Parent conversations: How can we help today’s overwhelmed teens?
Being a teen has always involved struggle and angst. The difference today is that a teen’s struggles can be broadcast immediately to an entire world of virtual...
Parent conversations: How can parents maintain a healthy marriage?
Maintaining a healthy marriage requires work for any couple, but when you add kids into the mix, it can get more challenging because your time is divided into even...
November 2021
Week 41 Romans 6:1-14 Romans 6:15-23 Romans 7:1-25 Romans 8:1-17 Romans 8:18-39 Romans 9:1-18 Romans 9:19-33 Week 42 Romans 10:1-21 Romans 11:1-10 Romans 11:11-36...
October 2021
Week 37 Acts 17:1-15 Acts 17:16-34 Acts 18:1-28 Acts 19:1-20 Acts 19:21-41 Acts 20:1-12 Acts 20:13-38 Week 38 Acts 21:1-16 Acts 21:17-36 Acts 21:37–22:29 Acts...
Parent conversations: You might be a Lutheran parent if . . .
Does anyone else feel the weight of all the serious issues we have been dealing with as a society over the past couple years? I mean, yes, COVID, but so many other...
Parent conversations: Parenting post–high school: What is a parent’s role?
My kids are 15, 10, and 7, so I haven’t quite gotten to this stage of parenting yet . . . but I can feel it coming. The important moments are stacking up. Time...
September 2021
Week 33 John 19:28-42 Matthew 27:62-28:15 John 20:1-18 Luke 24:13-49 John 20:19-31 John 21:1-25 Acts 1:1-26 Week 34 Acts 2:1-47 Acts 3:1-26 Acts 4:1-37 Acts 5:1-42...
August 2021
Week 29 Matthew 17:1-17 Matthew 18:1-35 Matthew 19:1-30 Luke 10:1-42 Luke 11:1-32 Luke 11:33-54 Luke 12:1-34 Week 30 Luke 12:35-59 Luke 13:1-35 Luke 14:1-35 Luke...
Parent conversations: How can families use the hymnal in their worship life at home?
True confession: I’m not much of a singer or musician. Yet I enjoy belting out a great hymn of praise, and it makes my heart soar when I hear my kids doing the...
Parent conversations: What should Christian parents teach their children about gender?
I believe that Christian parents have a pivotal role to play in a world that is so confused by gender. Obviously this role starts at home with our own children,...
July 2021
Week 25 Luke 4:1-30 John 1:1-18 John 1:35-51 John 2:1-25 John 3:1-36 John 4:1-42 John 5:1-47 Week 26 Matthew 4:18–5:16 Matthew 5:17-48 Matthew 6:1-34 Matthew 7:1-29...
Parent conversations: What is vocation? How does it apply to parenting?
As a parent, it’s easy to get mired down in the day-to-day routines and the mundane details and forget that what we are doing is an important honor. One of my...
June 2021
Week 21 Ecclesiastes 12:1-14 Isaiah 6:1-13 Isaiah 11:1-6 Isaiah 25:1-12 Isaiah 40:1-31 Isaiah 53:1-12 Jeremiah 1:1-19 Week 22 Jeremiah 36:1-32 Ezekiel 33:1-22 Ezekiel...
Parent conversations: Why do siblings fight? How should I react when they are fighting?
My life is so much richer, thanks to my brother and sisters. Each one helped shape me into the person I am today. Part of that shaping involved fighting—a lot...
May 2021
Week 17 1 Kings 16:29-17:24 1 Kings 18:16-45 1 Kings 19:1-21 1 Kings 21:1-29 1 Kings 22:19-53 2 Kings 2:1-25 2 Kings 5:1-27 Week 18 2 Kings 11:1-2:21 2 Kings 17:1-41...
April 2021
Week 13 1 Samuel 1:1-28 1 Samuel 3:1-21 1 Samuel 8:1-22 1 Samuel 9:1-21 1 Samuel 10:1-27 1 Samuel 14:1-23 1 Samuel 16:1-23 Week 14 1 Samuel 17:1-11,31-58 1 Samuel...
Parent conversations: How do we teach children resilience?
One of the fun parts of managing this column is that I’m never quite sure how God is going to bring it all together—I just know that he will. For example, when...
March 2021
Week 9 Numbers 13:1–14:4 Numbers 14:5-45 Numbers 16:1-50 Numbers 21:4-9 Deuteronomy 29:1-29 Deuteronomy 30:1-20 Deuteronomy 31:1-30 Week 10 Deuteronomy 34:1-12...
Parent conversations: How do I approach vaccines as a Christian parent?
Many people enter conversations about vaccines with trepidation because opinions can vary widely. However, we at Forward in Christ think that it’s important to...
Parent conversations: How can I explain the Sixth Commandment to a young child?
Recently my six-year-old came home from his Lutheran elementary school, and I overheard him ask his older siblings, “What is ‘adultery’?” Apparently his...
February 2021
Week 5 Genesis 41:1-36 Genesis 41:37-57 Genesis 42:1-38 Genesis 43:1-34 Genesis 44:1-34 Genesis 45:1-28 Genesis 47:27-31; 49:1-33 Week 6 Genesis 50:1-26 Exodus 1:8–2:10...
Parent conversations: How can I help my child have an optimistic outlook?
I have seen many calls for 2020 to end so that we can start fresh in 2021. Yet let’s be honest. By the time January 1, 2021, ends, we’ll already have messed...
Parent conversations: What if we can’t follow our Christmas traditions this year?
For better or worse, Christmas is filled with traditions. Some of these traditions help celebrate Jesus’ birth—the Christmas Eve candlelight service or the children’s...
Parent conversations: What are ways to foster a rich prayer life in children?
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). It’s a familiar...