I really thought I trusted God. I have seen His faithfulness. I have experienced His love. He shows up every day when I need Him most. But faith is hard when you can't see the steps in front of you. Lately, I feel like I can't even see a staircase. I know it is there, [...]
Connected parenting would be so much easier if there weren't so many kids. I often find myself handling one meltdown only to have another kid meltdown. Or worse yet...two melting down at the same time! I have always wanted a big family. In fact, I told Ryan before we got married that I wanted six [...]
Imagine a foster family shows up to your weekly Bible study with a couple extra kids in tow. You, half-jokingly, call the family crazy for adding more kids. "Are you trying to start your own sports team?" you joke. Then your curiosity sets in and you proceed to ask lots of questions: "What happened to their [...]
I'm traveling to Seattle to speak at the Refresh Conference this week. I'm looking forward to the trip for several reasons. I've never been to the Pacific Northwest, some friends moved to Seattle last year and I haven't seen them since they moved, and I'm looking forward to presenting my assigned topic; Building Healthy Relationships [...]
Would you love to have a simple parenting tool you can start implementing right away that will help you build trust with your kids? There is one simple word that can make a huge difference... "YES!" An easy way to begin giving our kids more yes’s is to make a Yes Jar. Large open mouth [...]
One of the tools we teach in Empowered to Connect is having parents embrace the privilege of saying “Yes” to their children. Day one of our 2016 spring break was a day of saying yes at our house.
Finding ways to connect with your kids can be hard. Connection jars can give you a quick and easy way to add connecting activities to your everyday routine. Set a certain time each day and allow each of your kids to pick an activity from the jar. Spending just 5 minutes each day connecting with [...]
Today is Mother’s Day. It's the day we set aside to celebrate moms for all the hard work and loving attention they give to their children throughout the year. While it is a day of celebration and honor, it can be a day of conflicting emotions for some of us. Ten years ago I became [...]
I don’t consider myself a lazy person. I am up early, I rarely sit down, and I always have a to-do list a mile long. I mean who has time to be lazy when you are a parent? Yet I find myself parenting lazy. I find myself saying ‘no’ to my kids out of laziness. I [...]
Let me start by saying that I believe most people mean well. But good intentions are just that, good intentions and nothing more. It is amazing what complete strangers feel the liberty to say. Some of the things I’ve heard as an adoptive dad have made me smile, grit my teeth, want to yell, and [...]