Preparing for company always provides plenty of opportunity for sanctification! As I looked forward to our Easter feast with all the family together, I so enjoyed this post by Nancy Wilson on hosting family meals and celebrations with joy. She and her husband host a meal each week that brings their grandchildren and adult children around their table. In this post, Nancy is preparing for their special Easter meal, and […]
Read More →More on Sharing
Teaching little children to share sometimes feels like a never-ending pursuit. Here’s some ideas to consider when teaching your children to think of others: PREPARE AHEAD OF TIME. Write up some simple questions and answers to memorize with your children. In other words, catechize them. This simple form of question-and-answer learning can take place at the lunch table or at other teachable, non-emotional moments when conflicts are not occurring. Little children […]
Read More →What I’m Glad God Has Done
I’m glad God chose to give us six children! We got a late start. I was twenty-eight when we married. In the twelve years that followed, God blessed us with six little ones and the strength to care for them! I’m glad God is a God of mercy who has carried those little ones through the “perils of childhood.” He spared the life of our firstborn, who would have died […]
Read More →Treasure Hunts for Resurrection Sunday!
I’m excited! We’re getting all the family together in the same place for Easter dinner this year! I’m having fun planning a treasure hunt for the little girls. I know it’s getting pretty close to Easter Day, but at least a few of you are probably waiting until the last minute like me, and might still be able to use some ideas. I’ll share what I’m going to do with […]
Read More →What I Would Do Differently, Part 3
“Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7). What else would I do differently if I could go back to my early days of mothering? I would memorize 1 Corinthians 13 sooner and pray for God’s grace to take things less personally: The “oversights” and “blunders” that are simply a husband thinking like a man instead of like a woman. He’s not trying […]
Read More →Family Activities for the Week of Easter
Next week, we’ll celebrate Easter, remembering Christ’s suffering, death, and resurrection. Here are some ideas for focusing your week on Christ and making it fun and meaningful for your family. Act out the crucifixion and resurrection story, or stage a play with toys, felt figures, or stuffed animals. Make your own grace garden or resurrection garden. Try these “Get a Sense of the Resurrection” object lessons. Make your own […]
Read More →What I Would Do Differently, Part 2
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph 2:8-9). If we are saved by grace alone and not by our works, we can rest in the truth that our children are saved by grace alone and not by their works – or ours. We can quit worrying about whether we’re […]
Read More →Hope for the Liar
Lying comes naturally. We shouldn’t be shocked when our children lie. They’re born with old sin natures, and that’s what old sin natures do. Man has been lying ever since Adam and Eve believed the lies of Satan, the father of lies. Because it is sin, lying should be taken seriously. But we must resist our own temptation to sinfully over-react when our children lie. At best, sinful anger, scolding, […]
Read More →What I Would Do Differently, Part 1
“. . . I began to speak less to the kids and more to God. It was actually quite relaxing.” Wow. That statement stopped me in my tracks. The words are from Paul Miller’s book, A Praying Life. They are quoted in a book I’ve been working my way through over the last few weeks, Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus, by Elyse Fitzpatrick and […]
Read More →Our One Year Anniversary! Time for a Giveaway!
It’s been a year since we launched this blog! It’s been fun getting to “know” some of you a bit, and our prayer is that God will use what you read here to encourage and equip you. I know I’ve grown and have been encouraged as I wrestle through one post after the other, and as I read some of your stories. The blog world certainly helps us connect more […]
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