In this series of posts we are talking about passing the baton of faith to our children. Last week we talked about “discipleship in the home;” this week we are covering the vital relationship between the “church & the home;“ and next week we’ll be talking about “how to impart a biblical worldview” to the next generation. And we have to remember that each of these are impossibly hard to do… every family will face the incredible gale force winds of the cultural “formation machine” (Dallas...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Growing up as a Christin college kid, eventually you’re gonna be asked to “share your testimony” and when that moment comes, you better hope you have something dramatic to report! Like how you had an addiction or negligent parents or were suicidally depressed and God came along and radically saved you… I don’t know call it our fixation with the Hollywood story “arc” (good guy>bad guy>conflict>resolution), but for some reason when its your turn to share and you pipe up saying how you were,...
2 months ago • 5 min read
Friends, It only took us a couple months (sorry for the radio silence!) but our parenting with grit and grace podcast is finally here. If you haven’t already checked it out (through our various social channels), we encourage you to do so here: Please feel free to comment there on YouTube with your questions and even topics you’d like us to cover! For audio-only check these out: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/parenting-with-grit-grace/id1806438127?i=1000702108020 Ep 1 | This Is Us Apr 3...
3 months ago • 1 min read
Don’t Say “Maybe!” It’s Saturday when your kid pipes up from the back seat, asking for a play date later, a trip for ice cream or In and Out Burger; you’re thinking ‘who knows! We have a relatively open docket, anything’s possible!’ And so you respond with a hopeful, ‘maybe!’ Do you know what they hear? Not only did they hear that as a, ‘yes’ it’s now a bona fide guarantee, it’s a deep fried Oreo ‘yes’ and it’s even been boiled in beef tallow! Because now maybe it will be a surprise,...
6 months ago • 3 min read
A Rule of Life New Year’s resolutions, SMART goals, systems, and “bingo cards”… We’ve heard of them all at the end of the year and no matter what you call them, we want to argue that there most definitely is a place for habit-forming new beginnings in the New Year. Before we get into our version of New Year’s resolutions, it feels like it’s something we have to convince you of, well maybe some of you… Ask an audience of 100 people if they do resolutions and what do you think you find? Maybe...
6 months ago • 4 min read
HOW TO FIX THE “CHRISTMAS KRANKS” I love Christmastime, I love the lights, the shopping, the cooking, the weather! I love just staring at the Christmas tree in our study while I work early in the morning. I love staring at the lights and the lopsided ornament array (when you have small children who are prone to constantly ripping them down, their haphazard pattern begins midway and travels up from there). Yes I truly love all that warm and fuzzy stuff… But this morning, staring at that tree,...
7 months ago • 5 min read
5 Life Lessons From Coaching My Kid’s Team Last month, at my 1st & 2nd graders basketball game, I paid my penance. Whatever sins have accrued over the years, and they are many, have now officially been paid… as a coach… of 1st & 2nd grade basketball. Lemme back up for a second, lets start at the beginning. About 6 weeks ago we showed up for our 1st practice at shoreline church in fountain valley-best little developmental sports league around. The coach doesn’t show. Well I’m there, I’m...
7 months ago • 7 min read
Thankful for hard things We’ve just got back from Boston this week. Selah (our 9-year old) had major surgery (she had an 8-inch benign tumor removed from her right leg; the incision goes from hip to knee cap). Here is a list of discoveries when walking with your child through pain: They do not have an adult-level concept of pain… At least for me (Ben) as a wanna-be macho man, the philosophies of ‘no pain, no gain!’ ‘Suck it up!’ ‘Embrace the pain!’ ‘Pain is weakness leaving the body’ ‘what...
7 months ago • 5 min read
A Post-Election Prayer (For a People in Exile) 12 MIN READ “He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward.” - Hebrews 11:26 NET Sometimes it’s easy to think that America is the promised land, but I want to argue that it is closer to an “Egypt” or a “Babylon.” Whether it’s the slavery that grew up around our feet (Egypt) or the slavery we were driven to (Babylon), both are closer to reality for American...
8 months ago • 3 min read