Family by God&#039;s Design

Driven by a Motto of Discontent

Have you learned the “motto of discontent?” I’m sure many of us have. Maybe the commercials taught us this motto. You know, “you could be happy if you only had our product.” Maybe our parents taught us through constant complaining and wishing for more. Maybe it’s just baked into our society, rising from the yeast...

Celebration Honor

blessing gratitude optimism Thanksgiving values

August 25, 2025

You & Your Children’s Goals

What type of goals do you want your children to have as they become adults—extrinsic goals or Intrinsic goals? Extrinsic goals are goals that center around external rewards like wealth, fame, or prestige. In general, extrinsic goals are easily measured. The number of “likes” received on a social media post is an extrinsic goal. Making...

Family Shepherds

child development goals priorities role model values

August 23, 2025

Clear the Clutter, Enjoy Your Family

We live in a time of clutter that interferes with our life and our family life. I’m not just talking about the clutter of stuff either. It’s true that too much stuff can clutter our lives and our families’ lives. It takes up the physical spaces in our homes and can contribute to a feeling...

Celebration Honor

child development family intimacy family relationships priorities values

February 24, 2025

A Family Check

Take a moment and think back to the time when you were engaged and preparing for marriage. What were your dreams about marriage? How did you envision the daily life of marriage? What values and priorities did you want to live out in your marriage? Take another moment. Consider the time when you were anticipating...

Celebration

dreams emotional health family intimacy healthy development parent child relationship priorities values

December 16, 2024

Having a Child in Love

Mary must have been so overwhelmed as that first Christmas day approached. Met by an angel and “favored of God.” Witnessing an aged Elizabeth give birth and a mute Zacharias sing a song of praise. Traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem while 8-9 months pregnant because the occupying government demanded a census. While in the overcrowded...

Celebration Family Shepherds

change hope love parent values

December 9, 2024

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

family intimacy family relationships parenting time values

December 7, 2024

The Less and More of a Healthier Family

Sometimes small changes can impact our families in enormous ways. With that in mind, I’d like to suggest we all practice “the less and the more of a healthier family.” These 11 “less and more” changes may appear small, but they will have an amazingly positive impact on your family. Pick 2 or 3 and...

Grace Honor

family family intimacy family relationship values

October 28, 2024

3 Actions to Teach Your Child Emotional Management

As parents, we teach our children to manage their emotions. We might teach them intentionally or unintentionally. In fact, they learn by simply witnessing our manner of managing emotions. As you can imagine, they may learn positive ways of managing emotions or not-so-positive ways of managing emotions from watching us. How can we intentionally teach...

Family Shepherds

emotional health emotional management values

September 23, 2024

A Quick Priority Check

Life gets rushed. I’m sure you’ve noticed. In the midst of the rush, the turmoil of the news, the rhetoric of politics, and the general pace of life…our priorities can get lost. I don’t mean our “believed priorities,” the priorities we hold to mentally. I’m talking about our “lived priorities.” Our actions and words so...