A favorite phrase of this ministry's is "Begin with the end in mind." It's far easier to make parental decisions if you know where you desire to end up! This is especially true in the realm of technology. How you want your child to utilize smartphones, tablets, and video games when they are 18 should guide the decisions you make when they ...
Parenting
Blind Spots in Parenting: Technology, Part 1
What has surprised you as a parent? In my 18 years of parenting, a few blind spots have caught me off guard, particularly in the areas of technology, sexual purity, discipline, and raising successful kids. Why do I call them blind spots? Because these are issues that I couldn't see clearly as I traveled the roads of parenting. I needed the ...
How to Get a Child to Stay in Bed, Part 2
After 3 1/2 weeks of returning Little Man to his bed, we conquered the war! If you read Part 1 of this series, you know that this didn't happen without consistency. Some kiddos don't put up much of a fight at bedtime. But then there are those who are relentless. The above three key points made all of the difference with our spirited Little ...
How to Get a Child to Stay in Bed, Part 1
Kids don't want to go to bed, while adults long for bedtime. Oh the irony! And I think it is these contrasting bedtime goals that can make nights so challenging. But I have some easy tips that will remove the battle and will help your child stay in bed. To begin, let me share a blog post I wrote on May 10, 2010. Little Man was almost 2 and ...
Characteristics of a God-Centered Family, Part 2 (Giveaway)
The world tells us our feelings are our truth. Emotions or circumstance define you...in that moment. But feelings and circumstances change leaving an unstable foundation of beliefs. Friends, this is one of the biggest issues facing our tweens and teens today. Two others are busyness and a cultural value of specialization. We invite you to dig ...
Characteristics of a God-Centered Family, Part 1
We live in an instant-pot, microwave, Instagram society. Everything happens at breakneck speed. According to social media, if our calendars aren't jam packed with activities, we are failing our kids. I mean, what kind of bad mom would let her kid be bored??? But is this best for our children? Will it reap the God-centered families that we ...
Should Raising Good Kids Be Your Goal?
If I polled 100 Christian parents, I bet all would agree that they desire to raise "good" children -those who are kind to others, respectful to authority, and stay out of trouble. Isn’t this a good goal? Piggybacking on last week's blog post, blogger Barrett Johnson encourages us to rethink this target. Raising "Good" Kids "The ...
The 5 Major Blind Spots in Christian Parenting
About 10 years ago an article called, "Exposing the 7 Major Blind Spots of Homeschoolers" went viral on social media. Even Christian parents who didn't homeschool - like our family - shared it because the truths hit home. Now that I'm parenting teens, I reread the article through a different lens. But I was once again challenged to confront my ...
Behind the Scenes with Parenting to Impress
Seven months ago Melanie and I began sharing on the Parenting to Impress Podcast what God has taught us, mistakes we have made, and stories of God's faithfulness. And as only God could do, there have been so many downloads that Parenting to Impress is in the top 10% of all podcasts! Amazing! But, do you know the most popular podcast episode? ...
How to Raise Children Who Serve
What are the skills you want your kids to have when leaving your home? Change a tire. Be financially astute. Do laundry. The list goes on. But what about a servant attitude? Is that a goal? Part 1 of the Should Children Have Chores? podcast got us started. Now let's dig deeper into the subject of raising children who desire to serve ...