By Brian Shultz Watch Out...New Driver! If only driving, and life, were easy… I just got out of the car, this time from the unfamiliar passenger side, as my teenage son just completed his first ever driving lesson with me, just minutes after passing his written test...
by Samantha Hanni One day when I was about nine, my mom came home from Mardel with a book for me. It was my first devotional book, with a colorful cover and fun stories that drew me in each day. I have vivid memories of this book (for some reason) and to this day, I...
By Michele L. Brown My 9-year-old stepdaughter had gotten into my purse and helped herself to gum without asking, and when I picked the wrapper up from the floor she tried to say her friend had given it to her. This particular lie was actually the third blatant lie I...
As the new school year kicks off, this is the perfect time to do a little family tune-up by breaking bad habits and starting good habits. Here's our round up of the best practical ways to improve your family life! 1. Put Jesus First • Start the habit of daily time...
By Vicky O. It is 1:00 a.m. on July 20, 2000, and I am alternating between sitting and laying on my bathroom floor crying out to the Lord, “Why?” I am so weak that I cannot get up; I can only cry and pray. But “Why?” and “Why us?” seems to be all I can say in between...
By Hannah Shultz 20-year-old sister of 6 This life is full of moments, moments that range from extreme joy to the deepest of sorrows, moments that range from perfectly healthy to deathly ill, moments that range from peak strength to valley-low weakness. As we journey...
By David Baer, Executive Director of FamiliesAlive In Dolores Curran’s survey work, over 500 counselors, pastors, teachers, therapists, and other professionals who routinely worked with families ranked “table time” as #13 out of a list of 56 possible traits of a...
by Rachel Scott When I was a child, Sunday meant going to church and singing my heart out. After church, my family and I would head to my great grandparent’s farm in Carol County, Virginia to enjoy a meal around the table and an afternoon of play. I remember riding...
By Mindy Thomas Mother of 9(!) in Texas I love when things are neat and tidy. I enjoy a scrubbed kitchen, a freshly made bed, a pressed shirt, a new car that smells like leather, clean windows and door pulls, sparkling refrigerator shelves and clothes organized by...
Life doesn’t always go as planned. Christ found me when life was playing out just the way I wanted. I was 24, married to my college sweetie with a good job in a new city. I was grateful. Being raised by a single parent, life before college was a tale of humble...
By Marianne H. Homeschooling Mom in Colorado Sometimes I get ahead of myself and of God. I am a forward thinker, envisioning the future. Several years ago, the Lord, in His attempt to slow my mind down to the present, asked me to focus on One Word for the entire...
During the first snow of the winter here in Colorado, I was reminded how peaceful and fresh the world seems after a snowstorm. My children, however, didn’t seem to notice the beauty or the tranquility that came with it. In fact, they were more like their own small...