When my 9-year-old granddaughter Ainsleigh heard that Aunt Kathy was not expected to live, she came to her mother Hope and asked, “I want to talk to you, but not as my mother. I want to talk to you as a Christian. I have a serious question.” Hope held her breath and encouraged her to […]
Over a long break, it is interesting what one might run across on TV. My wife told me this part from the Andy Griffiths Show: When a hobo told Andy he should just let Opie “decide for himself” how he wanted to live… He had these words of Mayberry wisdom. “No, I’m afraid it don’t […]
Every now and then I stumble across a movie that resonates with me and makes me see some issues in a new light. One such movie is King Richard, the true story of Richard Williams, the father of Venus and Serena, the all-time top-ranked women singles tennis players. One of the things that impressed me […]
Staying Off the Rollercoaster — Have you ever felt that trying to keep up with your child’s moods and behaviors is like riding on a rollercoaster? I remember the old-time rollercoaster. Slowly the car would climb to the top of the first peak. Even though it was slow, we knew the inevitable plunge was coming, that […]
When I attended a Trauma Informed Care workshop on Friday, I discovered that I did something very right by accident just the day before. In the morning Virtue Lauds, I was so happy to see the 5th & 6th graders after Fall Break and no lauds on Tuesday due to Picture Day, I just looked […]
Like with so much of life, the fact that human beings are creatures of habit is a double-edged sword. My wish to weigh less is outweighed by my habit to munch on the same things at the same times everyday. If I am not thinking, I have a precise order in which I grab a […]
In numerous places in the New Testament, it is stated that we are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29 for example). This transformation is from one degree of glory to the next into His likeness (1 Cor. 3:18). This becoming is God’s work in us by the working of His […]
I think this statement after my first home visit was meant as a compliment. The Mom quickly added that she had no idea what to expect and wasn’t sure why I wanted to come by to visit. The second Mom admitted that when she saw my earlier note and saw I would be in her […]
Dads: The Men, the Myths, the Legends — This idea comes from my sweatshirt with that saying for Grandpas. It is usually good for a laugh, but I think it is also worthy of some serious consideration. We need to sift through the various myths, legends and stereotypes about being a Dad and get down […]
I know that this is such an often used phrase that is almost a cliché, but it is still true. And we saw a great picture of this during Paideia. We had one of our best training conferences ever And this was thanks to the work of many, many people doing a wide range of things! We […]
Often our children would question, “Why can’t we do what other kids get to do?” “Why isn’t our family like other families? They let their kids watch ________ or go to ______, etc.” And this was before parents were getting their 11 year olds SmartPhones and Facebook and Twitter accounts. I can’t imagine what pressure […]
Back when our church had a summer day camp with 150 children a day from K-8th grade with children from all kinds of homes, rule breaking was rampant. How can we get these kids under control? We resolved to do better the next week. We started each of the remaining camp weeks with a review […]
One might deny it, not wanting to look like one is losing one’s mind wandering about talking to one’s self. But we all do it all the time. The question is not, do you talk to yourself? The real question is, do you preach positively or negatively, do you rationalize and propagandize or do you […]
Often when meeting with a student, I draw different diagrams to explain ideas. One of my favorites is a long horizontal line upon which I draw a small dot. I ask, “If that is a timeline, what do you think the dot represents?” Almost immediately the student says, that is my life in comparison to […]
It’s Your Own Dumb Fault …would often be our parents’ response when kids back in my day would come home crying or complaining about something, whether it be from climbing too high in a tree and a branch would break off, or we would get punished for talking back to a teacher, or beat up […]
Man, that hurts! I was thinking after a person blasted my reputation by sending out letters to every person in her current and former Bible studies. This lady’s Bible study leader and I had come to an impasse on a doctrinal/practical living disagreement. She was sorely disappointed that I did not take her side in […]
Is there a middle ground between being all in for Jesus and being in rebellion against Him? Is there a place for someone to be just a good, decent believer but not a zealot? Can’t I just be going around my daily life seeking to do good without having to make Jesus Lord over every […]
Kids take their cues from us to a large extent. Something happens and they look to us on how to react. Think of a child falling down and getting a little scrape. He or she is rattled, but looks up to Mom or Dad to find out — is this a big deal? Is this […]
Being older gives me a bit of historical perspective. I remember the time in the Sixties when college professors were pleading for tolerance and academic freedom so that their Marxist values could be expressed in the classroom. The argument was that college students should be exposed to a diversity of opinions and robust discussion of different […]
Many of us can remember pithy sayings — those short direct comments that were full of meaning — from our parents or grandparents. My grandparents relied heavily on Poor Richard’s Almanac or apocryphal statements like: Cleanliness is next to Godliness. My mother seemed resistant to the idea of passing along wisdom, lest she impose her value system […]
Whining drives almost every parent crazy. It is often triggered with just one little word — No. No matter how one delivers this verdict, no matter how nicely and considerate of our young child’s desire, the whining can begin… “But, Mooooom!” The vowels are drawn out and the voice reaches supersonic frequencies. My 7th grade […]
Do you ever feel provoked by the claims of one group or another against the person or “side” that you support? Or have you ever felt very strongly about an issue, even with your own family, and you want to give the other person both barrels of your opinion/your set of facts? Even more important, […]
It’s been no secret that I am a Kansas City Chiefs fan from my stint as a pastor in the KC area. Along with the Chiefs fans back at my old church we had a wild ride this year. Patrick Mahomes had a wild ride, too: awarded huge contracts, commentators touting him as the future […]
One of the main things that attracted me to my wife Linda when I first got to know her 48 years ago, was her unique sense of humor, much of it accidental. Just the other day she was chatting with her snowed-in sister Kathy up in Big Bay, MI. Kathy was complaining that her dog […]
As a Classical School, we often tout that we want our children to think critically. How do we do this when times are such as these? Part of us wants to teach and preach about our thoughts and feelings about current events. We figure that if we repeat our talking points often enough, we are training […]
Many families try to read through the Bible with their children only to be stopped short at Genesis 18-19, the sad story of Lot and his family. Suddenly the G story becomes more PG and even R-rated! Things come up that no one wants to explain to young children — the men of the city wanting to […]
Have you been losing sleep this year after watching mobs take over the streets or invade the Capitol building? Have you become angry when hearing distortions on all sides being projected through the media? Do you fear what is going to happen to our country or even our children as events unfold around us; events […]
Each Thanksgiving we gather in a circle and take turns saying what we are thankful for. But the value of this activity extends beyond one meal a year. We have often talked about the importance of gratitude and its impact in encouraging one another and our family members. Developing the simple habit of thanking others creates a […]
What can you get out of a daily Bible Reading of just 20 minutes a day? No matter what is going on, I do not let myself go to sleep without my discipline of 20-25 minutes a day reading through the Bible. (Yes, even as late as I stay up.) Some have criticized this “shallow” reading […]
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