Archives for 2013

Roots and Wings and Parenting Things

“There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots.  The other is wings.” Hodding Carter, Jr. Like every parent I know, I’ve made my share of blunders. There are times I wonder if something I said or did in one of my many moments of impatience permanently warped my children, and that’s why I’m so often tempted to throw my hands up and plunge into “passive parenting” mode.    Sometimes it seems they could do a lot better than to have me as a parent, and they could do a better job on their own! But then I realize that Continue Reading

Every Good and Perfect Gift

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17 I sometimes think life is a little like being on a long road trip.  We encounter periods of smooth sailing punctuated with bumps and potholes.  We see exhilarating views of nature and then, just as we begin to relax, the highway starts to twist and turn.   We hold our breath, grip the wheel and then find ourselves stopped dead at a fork in the road where we’re faced with Continue Reading

Confident Resistance

“But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry” Nehemiah 4:7 Imagine what my home would be like if I didn't have any doors, and if my yards didn't have any fences.  Anyone who wanted to could just come in and open the refrigerator, sit on the sofa and run up my pay-per-view bill.  Anyone who wanted to could come into my yard, pick all the plums and enjoy the Jacuzzi.  And when I got home with my Continue Reading

Seven Habits of Highly Effective Moms

It’s hard to be a wife and Mom these days.  Our culture is so full of confusing messages trying to define for us what a woman should be that trying to navigate through them all feels like living in a minefield! There are lots of people holding themselves up as models for us to follow. For instance, there are the Real Housewives whose drama lets us into their private financial issues, plastic surgeries and rocky relationships. Then there’s the woman CEO who writes a book telling us how to make it in a man’s world; and there’s the Media Maven Continue Reading

Honoring Chuck Smith

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you." John 15:16 I remember the first day I heard Chuck Smith speak. A  freshman in high school, I walked into "The Tent" which served as the Calvary Chapel sanctuary, and began the wonderful journey of  loving the Lord through the faithful teaching of His Word.   Chuck instilled in us a love for the Word of God that has equipped us and kept us "through many Continue Reading