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Family by God's Design

Raising Families of Celebration Built on Honor & Grace

Family by God's Design

Archives / October 2013
October 29, 2013

RSVP for Intimacy in Your Family

by John Salmon
According to John Gottman’s research, happily married couples make about 100 invitations (he calls them bids) to connect with one another in a 10 minutes time span. If couples make this many invitations to connect, imagine how many invitations your toddler or preschooler is offering up! That is a huge number of invitations…a lot of...
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Celebration    Honor
           
October 29, 2013

Open the Door for Change

by John Salmon
I had the opportunity to attend a conference focused on attachment relationships this weekend. One workshop reviewed how we encourage growth and change in other people. I realized how much this information applied to our parental role of promoting growth and maturity in our children. So, I wanted to share this process for opening the...
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Family Shepherds    Honor
                    
October 19, 2013

5 Tips to Improve Your Child’s Behavior

by John Salmon
I loved working with John (name changed for privacy reasons), a seven-year-old boy who had a seizure disorder and was very active. I learned so much spending time with him and his family. Part of my job was to take John to the neurologist for his check-ups. One day, John and I sat in the...
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Family Shepherds
                    
October 19, 2013

The Special Ingredient of Intimate Families

by John Salmon
I was talking with a young man (middle school age) about what he liked and didn’t like about his family. Interestingly, he liked the family dinners they used to have and he disliked that they no longer had those family dinners. Even as a middle school boy, he missed family dinners. Family dinners provided him...
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Celebration    Family Shepherds    Honor
                                
October 12, 2013

The #1 Ingredient for Building Friendships With Your Children

by John Salmon
I remember coming home from the park with my preschool daughters. One would say, “I made a friend today.” Her face glowing and her voice bubbling with excitement. “Really,” I would ask. “What’s her name?” “I don’t know.” “Where does she live?” “I don’t know.” (Both times the “I don’t know” reply was said in...
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Family Shepherds    Honor
                       
October 12, 2013

Improve Your Family With This One Honest Change

by John Salmon
“You have no idea what you’re doing.” “You are so lazy.” “You have nothing to cry about.” “You always want the last word, don’t you?” “You just need to listen better.” “You should give your friend a chance.” “You better stop that now or else…” These statements all have something in common. Can you see...
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Family Shepherds    Grace    Honor
              
October 5, 2013

Turn Your Argument Into the Best Part of the Day…Make It Bearable Anyway

by John Salmon
When you find yourself in an argument or disagreement (notice how I say “find myself” in an argument; I never start one…well, maybe once in a while…alright, alright, so even when I start an argument) with another family member, how can you make it bearable? Who is responsible to make it “go well”—the ones who...
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Grace    Honor
                          
October 5, 2013

Bridge the Communication Gap with Your Teen (& Just About Anyone Else)

by John Salmon
Sometimes teens are hard to talk to. Let’s be real…sometimes spouses, children, and even parents are hard to talk to. If I’m honest, I have to admit that sometimes I am hard to talk to. I have discovered a tool to improve communications—a tool to help bridge the communication gap, slow the communication roller coaster,...
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Family Shepherds    Grace    Honor