Family by God&#039;s Design

Simplicity: Security & Peace in Your Home

Families teach their children values without even speaking a word. Our children learn what we value by observing how we invest our time and our attention. Unfortunately, our time and our attentional investment don’t always match our true values. That’s where this gift, a gift of simplicity, comes in. This gift can be given any...

Family Shepherds

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November 25, 2024

Is Saying “Thank You” Really THAT Important in Families?

Have you ever wanted to just hear the words ” thank you” from a family member? After all, a little thanks would help you feel appreciated and add joy to your life, right? If you’ve had that desire, you’re not alone. In fact, research conducted by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign confirms your sentiment and...

Family Shepherds Honor

family intimacy family relationships intimacy marriage parent child relationship

September 30, 2024

Family Weapons of Resistance in a World of Division

At first glance our world appears divided and broken beyond repair. Various factions spew words of anger and hatred at one another, words armed with sarcastic ridicule and demeaning labels. Conspiracy theories abound to implicate “the other” of horrid motives and intents. These things are dangerous and each side of the aisle “feeds the beast”...

Celebration Honor

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July 8, 2024

Let Them Know

It seems that listening has become a lost art in our society, even in our marriages and our families. Instead of listening, people seem to focus on asserting their opinion or defending their perspective. In the process, divisiveness deepens, a divisiveness that not only threatens our communities but our marriages and families as well. Effective...

Honor

communication family relationships listening

March 2, 2024

The Problem of the “Up-Side-Down” Family

Ideally, families work from the top down. Parents provide physical and emotional security, stability, and predictability for their children. Sometimes, however, everything gets turned “up-side-down.” Whether because of parental illness, work demands, drugs, or some sort of trauma, children become the primary emotional support for their parents. Parents turn to their children to receive comfort...

Family Shepherds

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December 9, 2023

Satisfy the Hunger and Thirst for Play

We are born with 100 billion neurons in our brain… and they are hungry to learn. In fact, they thirst for knowledge from the moment we’re born until we pass away. Surprising to some, one of the most powerful ways to feed our brain, to give it the nourishment it needs to grow in knowledge...

Celebration Family Shepherds

family relationships healthy development play

June 26, 2023

Laugh, a Simple & Free Tool for Intimacy

I really like this quote from Natalie Dattilo, an instructor of psychology in Harvard Medical School’s Psychiatric Department: “Health car is expensive. If we can find a tool that is as simple as laughter, that is free for the most part, with no side effects and has no contraindications, that would be really great.” In...

Celebration

family intimacy family relationships fun laughter

May 22, 2023

The Kindness Cascade

Imagine: four strangers come together. Each one is given twenty dollars and asked to decide whether to keep the whole twenty dollars for themselves or share some of it with their group. Each dollar they share with the group will result in all four people receiving forty cents. Of course, this means the giver may...

Grace Honor

family relationships kindness

February 25, 2023

Make Green Spaces & Blue Spaces Family Spaces

Several studies have shown that “green spaces” have a positive impact on our mental health. Green spaces include areas of grass, trees, and other vegetation. These green spaces lower our stress levels. They also contribute to a better mood, greater happiness, and a greater sense of calm. Who doesn’t want a family with less stress,...