Has the frequency of “I don’t know” increased in your parental lexicon of answers this year? How many of your decisions have been tabled? How many of your family’s events or traditions have been postponed? How many of your expectations (and your children’s expectations) are now tempered with the trending mantra: Let’s wait and see?  If we had not yet known or felt our mortal short-sightedness before, perhaps we know and feel it a bit more now. And if our kids had not yet known or felt ... [keep reading]

So he built an altar there, and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and Isaac’s servants dug a well (Genesis 26:25). Would you rather be a great person or the parent of great children? That depends on what we mean by great. The challenge which all parents face is to communicate the vitality of their faith. The family accomplishes its purpose if children are able to hear and see in their parents the evidence of an authentic relationship with the Lord. If children can ... [keep reading]

When evangelist Billy Graham stepped off a Tennessee stage in 1952 to remove the velvet ropes that separated the blacks from the whites at his rally, he exhibited courage. When former slave Richard Allen collected funds to purchase a blacksmith’s shop in order to have a church building where African Americans could worship Christ without being forced to sit on the floor along the walls, he exhibited faithful boldness. When Nazi officials arrived in the mountain town of Le ... [keep reading]

Every year I attend the World Strengths Summit and rub shoulders with several colleagues from around the world who engage organizations, as I do, to shift the focus of their development strategy to a strengths-based approach.  At the most recent summit, I was speaking with one of my “mates” (as they would say) from Australia who is a successful strengths coach in his neck of the world. We were chatting about my current book project and how we are both learning to apply our professional ... [keep reading]

Just as our children don’t arrive as blank slates, we come to parenting with our own unique histories. Let’s be honest—even the best childhood is not completely free of hardship. When I think back to my childhood, I’m a bit stunned to realize that even those in my small crowd of friends had their share of traumas with a capital “T”: the death of a parent, a mother with cancer, parental divorce, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, depression, suicidal thoughts, eating disorders, bullying, and ... [keep reading]