my spouse, I also have several family members who are balcony people. The affirm, validate, encourage, and motivate me to be better. As I patiently rode out one very long and intense tantrum a few months ago, my younger brother encouraged me later "I couldn't believe you kept your calm. You did a great job" and I was in shock, because I felt like everyone must be thinking I should be doing a better job. I also have wonderful friends who are balcony people. They've cheered me on through infertility, miscarriage, adoption, failed adoptions, moving, new jobs, illness, and so much more. I am confident that the way I handled each of those situations was dram...

"I've been walking around all morning for the kids. It is SO the straw that broke the camels back that I just had to walk upstairs for you!" I told him in my loudest voice. "Oh dear..." I recounted to a friend later as I shared the story, "am I really that tired?" I couldn't believe that I had exploded at my husband over the fact that I walked up the stairs to wake him up so that I could get out the door to teach a parenting class. What a great parent indeed...modeling yelling and impatience to my kids just because I was overtired and my husband hadn't gotten downstairs by the time I needed to leave. How embarrassing that I missed the mark in such a giant way. Just one more time that I was exceedingly thankful for grace from both God and my husband- though that doesn't give me an excuse to keep acting that way. What do we do when we are truly that tired though? It's easy for me to look back and laugh at myself and recognize that I ce...

On the way to school one year my daughter noticed beautiful horses in a field covered with snow.  "Can you ever ride horses in the snow, mom?" I proceeded to tell her about one of my favorite horses of all time, who loved to run in the snow outside.  "There were a few horses I had growing up who I wouldn't have trusted enough to ride them at a gallop outside in the snow - it could be unsafe. But this horse, he was so surefooted, I had him for three years and he never missed a step." He was a jumper, an eventer actually, who taught me to event even though I was quite a novice at me. He got every step and every stride right. In other ways, he was imperfect... he was fast, he liked to pull, he had a mind of his own, etc. But when it came to be surefooted, he was the best. What would it look like for you to be surefooted in this season? In other ways, we may be imperfect. But could our faithfulness and the ground we are standing on in Christ cr...

When my daughter's medical issues started flaring up and she was in a ton of pain, she cut bangs for herself, asked to donate the hair (she has the best heart even in her worst moments!) and then promptly was horrified at what she had done. (It may have been the worst haircut ever. Think reverse Mohawk.) I have been so worried about her hair.  I'm so embarrassed to tell you that. It feels so vain, but it looks terrible, and at my worst moments I struggle with how it reflects on me, and if it looks like I can't control my kids. Wait a minute?!? "How it reflects on me"? Why in the world is that my focus here? Something is really wrong with her (the physical pain) and the way she looks kind of reflects that right now (she's not herself - I believe subconsciously she didn't want to look like herself because she doesn't feel like herself). And I'm worried about how it reflects on me? That has been a not so welcome glimpse into my own s...

I have heard husbands say that to their wives more times than I can count! And sometimes vice versa too. It seems that sometimes we assume the other parent knows exactly what needs to be done in a given situation, but they don't have a clue. And it's not for lack of wanting to know! It's that they simply don't know and no one is telling them! I'm not talking about not knowing how to parent or discipline or teach or guide. Though we all could use a little coaching there (have I told you what a positive experience we had as young parents taking Active Parenting's online course?).  I'm talking about simple, day to day tasks related to the kids or the house or the marriage or even the finances. If we don't know it needs to be done, it's very hard to get it done, even if we have an amazing servant heart. I would say my husband has a particularly strong servant heart - there is nothing he wouldn't do for others. But he has been great at p...

I have several mom friends who I jokingly refer to as "supermoms" because they ALWAYS go above and beyond. One of them every year blows me away with her Halloween costumes. The whole family will be in matching costumes like Curious George characters straight out of a movie, or a firefighter, truck and Dalmatian combo. And then I will say something like "I can't believe you made all those costumes!" and she will respond with, "I didn't, I found one of them a year ago, borrowed this one from a friend, and only made the third one"...to which, I will respond, "that is even MORE supermom because you didn't spend a ton of time and money on it, and you've been working on it a very long time!" She is convinced she's not actually supermom, but I think she probably is and just forgets to wear her cape. Another friend has kids with food allergies and so we connect a lot about our shared challenges. She handles hers really wis...

Have you ever noticed that when the stress gets high, that's when your marriage most likely starts to feel divided? It's more tempting to start looking for fault, stop giving the benefit of the doubt, and speed up the process of making assumptions, sometimes so fast that we forget they are assumptions at all. Lately I've been "trying on" the way around this that author and reseacher Brene Brown seems to have found. I really like the way she uses language like "the story I'm telling myself" when she notices she's slipping into making assumptions about her spouse's thoughts, feelings and actions (even when her assumptions seem pretty directly based on his actions). It seems like this phrase allows her to not only reality check if her assumptions are accurate, but to do it in a way that doesn't put him on the defensive. I've occasionally tried to use this same approach in other high stakes settings (like purchasing a car) and have ...