Along with building joy and feelings of love, a very important part of family life reflects the very family of God—that of giving grace, favor that is not deserved. Giving grace to those around us draws them to God and His ways. Children who grow up in a family filled with grace are more likely […]
Instilling Maturity in Children — Part 2
I recently discovered that more people click on my blog Instilling Maturity in Children than any other. That tells me we need to take another look at the topic. In the first blog I talked about learning to do hard things, respecting another’s “no,” dealing with disappointment and seeking forgiveness. This time let’s talk about […]
Grace for Muddy Carpets–‘by’ Ryan Patterson, Age 5
Last week, Mommy and I went to visit Nana so Nana could cut Mommy’s hair. Before Mommy picked me up from school she bought me a set of garden tools. I was so excited. There was a yellow shovel, a blue rake and a red hoe. I especially liked the hoe. These tools were big, […]
Christmas Memories of God’s Faithfulness
This morning I was thinking about past Christmases when my children were young. I remembered how often I had to trust God to provide presents for the four kids. We were in a faith ministry and our income was solely from donations that were sporadic and interesting, to say the least. I was learning to […]
Knowing Your Heart
Jesus wants us to live from our hearts–that part of us where we connect with Him and hear Him. The opposite of living from our hearts is living from the flesh–that place where we think we can decide what is good and bad without God. These are very distinct different ways to live. If Jesus […]
Joy-Filled Relationships
All of us long for loving connections, belonging and unconditional acceptance. God designed us that way. We look for people and places where this yearning can be met, only to find that relationships can be messy. Then we want to wallow in the mess or run away from it. If God designed us for close […]