Christian Living

Finding a Mate: Honoring Your Parents
We've said some critical things about the way the courtship model of finding a mate is generally carried out, but one good thing that has come out of it is the recognition that courtship and marriage involves more than two people, it involves two families. We're always amused when we hear someone say, "I'm marrying her,…
It Seems I’m Always Yelling
A reader with four boys 8 and under called for help: I feel like when I talk, no one hears me. So then I yell. My friends call me "The Drill Sergeant Mom". I am so frustrated. Wow, do we ever sympathize! One time, we had a friend -- a mother of several girls --…
A Review: Character Badges
I was so excited to see that Caroline Allen's new Character Badges curriculum was a part of the Ultimate Homemaking Bundle! I've heard Caroline talking about it and I've been wanting to take a look at it. (more…)
Q: What Can I Do When We’re Always In The Car?
We have a large family, and the dynamic is so very different. It seems like we're spending most of the time getting the kids to their various activities and not a lot of coming together any more, aside from meals.  We have been through this at different times ourselves, and frankly, it doesn't take a…
Four Famous Failures (That Should Change the Way We Parent)
Q. A mom came up to us at a conference where we'd been speaking about entrepreneurship, "My teenage son is constantly coming up with business ideas, but I'm afraid to let him try. What if he fails?" We are not doing our boys a service to protect them from ever failing. When we do that,…
What Age Is Best For Boys To Start Sports?
We live in North Carolina, just an hour and a half from Duke, UNC, and N.C. State. If I say "March," you say, "Madness." It's time for the NCAA basketball playoffs, so it's only seasonable to mix our metaphors and kick off our "Wondering Wednesdays" with a question we received a few days ago: Q.…
Boys and Valentine’s Day
Moms tend to be big fans of Valentine's Day. We love relationship stuff, chocolate, hearts, and flowers. Boys? Not so much. Chocolate is good, but the rest is kind of gooshy. So what do we do about Valentine's Day in a houseful of boys? If you've been around here for awhile, you know we love…
Oh Murder! What Parents Need to Know About Teen Brains and the New Games
The first night of Boot Camp 9-12 is always so entertaining. We start off by describing the early signs that your child is entering puberty (and no, peach fuzz and a cracking voice are actually late signs). We talk about how kids in that stage start having huge emotional swings, from rage to tears, get…
What’s The One Most Important Thing?
We recently reached a milestone online – our Facebook page Raising Real Men has gathered 20,000 fans. In the discussion that morning, one of our readers asked, “As a single mom, can you tell me the one most important thing I can teach my son?” (more…)
New Electronics and Temptations
On tonight's episode of Making Biblical Family Life Practical, we are discussing all those new electronics that our families got for Christmas. How can you make sure these are a positive influence in their life, not a dangerous one. Here are some resources we are going to be talking about. Covenant Eyes. Get it. Put…