Category: Youth

"As a mom, I could feed my child's anxiety, or I could feed their peace. We set the temperature for our kids." – Beth Moore, President of Living Proof Ministries. This weekend, my wife and I attended a live sporting event near our home, and after its unclimactic conclusion, I found myself somewhat surprised by what I'd just witnessed. My wife and I don't frequent live sporting events, so we're not aware of or accustomed to enthusiastic fans' over-the-top behaviors as they encircle players from the sidelines with a chorus of harsh and negative comments that are hard to ignore. While I understand playing sports requires incredible concentration and the ability to dismiss a chorus of negative comments thrown at you by eager spectators, I'm unsure how players successfully accomplish…

"The single story creates stereotypes, and the problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete. They make one story become the only story." Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Once upon a time, in a land called New Jersey, lived a young boy (that would be me) who struggled to fit in and find acceptance with other young boys his age. I was kind, sensitive, amusing, and highly creative, with a never-ending imagination that always surprised and amazed everyone around me.  Such traits were not befitting of the societal stereotypes adopted and supported when it came to the male gender and their behaviors.  But such traits were only one part of my story. I also enjoyed digging in the dirt behind my parent's garage with a miniature…

By now, I'm sure you're all aware of our nation's latest school shooting, which occurred at a private Christian school in Nashville, Tennessee, earlier this week. Many of us are angry, horrified, and deeply troubled that the lives of those so young were tragically robbed of their future (and let's not forget those adults whose lives were abruptly cut short as well). These are feelings we've all experience far too often over the years as gun violence has normalized throughout America. I want to focus on and further discuss the realities of how gun violence has normalized and why this most recent shooting in Nashville will be forgotten sooner than it should be until the next school shooting comes along. Dictionary.com defines "to normalize" as "causing something previously considered abnormal…

I recently came across an article on YourModernFamily.com by writer Becky Mansfield which gave some enlightening information on how today’s families are too busy. She shares that after recently moving into a family-friendly neighborhood, she asked one of the mothers next door if their daughters could get together and play. She assumed the response would be immediate, and the girls could get together that same day. Instead, she was shocked when the mother pulled out her cell phone and began scrolling and scrolling and scrolling for what seemed like forever before finally responding, “She has a 45-minute opening two and half weeks from now. The rest of the time gymnastics, piano, and voice lessons. She’s just so busy.” I wish I could say I haven’t experienced the same situation in my life,…