Jul 13

Jul 13 4 Ways to Slow Your Family’s Summer Pace

Picnics, baseball games, swimming, parks and more; this is what summers are made for! How do you fit it all in? And the bigger question right now: How do you slow it all down when your kids just want to keep going nonstop?

The relaxed summers I remember as a child are the ones I often dream of for my own family. We are blessed to live in an area where there are all different types of summer opportunities, but with six children and activities for all ages and stages, even with the best planning, I find that the pace can escalate to a speed that we don’t enjoy.

Jul 10
Jul 10 7 Ways to Tell You've Reached the Summer Magic Saturation Point

Jennifer Deibel

Ah, summertime. The days are long, school is out, and you can finally breathe deep, relax and enjoy some good, quality family time.

When my is-the-school-year-over-yet? twitches begin in May, I can hardly wait for the lackadaisical days and lazy evenings of summer. I envision my family, serene and relaxed, laying around in the sun, sipping lemonade and making fun memories.

Only...summer always ends up being just a little....different...from how I envision it. I've discovered there are several ways to recognize when you, as a mom, have reached your Summer Magic Saturation Point.

Jul 9
Jul 9 Making a Pledge to Keep It Shut

Ruth Schwenk

As we have learned over the last six weeks, our words are powerful and they have consequences. We have struggled with our words for ages so that is nothing new. The real question is: Will we ever do anything about them? Will we change?

We can talk about our words and how they impact those around us, but reading and discussing isn’t enough. We must intentionally seek life change. If you are just joining us, here are the previous posts in this book club series:

Jul 8

Jul 8 How to Find God in the Extra-Ordinary MOMents

guest

Babies, Homemaking, Following God, Parenting

It was a weekend of no sleep and me alone with the three kids, our youngest going through a three-month growth spurt and the older two deciding they were going to learn how to talk back.

It was a weekend of me begging God every step of the hour to help me be a 1 Corinthians 13 kind of mama when all I wanted to do was have a long soak in the bath. It was a weekend of me telling the boys I needed a few minutes in the office alone, to fall on the carpet and weep.

Jul 7
Jul 7 My 7 Favorite Ways To Cultivate Intimacy In Marriage

Guest User

When I became a wife at 21 I had many things to learn as I embraced this new role. One of the areas I was challenged to grow in was my understanding of intimacy. I had always defined intimacy as something physical. Whenever I heard the word, I automatically assumed “sex” as the only way to be intimate.

From day one of my marriage, sexual intimacy was our greatest struggle.

Jul 6
Jul 6 How to Give Our Children Hope

Jeannie Cunnion

Parenting, Following God, Discipling Children, Hope

In a recent interview, Sally Lloyd Jones, author of the Jesus Storybook Bible, offered such simple but profound advice on giving hope to children.

Here is a just a portion of what she said:

Children look to us for everything. But in all that we’ve given children, have we forgotten to give them hope? Have we left them in despair -- looking at what they should do but don't? Looking at who they should be but aren’t? How do we give hope to children? When we take the focus off them and put it back on God where it belongs. They don’t need to be told to try harder, believe more, do it better. That just leaves them in despair. We need a Rescuer.