One of the greatest parenting joys is when your child lets you into their private world. What is the private world? Generally speaking, it is a special place where we all hold deeper thoughts, treasured memories, and feel the most vulnerable. It is the essence of who we are. The private world is what we share with our spouse and only our most trusted and closest friends. As our children grow and develop their sense [...]
To your child, God looks and acts like you. They will come to understand God’s love based on how they have experienced your love. Their self-worth will be based on that understanding - a love that finds the right balance of words and actions to encourage, coax, and mold appropriate behavior and effort. Their life is a divine journey of discovery guided by you. And for those parents who understand the depth of this blessing, [...]
As we begin each new year, we are excited to share our top ten parenting tips. This list highlights the best practices and addresses some trends we have observed over the past year. Some of these tips may be familiar to you, while others might be new. Regardless, we hope this list serves as thoughtful encouragement to you as you kick off 2025! 10) Have fun and enjoy your kids – It's easy to get wrapped [...]
This past spring, OneFamily hosted an international parenting conference that reached nearly 300 parents from around the world. This is another example of the many resources – online classes, seminars, daily encouraging quotes, Tuesday Letters of advice, and more - OneFamily offers families as they seek to improve their marriages and parenting strategies. Claire and Hunter are a wonderful example of parents who take advantage of everything OneFamily has to offer: We are so thankful [...]
A successful parenting journey requires consistency, patience, and resolve. Yet the journey is often filled with frustration, anxiety, and, at times, hopelessness even when we are trying to do our best. Thankfully, there are those moments that can unexpectedly encourage and sustain us in the process! Recently, we were reminded of a heartwarming story shared by friends and OneFamily parents. This story beautifully illustrates one of those unexpected moments when parents receive affirmation that their [...]
Does your family embody an attitude of gratitude? When shaping your family identity, do you actively cultivate and teach the importance of gratitude? One of the many reasons we cherish the holiday season, from Thanksgiving to Christmas, is that it offers a fantastic opportunity to strengthen our family identity through traditions that encourage our family to internalize the virtue of gratitude. Family Identity with Family Traditions Family identity is an anchor for you and your [...]
This is an actual (paraphrased) exchange we had with our 16-year-old son. If you are using the Parenting Funnel philosophy (Parenting from the Tree of Life – Gary and Anne Marie Ezzo) on how to provide freedoms to your children, this is how it played out at the Marr house. “A teen rebels not against authority, but against relationship” (Ezzo). As a child grows, parenting philosophy on why decisions are made should be transparent AND [...]
Each November, as Americans, we have the unique privilege to exercise our American Liberty by “V”oting and honoring our “V”eterans. Today is Election Day and next Monday is Veteran’s Day. How often do we take both for granted, let alone explain the importance to our children? Yet both are fundamental to the founding and longevity of our republic. Without either “V” our country would not exist. Learn, Instruct and Vote Voting is at the heart of [...]
Do you give your children the freedom to fail or make mistakes? Or more appropriately, do you allow them freedom to grow with personal responsibility and ownership? Whether you are a child or an adult, failure is not failure if you learn and grow from it. For parents, it’s especially difficult for us to see our children suffer frustration, experience emotional pain or the discomfort that comes with failing or making mistakes. As a result, [...]
As much as we enjoy Halloween, we were always glad when it was behind us. Sure, we enjoyed many aspects of trick or treating - like the time a 4 year old Elvis impersonator came to the door and said, “Thank you. Thank you very much” in his deepest little voice. But with all the fun and excitement, there is also a certain kind of craziness that is driven by the childhood narcotic – Candy. [...]