It's summertime! Do you know your neighbors? Do you know their first names? Last year we attended an event where we were challenged by these same questions. Embarrassingly, Rich could only admit to knowing about half of the 15 neighbors in our cul-de-sac and only 6 of them by their first name (Shelly knew a few more). Not very neighborly! Sure we are pleasant enough and we readily acknowledge all of our neighbors with the [...]
OneFamily is all about equipping, encouraging and sustaining couples as they journey in their marriages and parenting. Many of the concepts, principles and ideas that we share each week, in our OneFamily letter and quotes, are derived from the Growing Families curriculum we have taught for the past 15 years. As a result, we would be remiss if we didn’t make you aware of a fantastic opportunity to learn and connect with other families that [...]
What if you knew the greatest predictor of your children’s success, later in life, came down to one particular skill? A skill that, if well developed, could lead to better social skills, handling stress, and higher SAT/ACT scores? How about a skill that could lower levels of substance abuse, lower levels of obesity, and create more success in every area of life? Training and reinforcing the skill of Delaying Gratification leads to the development of [...]
We were half hugging, Dave’s arms around Lis’ shoulders, Lis’ arms around Dave’s waist. Looking at the room that, just a short time ago, looked so different. We were different. Standing on the edge of an unknown tomorrow, looking into the room, wondering what was next. The year was 1989 and Dano was only a few days away into our future. We took the spare room and fixed it up. New paint, baby wallpaper half-way [...]
In our Five Minute Warning letter, we discussed the idea of creating an environment that helps one successfully submit to parental instructions through offering a window of compliance. There is a mental and emotional shift that occurs during that five minutes. Similar to that idea, a dear friend of ours from Trevor’s baseball team shared with us a pearl of wisdom she had heard in a sermon at her church and how she creatively applied [...]
Lis is in Sweden visiting her mom, so this week’s OneFamily Letter rests on my shoulders. The story below is an episode that was a major fork in the road for the Marr family. Little did we know that when we took the kids inner-tubing down an icy run that our lives would take a sudden turn for the worse. Lis settled in to the tube and launched herself down the run. Halfway down a [...]
Today’s OneFamily Letter is but a short video clip of a baby under 1 year old and a poem that captures the reality of a child’s growing heart and mind. Enjoy both. Our little babies are doing to us what we aspire to do to God - mimic His ways. We humans are designed to be copying creatures trying to sync up with our givers of life. Think on this: As far as your child [...]
If we’ve learned anything in the years we’ve lead parenting classes, it is this: The parenting process is a series of relational transitions. In our Parenting Phases letter, we described four stages and the relational phases: Birth to Toddlerhood – Discipline Phase Toddlerhood to Childhood – Training Phase Childhood to Teenagers – Coaching Phase Late Teens though Adulthood – Mentoring/Friendship Phase It’s often difficult for parents to transition through each of these phases and make [...]
“Every day is Valentine’s Day!” This is the usual quip Rich jokingly says to Shelly every Valentine’s Day. Yet, joking aside, it does lead to a very important question. Are you intentionally expressing your love on a daily basis and is it being received effectively? Or is it only intentionally expressed on special occasions… like Valentine’s Day? Simply saying “I love you” every day is nice, but sometimes it’s meaning can easily become diluted and [...]
Are you the best husband or wife you can be? Are you the best parent you can be? Are you the best son or daughter, brother or sister, friend, employer, employee, volunteer you can be? Are you the best version of you? Last year, in our New Year’s Resolution letter, we asked you to consider creating various communities as part of your resolutions. And, if you are a consistent reader of OneFamily letters, you know [...]