Family by God&#039;s Design

4 Gifts Our Sons Desperately Need

I don’t want to come across as extreme or sound too alarmist, but look at these statistics. Males account for 77.9% of all suicides in the United States. That would suggest about 88 men commit suicide every day, one every 16 minutes! (Click here for more information ) Males make up 80% of fatal heroin...

Family Shepherds

awe and wonder connection emotions parenting sons

October 22, 2016

Marriage Compelled By the Love of Christ

I recently had the opportunity to speak on marriage with a local congregation during their worship service. The passage for the morning was Paul’s words to the Corinthians: “For the love of Christ compels us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who...

Grace Honor

acceptance giving love marriage sacrifice

October 17, 2016

What is Shaping Your Children’s Mind

Recent data from Extreamist showed children between 2-18 years old stream about 1.8 hours of content from Netflix, Hulu, Your Tube, or other online services each day. This adds up to 650 hours per year. On the other hand, data from the National Wild Life Federations suggests children spend an average of 4-7 minutes playing outdoors...

Celebration Family Shepherds

creativity fun healthy development play

October 15, 2016

“Mom, It’s Just Marijuana”…Really?

The perception of marijuana has changed dramatically in recent years. With this change in perception, teens increasingly report a belief that marijuana is completely safe and, in fact, seem to believe it enhances their lives physically and mentally. Parents also seem more open to their children using marijuana. With all this in mind, I wanted...

Family Shepherds

empathy family relationships healthy development

October 10, 2016

If You Really Want HAPPY Kids…

Popular culture encourages us to be kind to ourselves, give ourselves a pat on the back and reward ourselves for a job well done. While this advice may hold some merit, it will not make us happy. Quite the opposite, research reveals that being kind to others makes us happy. As the author of one...

Family Shepherds Honor

emotional health happiness kindness

October 8, 2016

Improve Your Sex Life…BEFORE You Hit the Sheets

Kevin Leman published a book entitled Sex Begins in the Kitchen. (Read the review here.) It’s not really a book about sex. But, it does make an important point about sex—if you want to enjoy sexual intimacy with your spouse, start preparing outside the bedroom. I mean way outside the bedroom. In fact, the most...

Celebration Honor

admiration connection emotions intimacy love responsiveness sexual intimacy

October 3, 2016

How to Raise MEAN Kids…or NOT

“Controlling parents create mean college kids.” Having taught at a local college for several years and having two kids in college right now, that headline caught my attention. I have known quite a few mean college kids. The worst were the ones who engaged in what psychologist call “relational aggression.” They were not physically aggressive,...

Family Shepherds Grace

acceptance availability consequences teach

October 1, 2016

Nurture Your Child’s Attention Span

I love to watch parents interact with their children. Over time, I have observed at least three ways parent tend to interact with their children. The parent points out a toy or some object in an effort to direct their child to play with that particular object. If you watch closely, you’ll see their child’s...

Family Shepherds Honor

attention healthy development parent child relationship play

September 26, 2016

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“You’re the Worst Mom Ever:” A 3-Part Blessing

It’s bound to happen, inevitable, unavoidable. Sooner or later you will set an age appropriate, loving limit on your child’s behavior and he will get angry. He will become furious with you and argue. As a good parent, you will stick to your guns; after all, you know the limit is for your child’s best...