Tag encouragement
Letter to a Discouraged Parent
To the discouraged Mom in the third row, As I share a story from my own parenting journey, our eyes meet and I sense a sadness inside of you. You are here alone. Are you a single parent? Are you…
Do You Have a Positive View of Your Child’s Future?
The Search Institute has done years of research on how kids turn out to be healthy, contributing members of society. They are probably most well-known for their list of 40 developmental assets that kids need to be successful as adults.…
An Often Overlooked Motivator of Good Behavior…
Many parents think that some sort of painful punishment is the best motivator for kids to improve their behavior. Other parents “focus on the positive” and offer rewards when kids do well. Research about what motivates workers to do well reveals…
Four Powerful Messages All Kids Long to Hear
Every parent wants their child to choose good, right behavior. Every family consists of real, mistake-prone people. No one is perfect. How do we teach our children to learn from their mistakes and help them grow up well? Discipline…
Did God Spank Moses?
The story of Moses at the burning bush is (thanks to Cecil DeMille and Charlton Heston) one of the most famous stories in the Old Testament (see Exodus 3 & 4). But have you ever read it as an example…
Dealing With Rejection
Kids are rejected from every side. Sometimes the rejection or criticism comes from a teacher that just doesn’t “get” your kid. Sometimes it comes from an angry family member. Sometimes it’s rejection from peers, gossiping, or getting picked last in gym class.…
Why “Asking Too Much” Can Be a Good Thing
When Moses told the nation of Israel to follow God’s commandments and “impress them on your children,” (Deut. 6:7) he was not speaking just to parents but to an entire community. He knew individual families were vulnerable. He knew that…
How to Turn Misbehavior Into Success!
Few watching Jonathan Horton faithfully anchor the 2012 US Men’s Gymnastics team would guess that, apparently, he was quite a squirrelly youngster! But “squirrelly” is definitely the right word — as a commercial that aired during the Olympics describes, a young…
Connection in Correction (Love No Matter What!)
Our belief is that what makes a discipline technique effective is not what parents do, but how they do it. This is where the most effective technique we’ve ever seen comes in. We call it “Connection in Correction”. It’s a way of…
Your Family and Youth Sports: Maximize the Learning – Minimize the Stress
I’m a coach for my son’s 5th grade football team. I’ve learned the basics of coaching, how to break things down to teach skills that will help the team succeed. I love the game, the kids, the coaches. It’s…