Category: Household Organization

How to Be a Wise Steward of the Next Year of Your Life

How to be a wise steward of the next year of your life

I’ll admit right now that I’m a goal-setting junkie. This time of year is always exciting and full of new possibilities! Setting goals has always been an important part of my life. Growing up, I enjoyed reviewing the past year and setting new goals with my parents during our Christmas break each year. Now my wife and I have our own goal-setting tradition, and I can hardly wait for this […]

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Feeling Stuck

I hear a child’s frustrated crying in the kitchen. I go to investigate, and I find my 2-year-old son pushing with all his might against a chair, angry that it’s not moving. He has plans, but something has gone wrong. Soon I realize why he’s upset. The back of the chair has run into an open cupboard door and stopped his movement. But his head is down, his brow is […]

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Bedtime.

Bedtime. It can be a challenge. About the time you think you have them all settled for the night, a just-potty-trained toddler has to go! The little guy in the crib starts calling for a “bah”, a spider calls across the wall, or a little girl is suddenly desperate for a drink — and then desperate for the bathroom thirty minutes later. Is there a way to simplify the bedtime ordeal? I […]

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Raising Children Who Help

A large family can be a powerful army. I know because I was part of such an army not too long ago. Before the Forster kids started going off to college, jobs, and marriage, we worked together a lot. We organized parties and church events. We showed up to help families move. We staffed the family business. We tackled huge cleaning projects. We could knock out painting and building projects […]

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Thank you, Mrs. Schaeffer!

“The older women…are to teach what is good…” (Titus 2:3) Two “older women” have greatly influenced my life over the past forty-something years. One is Elisabeth Elliot. The other is Edith Schaeffer. It’s too bad we’re all done having children 🙂 , because we really should have named some girls after these two godly ladies who have so deeply influenced my life. Edith Schaeffer, at age 98, finally met her […]

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More on Paying Children

Parents have different opinions about paying children for work in the home. Some are comfortable paying for at least some of the work their children do, while others are not. Some believe that any work done in the home is simply part of being a member of the family. Others believe it is appropriate and even beneficial to pay for some work done in the home. Both approaches have their […]

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Training Our Children to Help with Household Chores

In the days when our children were little, I used to jokingly wish we could afford to hire a maid once in a while to help with routine household chores. Well, that maid never made her appearance. Instead, we decided to hire our own boys. Why not pay them to do work that we would be willing to pay someone else to do? Suddenly our live-in mess-makers became live-in maids […]

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How to Use Plants Grown Up and Polished Cornerstones (video)

We decided to spice things up and deliver today’s post in video form! People often ask us, “Where do I start?” after they buy Plants Grown Up or Polished Cornerstones. If  you already have one of these books on your shelf, we hope this will help you get the most out of it! In this video, we show how to get started using Plants Grown Up and Polished Cornerstones, including […]

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How Do We Know What God Wants Us to Do?

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2, ESV). “So, how do you determine which things God wants you to do each day?” This was a question asked in response to a recent post about doing the things God has called […]

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“Write Them on the Doorposts” Giveaway and Contest

“You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:9 This month, Katelyn and I are finally accomplishing a goal that’s been on our to-do list since moving into our house two years ago. We’re stenciling Scripture on our walls! I’ve been thinking about various decorative and creative ways of placing Scripture in our home. Since this activity ties right in with Doorposts’ mission, […]

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