-
4 Ways to Have a Christ-Centered Christmas
December has arrived, and I’m not sure I’m ready. I’ve been staring down my to-do list and feeling anxious. I want our family to have a Christ-centered Christmas, but my to-do list is stealing my focus. Sadly, the demands of this season feel more like an invitation to stress than an invitation to worship. Advent is the season for fixing our eyes on the coming Christ, the One who came in the flesh two thousand years ago and will come again to reign forever in glory. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised there is an enemy out to distract me throughout this season of anticipation. After we cut down the…
-
How to Raise Frog Eggs and Have a Blast Doing It
Spring is here, and the world is coming alive again. As we embrace longer days, sunshine, and spring bulbs rising through the soil, this season is a perfect opportunity to help our kids connect with nature. This year, our little family is learning how to raise frog eggs, and we’re having a blast in the process. Providing children with opportunities to interact with wild creatures in safe ways is one of the best ways to spark life-long interests in the natural world. A frog egg project is a great place to start, and even the least savvy naturalist can pull this off. I remember multiple frog egg projects throughout my…
-
10 Outdoor Activity Ideas for Families
While community playgrounds and backyard sliding boards offer hours of entertainment for our children, greater adventure awaits those who are willing to lace up their trail shoes and head to the woods. Today, we’ll explore 10 creative and inexpensive outdoor activity ideas for families. A local community park, nature conservancy, or State Park can be a great resource for instilling an appreciation for the natural world in our children. Teaching kids to connect with wildlife develops a passion that can extend into adulthood. Creative Outdoor Activity Ideas for Families Here are ten creative outdoor activity ideas for families to help your kids enjoy nature: 1. Wildflower Identification Many people are…
-
8 Powerful Scriptures to Pray Over Your Children
Do you want to be more conistent and focused as you pray over your kids? Today, we’ll explore eight powerful Scriptures to pray over your children. First, I invite you to join our family in the forest on the day I decided to be more intentional about praying for our kids. 8 Powerful Scriptures to Pray Over Your Children It’s a quiet Saturday morning on the cusp of spring when I sense that we need a change of pace. The oldest is glued to the laptop, and the youngest is watching his second movie of the day. I need to think of a better option before too much screen time…
-
6 Creative Ideas to Help You Show Hospitality This Fall
It’s a clear evening overlooking Granite Creek. The sun has slipped behind the canyon walls, and alpenglow paints the West Ridge salmon. I’m not thinking about how to show hospitality this evening – not in the least. The year is 2001, and I’ve just entered the identity-searching decade of my twenties. This will be the decade when I stumble blindly in the relentless search for the woman I want to become. I’ll begin my teaching career in the public high school. I have no way of knowing these things now, of course. For now, I’m content with my three-month job of washing dishes in the lodge where the teachers come…
-
6 Meaningful Christmas Traditions That Put Others First
In a season saturated with commercialism and consumerism, it’s easy to lose the meaning of Christmas. Meanwhile, some of the most meaningful Christmas traditions are the ones that put others first. Meaningful Christmas Traditions One way to add a layer of richness to the Christmas season is by implementing meaningful Christmas traditions that focus on making a difference in the lives of others. This list of ideas offers practical ways to involve everyone in the family in making someone else’s holiday brighter. 1. Color a smile for a soldier. Holiday seasons tend to be bleak for those who are away from loved ones. Show a member of our military just…
-
5 Christ-Centered Christmas Traditions
The world is aglow in colorful lights as we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Light of the World. Sadly, it’s easy to become so engrossed in the hustle and bustle of the season that we forget why we are celebrating. Perhaps you’d like to help your family celebrate with some Christ-centered Christmas traditions this year. Let’s look at five family traditions that can help us keep Christ at the center of our Christmas celebrations this year. 5 Christ-Centered Christmas Traditions If we want to be more attuned to the wonder of the incarnation, we begin by slowing down. We stand in awe that the God of all creation…
-
How to Choose a New Thanksgiving Tradition for Your Family
November is here with the grey branches of maple trees reaching heavenward and once-vibrant fields of wildflowers wielding frost-burned tufts in unison. We pull the Thanksgiving decorations from the basement shelves and start thinking about instituting a new and meaningful Thanksgiving tradition for our family. It seems appropriate that this month of transition is also culturally known as the month for giving thanks. We are often most desperately in need of reminders to practice gratitude when the tides are shifting in our lives. November has always felt like a changing of the tides for me. November is the time when the kids bound from the bus wearing feathers in their…
-
5 Ways to Celebrate Autumn Without the Spookiness
It’s a pristine October day that feels more like early September than mid-autumn with all its color and brilliance and the scent of freshly fallen leaves blanketing the earth. We go to the woods in search of fall decorations to help us celebrate autumn and come home with plastic bags overflowing with sticky pine cones, acorns, leaves, ferns, and rocks. The pine cones find new homes in baskets throughout the house, the leaves are scattered across the dining room table while crayons make leaf imprints on construction paper, and the acorns and stones find their way to vases. We have been on a quest to celebrate autumn without embracing spookiness,…
-
8 Prayers for Young Children: Make an Eternal Impact
Author Toni Morrison once asked the question, “When your child walks in the room, does your face light up?” Along with showing our kids we love them, we support them spiritually by praying for them. Today, we’ll explore eight prayers for young children. Prayers for Young Children Our prayers impact the spiritual realm. Praying for our kids can radically change the trajectory of their lives. I invite you to pray these prayers over your kids when they are awake and when they are asleep in their beds. God wants to work in the lives of your little ones. 8 Life-Changing Prayers for Young Children 1. Pray for everyday troubles to…
