Okay! Pencils ready? Today we mark some text! Grab a green colored pencil or pen, your Bible, and a notebook, and let’s get started! If you don’t want to mark directly in your Bible, you can print out the psalm in your favorite translation, or you can print this ESV version to use. Personally, I like marking in my Bible, because I can always go back later and review what […]
Read More →30 Days in Psalm 103 for Busy, Busy Mamas Is About to Begin!
We’re about to start our new Busy Mama’s study! During our last study on Proverbs 31 we saw that the valiant wife’s amazing accomplishments were simply the fruit of her fearing the Lord. As we meditate for the next month on Psalm 103, we will be reminded of how great God is, how lavishly generous He is, how forgiving and loving and faithful He is. As we do this, I […]
Read More →Stop Seeing, and Start Observing
Sherlock Holmes is famous for his keen observation skills. He once admonished Watson, who was marveling at his abilities, “You see, but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.” Do you have a hard time concentrating when you read the Bible? Do you find yourself not even wanting to read the Bible? Do you read it, but feel like it’s not changing the way you think and live? You might need […]
Read More →Six Different Kinds of Disobedience (and the Root Problem)
My wife and I are launching on a new Bible study. We’ve often tried to read through the Bible from beginning to end in a year (sometimes we make it, sometimes we don’t), but this time we’re reading through the Bible looking for insights relevant to parenting. I’m already excited about what we are finding. You notice new things when you’re reading with a different perspective! Israel’s early history as […]
Read More →The Rock That Doesn’t Move
I get to go to the beach next week. I get to sit and read books. And maybe once in awhile I’ll get up and go for a walk. And when I’m not doing that, I’ll just sit and watch the waves go in and out along the shore. Once a year we take that kind of vacation — the kind where you just stop and take the time to […]
Read More →In the Furnace
Who of us doesn’t know someone who is suffering deeply? Who has lived a life free from trials and pain? We surrounded by pain and suffering. I thought about this fact while my husband and I enjoyed a few days on the coast this summer. We had visited one of our favorite glassblowing studios in this artsy beach town, and after watching the artists work, we ventured further south to another […]
Read More →Training Children for Their Good
When I wrote about Discipline vs Punishment a few weeks ago, I was surprised by the animated discussion that followed. In the comments and in a post update I added, we talked more specifically about what discipline and punishment look like in the home and what constitutes biblical discipline. About the same time, I discovered an article entitled Training Children for Their Good, by Andy Naselli. I found this very […]
Read More →Lessons from a Honeybee
I always have to keep my eye out for bumblebees when I pick flowers in the garden. Sometimes a hard-working little fella doesn’t make it home before bedtime, and he sets up camp on the colorful cushion of a zinnia for the night. He’s not always real happy about me shaking up his campsite. The honeybees are a little more easy-going. They’re so busy working, they don’t have much time […]
Read More →A Prayer for Our Children — and Ourselves
I wish I had noticed more fully a prayer of Paul’s while we were raising our six children. I would have memorized it. I would have prayed it — every day. I can still pray it — for my adult children, for myself and my husband, for my grandchildren, and for my fellow believers in Christ. Paul is writing to the believers in Philippi, his beloved, his joy and crown. He prays for them as a […]
Read More →Discipline vs Punishment – What’s the Difference?
I remember, not too long ago, looking a child right in the eye as he begins to slowly, deliberately tilt the full cup of water in his hand. “Stop – don’t you pour that on the floor!” I say, as I watch him do exactly that. As the water hits the floor, my first thought is “You’re really going to get it now!” I want to swoop in with the […]
Read More →