“I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find ’till after death, I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to that country and to help others to do the same.” – […]

“Most of us find it very difficult to want “Heaven” at all – except in so far as “Heaven” means meeting again our friends who have died. One reason for this difficulty is that we have not been trained : our whole education tends to fix our minds on this world. Another reason is that […]

Recently, a friend shared this encouragement on communication that focused around the qualities of a person instead of their outer appearance. (Thank you, Kathleen Coss!) This is so important when practicing social skills, emotional intelligence and friendship development. Consider memorizing a few of the following compliments. Or use these as prompts to create authentic, winning compliments that demonstrate that the receiver is seen and known. Check out these 15 compliments that are not about physical appearance:

Speaking as a parent of a strong-willed child (SWC), I can communicate as one who has been in the trenches. The wonderful part of this is that I can fully confirm that this type of child is likely intelligent and full of potential. While parenting this personality can be altogether demanding, frustrating and intensely maddening…it also gives you the front row seat to a highly driven, strong individual. Consider your words and actions carefully. This blog offers hope and encouragement that this child’s potential is even greater that you might imagine. From identifying the triggers of strong willed children to some practical solutions and real examples of changing fighting words to thinking words. It is all about relationship.

As spring cleaning begins, think through whether your parents are storing your things or whether you are storing unnecessary things for your own children. Dig deep, literally and dig out.

Since I was a young woman, I have worked with children. As I dearly love these young hearts, I am particularly attuned to the anger seen in so many of them. Sometimes the anger comes from a wounded place or a response to bullying. Other times it is the result of neglect or a head injury. This blog explores practical helps for the prevention and cure of anger in children. Yes, there is prevention. Yes there are cures. Yes, more than just identifying the problem, there is help.

Anger in a child is a real response. While God holds each of us, even a child, responsible for his or her sin, God does hold parents 100% responsible for the sins which provoked him to that anger. Check out 25 ways that parents provoke their children to anger. Loving my children well means that communication on this topic must remain open to self examination on this topic as well as others.

For the last few years the topic of a loneliness epidemic has dominated much of chatter in interpersonal news. This conversation has focused on healthy friendships. In life, we often have to walk through the exploration of meeting a number of acquaintances in order to find true friendships. This growth mindset might even lead us to look inward and develop the qualities of a healthy friendship in ourselves.

Being a parent is just hard work. The stages of childhood change rapidly. Approaching the subject of dating with your child can be downright intimidating. Before you begin, know that dating is radically different from how it was when you were a teenager and young adult. Sexual promiscuity is rampant. Sexual identity, date rape, binge drinking, emotional cheating, sexting and a host of new and more shocking behavior is the normal for today’s teens. Becoming more acquainted with today’s culture is a necessary, on-going job of today’s parents.