The Mountains Around Us

The Mountains Around Us

I had to smile when I heard the young preacher from the prairies talk about his sense of coming into my area of the country. He had come from a place where you could see a dog running fifty miles away. Now, he stood gazing up at whitecapped peaks which tickled the...
Four Things for Grace-based Parenting

Four Things for Grace-based Parenting

I am a fan of grace. There are times in my life when I knew that talking about grace wasn’t going to be enough. Grace is undeserved favor and nothing I could do in a given situation was going to change the way I’d blown it. I’ve needed grace with my wife, my...
Setting Traditions as a Family

Setting Traditions as a Family

We all have traditions. They may not look like anyone else’s but we have them. Whether it’s the Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years or Easter festivities – we know where we’re supposed to meet and what we’re supposed to do. One of our family traditions is to go camping...
Should Gaming Be a Task?

Should Gaming Be a Task?

One temptation as parents is to make the 12 Tasks easier on their child by choosing an activity they are already achieving at and simply upping the accomplishment for that area. That can work but you need to be careful not to play into anything that might seem like a...
Fighting Fair With Your Teen

Fighting Fair With Your Teen

Fights between two independence-oriented individuals seem inevitable – even within the same family. James (4:1) tells us that fights and quarrels are caused from unmet desires battling within us. We want something but can’t get it so we focus our laser-anger on the...
Building Communication Patterns that Last

Building Communication Patterns that Last

When my son Richard was young there was no problem in getting him to talk. He would follow my wife around the kitchen and the house as she worked, talking about all the new things he was learning and doing. As he grew up and engaged with his friends, his focus of...