Have you ever explained something clearly, only to be asked a question about the exact thing you just said? In that moment, you realize your message never truly landed. We’ve all experienced it—and it can be very frustrating. The truth is, active listening is often a blind spot, not only for the people we speak to, but for us as well. And if we’re honest, when was the last time we intentionally listened to truly [...]
Loving intentionally is one of the most influential things we do as human beings. The love we give today carries into the future through our family. It can be expressed in many ways, yet it remains the greatest gift we can offer our spouse and children. With that in mind, we want to share a few practical ideas to help you express love within your family that are meaningful and lasting. Here are three specific [...]
Parenting is a year-round journey. However, we discovered that summer can be an especially productive and meaningful season in this journey. With school obligations and hectic schedules dialed back, the excitement of sunshine, family vacations, and backyard barbecues naturally brought our family together and created a more relaxed, receptive environment to address — or revisit — important areas in our parenting. Certainly, kids need downtime, but we decided to take advantage of our summers rather [...]
Early in our parenting journey, we made a decision about the kind of children we hoped to raise. We wanted kids who felt secure, demonstrated self-control, were emotionally regulated, able to focus and pay attention, and who were good listeners. These are essential life skills that help children succeed academically, socially, and in every aspect of life. There was also one more “little” thing that we knew was actually a big thing — we wanted [...]
Our mindset plays a powerful role in our happiness, relationships, and success. And in today’s world — filled with rapid change, constant comparison, and growing pressures — resilience is more important than ever and requires a lot of deliberate effort. Parents today are navigating challenges that didn’t exist a generation ago: social media pressures, academic expectations, busy schedules, and an always-connected world. Many families are feeling overwhelmed, and children are experiencing higher levels of stress, [...]
One of the greatest joys in parenting is when your child invites you into their private world. What is the private world? Generally speaking, it is the place within each of us where we hold our deepest thoughts, treasured memories, and most vulnerable feelings. It is the essence of who we are. Our private world is the space we usually share only with a spouse or our most trusted and closest friends. Interestingly, research in [...]
1.47 million orange slices! That’s how many our family provided over the years at our boys’ activities and sporting events — or at least it felt like that many! So what’s the deal with orange slices anyway? When Trevor and Alex were young, their favorite part — like most kids that age — was the orange slices at the end of the game or activity. For them, nothing was better than sharing sweet, juicy slices [...]
Encontrar el equilibrio entre estilos de crianza permisivos y autoritarios puede ser un reto. A menudo, cuando no se controlan, pueden generar problemas de comportamiento en tus hijos y poner tensión en los matrimonios. Esto suele ocurrir cuando uno de los padres es percibido como alegre y relajado, mientras que el otro es percibido como el severo disciplinario. En general, tu estilo de crianza suele ser lo opuesto a cómo te criaron. Mira si alguna [...]
Finding the balance between permissive and authoritarian parenting styles can be challenging. Oftentimes, when left unchecked, they can create behavioral issues with your children and put a strain on marriages. This typically happens when one parent is perceived as fun loving and easy going, while the other is perceived as the harsh disciplinarian. Generally speaking, your parenting style tends to be the opposite of how you were raised. See if one of these descriptions fits [...]
Be sure to check out our Special Valentine’s Gift Offer at the End of this letter! Having a healthy and thriving family begins with a healthy marriage. Other than your relationship with the Lord, we believe that the marriage relationship should be the top priority within the family structure… even before our kids! In today’s society, there is constant pressure to put our children first above EVERYTHING else in the family environment. This misguided prioritization [...]