One of the tools we teach in Empowered to Connect is having parents embrace the privilege of saying âYesâ to their children. Day one of our 2016 spring break was a day of saying yes at our house.
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Connection Jars
Finding ways to connect with your kids can be hard. Connection jars can give you a quick and easy way to add connecting activities to your everyday routine. Set a certain time each day and allow each of your kids to pick an activity from the jar. Spending just 5 minutes each day connecting with [...]
Rest
I donât do New Yearâs resolutions. I used to but found they were quickly broken, leaving me feeling defeated before the year was really underway. I tried goal setting but found my goals were too small for fear of failing at the big things or too big and, therefore, set me up for more failure. [...]
Do Not be Afraid
The instruction to ânot be afraidâ is the most frequently occurring command in the Bible. We are told to not be afraid over 350 times. Fear is addressed more than love or giving, hope or heaven, faith or salvation. We know that fear is one of the biggest drivers of our kidâs behaviors. We need [...]
An Evening with Tapestry
Tapestry is celebrating 10 years of ministry this year with two events both on September 19. They will host a Family Fun Carnival at Irving Bible Church at 10:00 am and then enjoy dinner together at the Hilton DFW Lakes in Grapevine that evening. Author and speaker Carissa Woodwyk will be their guest. Carissa is a writer, [...]
What Does Your Label Say?
We live in a name it to claim it kind of world where we all like to label things. If it doesnât have a label, it doesnât make any sense. And if it doesn't make any sense, we don't know what to do with it. We even have label makers so that we can make [...]
I Get to Share my Mother’s Day
Today is Motherâs Day. It's the day we set aside to celebrate moms for all the hard work and loving attention they give to their children throughout the year. While it is a day of celebration and honor, it can be a day of conflicting emotions for some of us. Ten years ago I became [...]
Lazy Parenting
I donât consider myself a lazy person.  I am up early, I rarely sit down, and I always have a to-do list a mile long. I mean who has time to be lazy when you are a parent?  Yet I find myself parenting lazy.  I find myself saying ânoâ to my kids out of laziness.  I [...]
Thoughts on MLK Day
Today we pause and remember civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King. I can still remember the first time I watched footage of his âI Have a Dreamâ speech in history class. As a young man growing up in South Africa in the 1980âs Dr. King had a profound effect on my life because the [...]
What Are Your Expectations?
Let me start by saying that I believe most people mean well. But good intentions are just that, good intentions and nothing more. It is amazing what complete strangers feel the liberty to say. Some of the things Iâve heard as an adoptive dad have made me smile, grit my teeth, want to yell, and [...]