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Family by God's Design

Raising Families of Celebration Built on Honor & Grace

Family by God's Design

Archives / July 2014
July 31, 2014

Bake Your Way to a Family Fun Night

by John Salmon
Baking together is a great way to celebrate family.  Gather your family into the kitchen to bake a pie, a cake, cookies, bread, or all of the above. Decide ahead of time what you would like to bake and gather the ingredients. Let each family member participate in “the mixing of the ingredients” and “taste-testing”...
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Celebration    Family Shepherds
                    
July 28, 2014

8 Ways to Teach Children to Be Kind to Others

by John Salmon
Model kindness. You didn’t think I would start anyplace else, did you? Whatever we want our children to learn, we have to practice ourselves. So, be kind to your children. Be kind to your spouse. Be kind to friends. Be kind to strangers. Encourage children to think kindly about others. Here are three ways you...
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Family Shepherds    Grace    Honor
                    
July 27, 2014

A Great Way to Win an Argument

by John Salmon
If you have been married for any length of time, you know that arguments happen. If you have ever parented a teen, you definitely know that arguments happen. And arguments escalate. Each person conspires to make the other person understand “what I’m saying.” Defensiveness increases. Voices get louder. Heart rates begin to increase. Breathing accelerates....
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Family Shepherds    Grace    Honor
                    
July 21, 2014

6 Phrases to Avoid in Families

by John Salmon
I remember the saying, “If you don’t have anything good to say, don’t say anything at all.” I see the truth of that statement more and more as I age. Some things are just better left unsaid. Here are six phrases that are better left unsaid in families. These phrases can devastate family relationship and...
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Family Shepherds    Honor
                       
July 19, 2014

Get Your Child’s Head in the Game with MEATT

by John Salmon
Parents like to see their children perform well. Who am I kidding? I like to see my children perform well. In fact, if you are like me, you may get more nervous than your children do when they get out on the field for the big game or up on stage for the first act....
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Family Shepherds    Honor
                    
July 14, 2014

Managing Your Child’s Schedule…or, Seeking Balance in the Devil’s Playground

by John Salmon
“Idle hands are the devil’s playground.” I have heard that statement many times…and, I know the truth in it. Laziness, the habit of doing nothing, leads to trouble! However, in our culture we have swung to the opposite extreme with our children’s schedule. Rather than having “idle hands,” our children are overscheduled, pressured to be...
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Celebration    Family Shepherds
                    
July 12, 2014

Pay It Forward…The Surprising “Rest of the Story” For Your Family

by John Salmon
We all know and love the “pay it forward” stories. Just last Christmas (2013), a customer at Starbucks generously paid for the order of the next person in line, who also paid for the person in line behind them, and so on…for 1,468 customers! (Read this story here) I also love the commercial (Watch it here)...
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Grace    Honor
              
July 5, 2014

Quit Taking Your Spouse’s Perspective

by John Salmon
Who should you think about during an argument with your spouse—me, you, I, us??? That is a good question. We have probably all heard the advice to step back and see our spouse’s point of view during an argument. This common wisdom advises us to see things through the other person’s eyes and walk a...
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Grace    Honor