Family Archives - The Mom Initiative

3 Benefits of Spiritual Markers for Your Family

I have had many encounters with God and witnessed His activity in and around my life over and over again. But sadly my memory is short. Over time the awe and wonder dim. Most likely you also struggle to remember God’s goodness. God knows us so well. He knew we would tend to forget His miraculous works. That’s why He shows us a helpful tool in Scripture: Spiritual Markers. My favorite example of a spiritual marker in the Bible is when Joshua led the Israelites across the Jordan into the Promised Land (Joshua 3:14:17, 4:1-24). When the priests stepped into …

Long Distance Love

James 2:15-17 – New Living Translation (NLT) Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Holidays can conjure up a mix of emotions. Excitement, melancholy and busyness. But, for many they can be a lonely time of existence. A little over a year ago I moved to Tennessee, …

5 Simple Ways to Strengthen Your Family Ties

No offense Peyton, but I loved watching the Broncos the year Tim Tebow was the quarter back. You never knew what was going to happen. The follow up interviews were almost as good. Even though the reporters wanted to focus on Tim, he kept his focus on the team and God. I liked that. When I lead my parenting classes, one of the things we talk about is family unity, being a like a team, having the same main focus while appreciating each others gifts. I don’t want to run a boarding house or a taxi service where there is …

5 Ways to Make Saturdays Fun for Your Family

Do Saturdays seem saturated with chores and a long to-do list? Wish there was a way to make it fun for the family? We’re moms, so we know how busy life can be, but making Saturdays special for the family is SO worth it! So lets be honest… if we are going to make Saturdays fun, we’re going to have to be intentional and we might just have to re-arrange our weekdays in order to get some of our errands done and get our shopping in during the week. But I’d rather intentionally make time for fun with my family, …

Planning Family Fun During the School Year

“And also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor – it is the gift of God” Ecclesiastes 3:13 NKJV The beginning of a new school year always scares me. I like summer. I enjoy the relaxed atmosphere, the lack of homework, and my children sleeping in. As summer draws to an end, the panic begins to rise. I dread the schedules, the rules, the expectations that come with a new school year. Not because they don’t all lead to good habits and things in my children’s future, but because it seems to …

The secret to managing your holiday expectations

And just like that, the holiday season is here! If we’re honest, most of us have expectations for these special days. At the very least, we have hopes. The holidays are a snapshot of mom life. A lot of how the journey unfolds depends on our expectations. Children have expectations too. Can we blame them? We bring mounds of popcorn to the couch for animated movies about snow, talking reindeer and wishes coming true for kids across the spectrum of naughty and nice. We sing songs about the most wonderful time of the year and days that are merry and …

more than family

My sister-in-law, Kari Beth, is more than family to me. She’s my friend. Before she and I married brothers, we shared a suite in our freshman dorm. It was totally arranged by God that we would be suitemates because we had actually met as little girls through a mutual friend who had moved from Kari Beth’s hometown to mine. So, when her dark ponytail bounced through our bathroom door to say hello on a blazing hot August day ten years ago, I knew that this was someone meant to be in my life. Since then, we’ve shared pizza together in …

If we treat them like a treasure…

TODAY’s GIVEAWAYS… Mama Needs a Time Out by Heather Riggleman ENTER TO WIN by COMMENTING, SHARING this POST through Twitter or Facebook, and get EXTRA BROWNIE POINTS for sharing a BLOG ON YOUR SITE about the CONFERENCE (bloggers are added to our BLOG PARTNER LIST when you email us and let us know when and where to find the post!) *WINNERS will be announced in SUNDAY’s LIST OF WINNER of our WEEK OF LOVE! _______________________________________________________ Do I love you because you’re beautiful, Or are you beautiful because I love you? ~Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, Cinderella …

10 Scripture Memory Tips

Have you’ve ever wanted to memorize Scripture but didn’t think you had the time? Have you ever wished you could come up with an easy way to help your kids memorize Scripture. Memorizing the Word doesn’t have to be hard. Using the ideas below, you and your family can make Scripture memory fun as hide God’s Word in your hearts together! 1. Take your weekly memory verse with you wherever you go. Review it at every stoplight. You’ll be surprised how much you retain! If the family is in the car together, take turns saying your memory verse at each …