When our youngest son was in high school, he contemplated suicide. The length and seriousness of those thoughts aren’t definable, but that he had them in our family is not just a statistic to us. We didn’t know that he felt isolated and depressed, we only heard it in an offhanded way many years later. We asked his permission to write about this topic as a gift and a warning to you. If you’ve read [...]

This week our youngest son Alex is moving into his own apartment in a new city, a new state with a new job.  It seems just like yesterday we were dropping him off at college, setting up his dorm room… and driving away. Now here we are, just 4 years later, with college graduation in the rear-view mirror. Looking back at all the many years of heart training, setting the moral standard, instructing the countless [...]

As a new school year is quickly approaching, there are seemingly countless items to do to prepare our kids for the year ahead.  There are conversations that need to take place as well.  Among the more important conversations, a meaningful discussion about friendships should be at the top of the list. Are you comfortable with your children’s current friends? Is your child choosing to be friends with others who are a good influence on them [...]

In our Encouraging Courage (Girls) Letter was a neat little message that had clear edges and the takeaways fit the title where we came away looking like competent parents. But life isn’t always so cut and dried. Encouraging the heart can often be vague platitudes that miss the mark and confound parents and frustrate children. That was the case when dealing with our son Kevin whose sweet spirit was occasionally a puzzle to us. Dave’s [...]

In the last 2 installments of Dad the Spiritual Leader, we attempted to introduce the notion that spiritual leadership isn’t just adherence to traditional notions of going to church, reading the Bible, and leading the family in prayer. Rather, an engaged Dad should get major credit for living out Biblical principles when fully engaging with each member of the family and taking on the responsibility of his role. The last bit of part 2 left [...]

As parents we are often faced with having to discuss difficult topics and issues with our children.  Whether it’s school violence, a family illness, the loss of a beloved pet or a death in the family, the depth and breadth of such topics can leave parents overwhelmed as to how to navigate these challenging waters. From our own experience, we’ve found that these tough topics are best addressed in three distinct ways:  In the moment, [...]