Family by God&#039;s Design

Build Muscles that Matter in Your Children

Our children need to have strong muscles to survive in this world. No, I’m not talking about biceps and pecs. I’m talking about the really important muscles, not the ones that will help them do chin-ups. These important muscles do more than look good and help them carry heavy grocery bags. These muscles help maintain...

Family Shepherds

emotional health emotions healthy development optimism parenting resilience

February 27, 2017

A Modest Proposal with Revolutionary Consequences

I’m not very political. In fact, I tend to avoid most political debates. That being said, who can miss the tumultuous political struggle going on right now? Our nation is in an uproar. Division seems to be at an all-time high. Our nation’s struggle intrudes into our daily life on the news, in the streets,...

Celebration Honor

acceptance emotional health family relationships priorities values

February 11, 2017

When Your Children Get Angry

All kids get angry. I hate to say it, but it’s true. No matter how hard you try, your children will get angry. It can feel frightening and overwhelming when your children have an angry outburst. But, anger is not all bad. Anger is an emotion and all emotions have a purpose. When our children...

Family Shepherds

emotional health emotions parenting problem-solve

January 14, 2017

Your Marriage, Your Health

Remember the Vulcan blessing, “Live long and prosper.” To really live long and prosper a person needs health relationships. In fact, you might have heard of the impact of one particular relationship on health. Marriage increases health and well-being. Well, that statement is only partially true. Let me be more specific. Only healthy marriages result...

Celebration Honor

emotional health happiness intimacy marriage relationships

January 9, 2017

From Crestfallen to Cheery by Way of Creativity

Ever had one of those days? I’m sure you have. You know the day I’m talking about. It starts off bad and goes downhill. You wake up grumpy and irritable. Everyone around you seems to do everything they can to make it worse—they move too slowly, they ask too many stupid questions, they smile too...

Celebration

creativity emotional health family fun night fun

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

September 17, 2016

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Saved From the Tyranny of the Family Label

Growing up in a family we often find ourselves socialized into particular roles. Family members get “pigeon-holed” as the scapegoat, the smart one, the trouble-maker, the helper, the athlete, etc. Those labels shape how we think. When we are treated like a helper, we grow to think of ourselves as a helper. When constantly treated...

Grace Honor

acceptance emotional health family intimacy healthy development label

April 11, 2016

Help My Children Have ANTs in Their Pants…uh, I Mean Brain

If you want to increase your children’s happiness and optimism, you must teach them to exterminate the ANTs—or Automatic Negative Thoughts. Those ANTs scamper around our children’s thoughts and threaten their happiness and success. ANTs come in many varieties. Let me describe four. Absolute, Permanent ANTs (the AP-ANTs). When stressful events or bad things happen, AP-ANTs...

Family Shepherds

emotional health happiness healthy development success

April 4, 2016

A Fourfold Legacy for My Family

In my last blog I shared how people who have never seen a healthy family can begin to raise a healthy family themselves. In doing so, they redeem their family and set the coming generations on a new trajectory toward health and wholeness. In this blog, I wanted to share a brief overview of the...