I once heard a speaker liken her life as a grandmother to water skiing full speed, while she desperately tried to hang on to the rope. I didn’t understand at the time. What could possibly keep a grandmother that busy? Now I understand. This last year has been an especially strange season in my life. John and I live in a travel trailer and sleep in a bedroom in […]
Read More →Category: Family
30 Days in 1 Samuel 25, Day 30: Reflect
We’ve reached the last day of our study! It’s time to review and reflect, but first we’ll take a quick look at the last few verses of the chapter. Assignment: Pray for the Holy Spirit to move in your heart, bringing about change in your thoughts, attitudes, and actions as a result of spending this past few weeks in 1 Samuel 25. Then read 1 Samuel 25:39-45. As you read, watch […]
Read More →How to Find Time to Reach Their Hearts
Does the problem this mother describes sound familiar to any other mamas out there? “My first concern is about leading children to repentance over a specific sin. How do you find the time? With a large family, I barely start with one child before another child sins and a line begins to form. More like a crowd of crying, fussing, accusing children. At that point, I feel overwhelmed and usually […]
Read More →Enough
by Bethany Forster Many lucky grownups like me can look back to a time of childhood bliss (blighted as it may be by pet deaths and mathematics). I imagine you would like your child to look back on the current days with similar fondness. Is that thought discouraging? After all, you had to harass them for the fifth time today about doing their piano practice or you lost your temper […]
Read More →Join Us in Our Month-Long Study of Ephesians 6!
Wrapping paper tubes. Garden stakes. Umbrellas. Scraps of lumber. Tree branches. Rulers. Pool noodles. Fingers. What do they all have in common? If you have any boys in your house, you probably know. Most any innocent-looking item that is longer than it is wide can become a sword in the hands of a child who is eager and ready to do battle. No swords in the house? No problem. They’ll […]
Read More →We’re Still Alive (an update from Forster/Doorposts land)
Families need stability. Even when our adult lives are full of challenges, we fight for the stability our children need. We want them to grow up with familiar routines, a comfortable home, and parents who are there for them. But life is unpredictable. Often we don’t know what will happen tomorrow or next week. What do you do when “normal”, whatever that used to be, is shot to bits? I’m […]
Read More →Our Wonderful Life…
The last twelve months have been some of the craziest in Forster family history. Last spring, we decided to bite the bullet and sell the seven-acre “home place” where we all grew up (and where we’ve operated Doorposts for the last twenty years) and move closer to our church, friends, and family. Eight months later, after eight moving van trips, hundreds of boxes of books, one epic garage sale, many […]
Read More →Ingredients of Godly Discipline, Part 1: Preparation
I hear crying coming from the family room, where my three and six-year-old children are playing. I’m sitting in my chair, reading a book, and I don’t really want to be interrupted. But I get up and go in. The struggling stops as I enter the room, and reddened, tear-streaked faces look up at me. “What is going on?” “He was pushing me!” “I had the tricycle first!” “But you […]
Read More →Reaching the Heart of a Disobedient Child (Obedience, Part 7)
Disobedience is a like a weed. It’s like the wild morning glory that torments me all summer long. I pull a vine out of a bed of flowers, only to find it sneaking back again two days later. Besides poisoning it, the only way to actually beat it is to dig down into the soil and carefully pull out all of its long, ropey root. The root is the real […]
Read More →Training Young Children to Obey (Obedience, Part 4)
Last week we considered what obedience looks like, and how our own example is an integral part of teaching our children. Today I want to look more closely at some tactics for teaching young children to obey. My children are still young (ages 1, 3, 4, and 6), and I’m thoroughly convinced that these early years are the prime time to be teaching obedience. (Next week, you’ll hear from my […]
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