Is your praise positive?
If you have a son or daughter who’s an athlete, it’s easy to turn into a coach, especially if you played the game when you were younger. I fall into this trap after just about every game. I tell my [...]
Do you complain too much?
One day my wife and I weren’t having very good days. It’s not often that we both have a bad day on the same day, but it happened this day. We got home, and we started complaining about work, people, [...]
Do you have devotions with your kids?
Barna research tells us the greatest percentage of people who give their hearts to Christ do so between their fourth and their fourteenth birthdays. That means we have about ten years to reach them before the percentages go way down. That [...]
Do you understand your teens?
If your answer is yes, please tell me your secret! I have gone around and around with my kids trying to figure out what makes them tick. There are times I can’t believe what actually comes out of their mouths. [...]
Do you think it’s sinking in?
Sometimes we wonder if our kids are getting just a smidgeon of what we’re teaching them about the truth of Scripture. Now, I know my youngest, when she was about six, had done something wrong that was about to require [...]
Grandparenting is fun—most of the time.
Don’t you just love being a grandparent? The pride. The joy. You prayed your kids would survive their teenage years just so you could enjoy these moments, right? But are you finding that your grandkids are spending less and less [...]
Is homework a painstaking chore?
Homework. I hated it when I was a kid, and I don’t like it much now, either. Especially math. Now, as a dad, I’ve always wanted my kids to know that I’m there for them any time they need my [...]
Do our kids do more laughing or crying?
There’s nothing more infectious than a 2-year-old laughing so hard they can hardly contain themselves. You’ve seen the videos on YouTube, right? I was speaking in a church recently, and outside the sanctuary was this little boy laughing hysterically. You [...]
How to teach boys to become men
What does a real man look like? There’s the Arnold Schwarzenegger type of character who blasts his way through challenges in life with raw guts, strength, and guns. Then there’s the touchy-feely-type of man—totally lacking in confidence, afraid to move [...]
They’re just going through a little stage.
It’s pretty tempting when our son or daughter isn’t behaving very well. What we really by that is that we’re hoping the problem will correct itself—it’s no big deal. We may not want to say that, though. These little “stages” [...]