My Christian life: A single mother finds a new beginning
A struggling single parent finds a home, community, and renewed faith. Two and a half years ago, Erika was pregnant and living in what she calls some “unsavory” temporary housing.…
My Christian life: Finding real Christmas joy while in the hospital
A hospital stay during Christmas helps a pastor focus on real Christmas joy. “Please, Lord, please let next Christmas be different.” On Dec. 12, 2020, I was admitted to the…
Jesus every day
Six simple ways to bring faith into focus for families every day of the week. Lists of things seem to be the popular way to get people to click on…
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…
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…
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 have conversations about places where your…
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 class was memorizing the Sixth Commandment, and…
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…
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 Christmas service, for example. Others may…