Joy to the World may be easy to sing but are you truly joy-filled this time of the year? How is a dad to be joy-filled with all the end-of-year busy-ness? One example of how to do it is King David’s celebration when the ark of God was brought to the City of David. In 2Samuel 6:14, it says, “Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might.” King David put all the busy-ness of being king in its proper perspective, and reflected how joy-filled he was about getting the ark of God in its rightful place.
Should not the birth of Christ spark such elation, to be truly joy-filled as we bring in the CHRISTmas season? In this third week of Advent, the candle lit rekindles the ...read on
“Are you pickin’ up what I’m layin’ down?” That was a question posed by a friend from Mississippi. He was verifying that I truly got what he was saying. He wanted to make sure I saw the value in what he was offering. Are your kids “pickin’ up what you are layin’ down”? Are you layin’ down your faith in a way they want to pick it up?
In this second week of Advent, the candle lit represents the ...read on
There is hope. As news cycles produce what seems a never-ending litany of bad news, a Christian dad has to be cognizant of what it means to be in the world, not of it. He cannot ignore happenings in this world, but he can maintain a healthy perspective as he keeps eyes focused on Jesus. December is a great time for dads to lead the family through Advent to help all live into the hope that is the Reason for the season, the Christ-child’s birth.
Advent, starting four Sundays before Christmas, is ...read on
It was just a couple of years ago I was hearing from dads that they were thankful for how God had essentially granted them a big “time-out” from their busy-ness. When the kids’ activities were shut down, there was sanity introduced to the family schedule. There were wonderful stories of family dinner time getting reintroduced as a regular routine. It seemed some right priorities were being reestablished in many homes.
One man that had grown up below the poverty line, focused on one dimension of his responsibilities as a dad, to be a good financial provider for his family. After all, there was a mortgage to meet, healthcare to provide and future school expenses to consider. Responsibility to provide financially for family can justifiably dominate a dad’s mindset.
In the powerful men’s study, “Quest for Authentic Manhood”, Robert Lewis addresses what he refers to as the “Fathering Wound”. Many, if not most, men have been emotionally wounded in some way by their father. It may be a one-off rift that never got resolved, a rough home situation, or the complete absence of a father.
A dad will typically father as he was fathered, or go the opposite direction with determination to achieve a better result. Neither may be healthy for the family he has been blessed with. Whatever your circumstances growing up, know that you have the heritage you need to be the dad you are called to be.
As dads, we love to get in touch with our emotions. NOT! But when it comes to relating with daughters, dads that up their game in this area will mature well in the father-daughter relationship as daughters mature from being their “little girl” to becoming a young lady.
I was blessed this past weekend to watch dads navigate through emotions that would help strengthen the relationship with their daughters on a father-daughter retreat. As dads invested time with their daughters, and the daughters with their dads, the ...read on
Did you know that when couples pray together daily, they stay together in marriage over 99 percent of the time? This is in contrast to the fact that about half of all first marriages end in divorce, and 78 percent of all second marriages end in divorce.
A 1997 Gallup Poll done by the National Association of Marriage Enhancement showed ...read on
How are you tempted today? Do suggestive pop-ups on the computer screen tempt you to click through as you do a routine Internet search? Are there titillating images showing up as you scroll through various social media on your phone luring you to check out a video or pornographic site? Statistics show that 79% of men succumb to the temptation and view pornography monthly, 63% view it weekly or more (Barna 2014).
Joy to the World may be easy to sing but are you truly joy-filled this time of the year? How is a dad to be joy-filled with all the end-of-year busy-ness? One example of how to do it is King David’s celebration when the ark of God was brought to the City of David. In 2Samuel 6:14, it says, “Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might.” King David put all the busy-ness of being king in its proper perspective, and reflected how joy-filled he was about getting the ark of God in its rightful place.
“Are you pickin’ up what I’m layin’ down?” That was a question posed by a friend from Mississippi. He was verifying that I truly got what he was saying. He wanted to make sure I saw the value in what he was offering. Are your kids “pickin’ up what you are layin’ down”? Are you layin’ down your faith in a way they want to pick it up?
There is hope. As news cycles produce what seems a never-ending litany of bad news, a Christian dad has to be cognizant of what it means to be in the world, not of it. He cannot ignore happenings in this world, but he can maintain a healthy perspective as he keeps eyes focused on Jesus. December is a great time for dads to lead the family through Advent to help all live into the hope that is the Reason for the season, the Christ-child’s birth.
It was just a couple of years ago I was hearing from dads that they were thankful for how God had essentially granted them a big “time-out” from their busy-ness. When the kids’ activities were shut down, there was sanity introduced to the family schedule. There were wonderful stories of family dinner time getting reintroduced as a regular routine. It seemed some right priorities were being reestablished in many homes.
As dads, we love to get in touch with our emotions. NOT! But when it comes to relating with daughters, dads that up their game in this area will mature well in the father-daughter relationship as daughters mature from being their “little girl” to becoming a young lady.
Did you know that when couples pray together daily, they stay together in marriage over 99 percent of the time? This is in contrast to the fact that about half of all first marriages end in divorce, and 78 percent of all second marriages end in divorce.
How are you tempted today? Do suggestive pop-ups on the computer screen tempt you to click through as you do a routine Internet search? Are there titillating images showing up as you scroll through various social media on your phone luring you to check out a video or pornographic site? Statistics show that 79% of men succumb to the temptation and view pornography monthly, 63% view it weekly or more (Barna 2014).
