“I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.” – Psalm 119.93 We have all had those days when you feel like nothing is happening; nothing is changing. You are at a standstill. There is simply no spark. In the middle of this dessert your teen walks in with a crisis that needs fixing or a pr...
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If your family is like mine, you love basking in the pleasure of summer break. There are no tests, science fair projects, homework, or anything else that resembles school. This also means your child is at home all day long, everyday, with lots of idle time on his hands. We all know what the idle mind of a twelve year old can bec...
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Sexting is exactly what it sounds like––sending a sexually related message to another person via text or instant message. And it’s much more common among teenagers than you might think. There have been several recent studies concerning the how and why of teen sexting. In a study from Drexel University more than half of the...
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My kids call me “the king of deals.” It no longer surprises them when I come home with something that I got for next to nothing. Most recently it was the $1500 living room suite that I got for $300. Its not always something as big as this. Many times its as simple as six boxes of pasta I got for free or .99 dry clean...
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I can still remember the first time I saw a pornographic image sitting in my buddy’s bedroom as a fifth grader. That first image was more than thirty years ago, and it’s still with me today. It will never go away. That first image led to more images and a stronger pull toward the forbidden. Whether single or married, I ...
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Have your ever heard of the 10,000 rule? Malcolm Gladwell popularized the phrase in his book Outliers. The 10,000 rule is the idea that it take roughly 10,000 hours of practice at something to master it. You don’t become great by accident. Most people would consider The Beatles the greatest rock-n-roll band of all time. It ...
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When I was in high school, my biggest social concerns were where I was going to go skateboarding, who I was going to go out with on Friday night, and how I was going to get gas money. As a faithful member of the “me” generation, everything on my radar had to do with, well…me. But things have changed for teens of this g...
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Our culture loves creating scapegoats. When the economy goes bad, we point fingers at the President. When kids don’t make high enough grades, we blame teachers. When a marriage crumbles, it’s always the other person’s fault. When we feel afraid, hurt, or disappointed, a scapegoat is never far out of reach. We do the same t...
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I recently had the opportunity to lead our Wired Generation workshop for a group of elementary school parents. We talked about risk behavior for teens and tweens concerning cell phones, gaming systems, email, and online blog sites. Afterward the most interesting comment was from a mom who remarked, “I thought I had a few...
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Yeah, I know. I wrote a book on technology for parents, yet I haven’t even been on social media lately. At least, I wasn’t on for a season, and I feel I’m all the better because of it. So here’s the story. For several months I took a social media sabbatical. I didn’t delete my accounts; I just let them sit ther...
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