Resources

We’re honored to be joined by author and speaker Paul Tripp. He joins us one last time. Paul, as a parent, I think of parenting as painting. Each day I put one dab on a canvas. I hope it’s the right color. I hope it’s in the right spot. But parenting brings with it a lot of uncertainty, insecurity, and self-doubt. As a parent with experience, what would you say is the goal of day-in and day-out parenting?

A friend recently asked me if I could give her some parenting advice. I smiled and said that I couldn’t because I’m not an expert and don’t know really what I am doing. She laughed and remarked on the ways parenting humbles us. My friend did not realize just how true her statement was. For many years, I taught, counseled, advised, and trained parents in the raising of their children. It’s a remarkable testimony to God’s grace toward me that I’ve come to a point in my own parenting where I am not at the ready to give advice.

Parenting is inescapably the work of waiting. As a parent, especially to young children, you are constantly devoting your time and energy into something that doesn’t produce immediate results. It is unclear, at a hundred different turns, whether what you’re doing will have any lasting effect on your kids — which is tough because lasting effect is what you’re really after.

I’m a busy mom, and I have trouble finding time to read the Bible. Where do I start to carve out time for this? “A mother’s work is never done.” “I can’t add one more thing to my plate.” These are familiar sentiments, whether you work outside the home or primarily in the home.

When my daughter was 3 years old, she loved the show PJ Masks—three kid superheroes who solve crimes at night when most people are wearing their pajamas.

Prior to having children, I distinctly remember an outing with a friend and her two young children. We sat on a park bench, caught up on life, and listened to her youngsters argue.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit."

Summer is upon us. For some moms, it feels like sweet relief after months of homework, school projects, and a plethora of activities.

With the crescendo of neighborhood lawn-mowers, the smell of lighter fluid in the air, and a rising dread at the prospect of finding a new bathing suit, one thing is sure — summer is nearly upon us.

For all the questions, opinions, and debates about parenting, there is one thing on which everyone agrees: parenting is hard. Really hard.

The Bible tells us that earthly fatherhood is derived from divine fatherhood. The apostle Paul bows his knee before the Father, “from whom every family [literally fatherhood] in heaven and on earth is named” (Ephesians 3:15). One implication of this basic fact is that earthly parents are to imitate the fatherhood of God. He is the model for our own fathering (and mothering).

Near the end of Colossians 3 God speaks his will to people who play a role in six different relationships; Wives, husbands, children, fathers, bondservants, and masters. Only to fathers does God NOT speak a positive command. He simply says, "Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged" (Col. 3:21). Perhaps by doing so, God is accentuating the uniquely devastating problem of parental provocation. Still, Ephesians 6:4 teaches us that there is a clear alternative to provocative parenting.

Spring is upon us. Flowers are beginning to bud, leaves are reappearing on trees, and birds are building their nests. Signs and decorations herald the arrival of our favorite season when we walk into local stores. Bags of plastic eggs and bunny-shaped confections line the shelves.

When your kids were toddlers, you established a regular family worship routine. Each night before bed, you’d gather your kids in the living room to read a simple Bible story and pray together. You were surprised at how much your preschool kids came to look forward to this evening family time.

Most of us are familiar with the “one another” commands of the New Testament. In the study guide for Gospel in Life: Grace Changes Everything, Tim Keller offers a helpful taxonomy under the categories of affirming one another, sharing with one another, and serving one another...

Allie was having a rough night. She had already been disciplined once for slapping one of the pastor’s sons across the face, and she had just done it again, this time to his brother. Her mother was humiliated and frustrated. Allie was angry, ashamed, and hopeless as she sat in her room awaiting the consequences...

Several years ago I wrote an article suggesting seven things we parents can pray for our children. I still personally find them helpful. However, in making these suggestions, I included a qualifier...

The collective disposition around our family dinner table that night was one of deflated defeat. For hours, the kids had struggled with finishing their daily homework. My husband was recovering from a day filled with complications at the office, and I was exhausted from teaching all day. No one spoke much as we ate.

When a pair of hand-me-down flip-flops recently arrived in the mail, my 4-year-old son gleefully announced they had Spider-Man, Superman, Iron Man, and Captain America on them. I looked at him quizzically. How did he know the names of these characters—some I didn’t even know? We haven’t watched their movies, read their books, or purchased their toys. When I asked him where he learned about these superheroes, he shrugged and said, “Everybody knows about these guys, Mama!”

During the holiday season, we’re tempted to spend too much time on our iPhones, on the computer, or watching television. Following our example, our kids isolate themselves too.

A survey finds that while two in three Americans say they want more Christ in Christmas, most cannot give all the details of Jesus’s birth story.

Thanksgiving can easily get lost in the flurry of family, food and football. Here are some ideas for infusing thanks into your Thanksgiving festivities.

We just finished October and already I’m starting to think about Thanksgiving. My mom’s stuffing uses two sticks of butter, so it’s worth looking forward to for an entire month (and then there’s also her mashed potatoes and dessert!) But it’s not just the food and time with family that I’m thinking about. I’m hoping to spend the month preparing my heart for a feast of thanksgiving...