Siblings and rivalry go together like peanut butter and jelly. It doesn’t have to be that way, though (but please don’t take away my PB&J – I love it!). While rivalry happens year-round, it can peak during the summer when kids have more time on their hands. Are you tired …
Introduction When we learn to ask clarifying questions we can decrease misunderstandings. Clarifying questions are those that confirm your understanding. When we say something like, “did you mean to say that I’m bad at keeping house?” we are letting the other person know what we heard. When we ask clarifying …
Why You Need to Ask Clarifying Questions in Conversations Read more »
I. Introduction My husband’s job has odd hours. He works in a hospital so his shift might be days, evenings, or overnights. He has some plans with our youngest at the end of the month, so in order to get a week off, he needs to work 9 days in …
How to Build a Stronger Marriage by Encouraging Your Spouse Read more »
Joseph: Jesus’s Earthly Father If you’ve heard the Christmas story about the birth of Jesus then you’ve heard about Joseph. He was the man engaged to be married to Mary when she became pregnant with the Messiah. Mary could have been stoned for her (perceived) indiscretion, but Joesph decided he …
A tale of two Josephs: Two important men in Jesus’s life Read more »
The origins of family traditions For generations, women in my family have gathered on Christmas Eve to prepare a seven-course meal to celebrate the coming Savior. The meal is said to include foods from all geographic systems – fish from the sea, rice and barley from the fields, mushrooms from …
You are a new creation If you’ve been a believer for a while, you probably know that “if anyone is in Christ, he (she) is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17) In other words, when we accept Christ into …
I’ve you’ve been married longer than say, two days, you know that marriage is hard. But I’m here to tell you that marriage is worth the effort! Marriage is hard I’ve been married nearly 29 years. It’s been amazing…and difficult. I know God wants the best for us and I …
When to rest I’m trying to dedicate Sunday posts to thinking about rest. For today I have an acronym to help you think about what Sabbath rest might look like. Please know that I’m not going to define “Sabbath” for you. For me, that’s Sunday. I understand all the reasons …
After School I’m sure you’ve lived this reality…your child gets in the car and pulls out his/her phone. You rush to ask about his day. “It was fine.,” he replies. You try to dig deeper. “Did anything fun happen?” “Nope.” Maybe you shoot for practical – “Do you have any …
Excuses: The Beginning I was sitting in the hard pew at church. The cushions were removed due to covid. Only my family was sitting near me. Everyone else was more than 6′ away. The pastor was talking way up front (I’m a rear-church sitter, please don’t judge me). I can’t …