Joyful Generosity
“Thoughts disentangle themselves...over the lips and through the fingertips.” I learned that saying over 30 years ago, and just about every time I put it to the test, it works!
“Thoughts disentangle themselves...over the lips and through the fingertips.” I learned that saying over 30 years ago, and just about every time I put it to the test, it works!
Every day we parents leave footprints for our family to follow. But parenting is not a game—a future generation of faith rests on us. There’s no doubt we are leaving tracks and our kids follow in our footsteps…at least for a while.
Do you become paralyzed by “what if” questions? What if it happens? What if it doesn’t? That’s what I call living hypothetically. There is a better way! Here are four ways the Bible instructs us to think.
It is correct to say God wants me happy. But He doesn’t want us to value it above other things or base our happiness in superficial temporary circumstances. God built us to desire happiness but He wants us to find it in relation to Him.
A good way to think about contentment is Christ-sufficiency, not self-sufficiency.
We’re prone to treat the Bible like a textbook and we’re cramming for a test. We know how to read, analyze, colour code, timeline, and graph the Scriptures, (all good!) but meditation is a neglected skill.
As we share with God every worry that weighs us down, our circumstances may not change but we will. We begin to let Him carry the heavy loads that we can’t bear. We start to trust Him to handle the problems that we can’t control.
Contentment comes through choices we make. The Apostle Paul said he had learned how to be content (Philippians 4:11–13). Following Paul’s teaching and example can help us learn how to be content.
There isn’t a day that passes in which I fail to see, hear, or read something that makes me smile. And because laughter is such an effective therapy, I’m grateful that God dispenses this divine medication so frequently.
Here are five key lessons kids learn through going through hard times with the sensitive guidance of their parents.