What kind of impact does having a longstanding group of friends have on a growing family? Enormous. Therefore, you should be intentional and show initiative in building a community of like-minded friends. It is surprising the level of influence that your community of friends can have on your life, your style of living, your parenting, the quality of your marriage and its potential longevity, the behavior of your children, your health, your sex life, your [...]

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 [...]

Throughout our parenting journey, one parenting tool that we have utilized the most is planting seeds.  While the generic concept of planting seeds is not new, our friends Dave and Lis provided us with a perspective that took the concept to a new level in our parenting with a 2 step approach: Planting seeds – Initiate a significant idea or topic with a question Cultivation – Ongoing conversation follow up This tool has been particularly helpful [...]