We all know that building strong relationships takes ongoing work. We start by prioritizing our relationship(s) and finding time for those who are important to us.  If we neglect to do that life moves along and we can lose touch.   A close relationship is like a dance.  When one person moves, the other one responds.  The dance can go... >Read More

Tags: better parenting, challenges & conflicts, communication, emotions, family issues, family values, feelings, friendship, healthy marriage, improving your marriage, intimacy, marriage, priorities, protecting your marriage, relationships, resolving conflict, Romance & Sex, sex and love, sexual intimacy

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It would turn out to be another fateful day.  We were all together as a family with friends at a Mountain Lodge and I took a break from all the activity to relax and read in my room. That's where my daughter's boyfriend, Dan, found me and that began the fateful part of the day. He asked if we could... >Read More

Tags: adult children, better parenting, commitment, communication, Culture, Family, healthy marriage, marriage, priorities, values, World

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New life is always a celebration! When a new baby arrives in your circle of influence welcome that little one with open arms. Don’t respond with disapproval if the circumstances around the birth have not been what you consider ideal. You have an opportunity to begin speaking into the heritage that little child will have. Your influence now can...... >Read More

Tags: baby, better parenting, birth, care, Celebrate, faith & spirituality, Family, growing in your faith, healthy, help, marriage, new life, new mom, newlywed, parenting essentials, priorities, teenagers, young mom

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I have my meals planned this week. But rather than posting my plan (it's just pasta Monday, fish Tuesday, meatless on Wednesday, frozen leftovers on Thursday), I thought I'd post my rationale for eating together.  When I was out walking recently, my daughter Katie said to me, "You know what I like about our family, Mommy? We eat together. It's...... >Read More

Tags: attitude problems, better parenting, character develoment, Culture, dinner, eat together, Family, FamilyLife, FamilyLife Favs, menu planning, parenting essentials, plan ahead, quality time, Shelia Wray Gregoire, teenages, teens, values, World

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One of the most difficult parts of marriage is agreeing how to discipline. When one parent is more lenient, and one is more harsh, often parents fail to back each other up, and instead form emotional bonds with the kids. Here's a situation that happened in our family recently: One of our daughters, who had been very compliant, hit puberty,... >Read More

Tags: better parenting, communication, different discipline styles, discipline, Family, FamilyLife, parenting, parenting essentials, resolving conflict, sheila wray gregoire, spouse, teens, values

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Every now and then, an idea explodes through our collective consciences, challenging our notions about how life works. It happened in the fifteenth century when Galileo argued that the earth was round. It happened in the eighteenth century when upstarts in North America decided they wanted to govern themselves. And I hope, for some of you parents,...... >Read More

Tags: better parenting, character development, children, consequences, fail, Family, FamilyLife Canada, FamilyLife Favs, guide, parenting essentials, parents, Shelia Wray Gregoire, succeed, teach, teenagers, values

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There was a video on CNN yesterday that stopped me in my tracks. It wasn’t footage from Thailand, or election coverage.  It is a video of a little 5 year old girl  sitting in front of an image of 5 cartoon children. The children are all wearing the same dress and the same expression, only the color of their skin... >Read More

Tags: beauty, better parenting, character development, Family, family issues, family values, in the news, parenting, parenting essentials, racism, Self, social issues, World

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