A book that directly benefits orphans I’m excited to introduce a brand new, beautifully illustrated children’s book called Where Are My Mama and Baba? Little One is a spunky orphan who doesn’t have time to wait around for her family to come find her. She decides to set off and search all over the Shanghai... Read More
3 ways the Annual Proverbs Challenge will change you
Will you join me in studying Proverbs in the upcoming year? Many people recommend a month-long challenge, but I suggest doing this each month for a year. The process is simple. There are 31 chapters in Proverbs, and for each date, you read the corresponding chapter for that date. This means that chapter 31 won’t... Read More
A new year with ancient truth
Have you purchased a new daily planner, or a new calendar for your desk or wall? Are you the kind of person who gets a smart, compact pad of paper that will try to teach you a “Word of the Day” or “Chinese Character of the Day”? We love the chance to learn something new... Read More
Overwhelmed with blessings
Psalm 127 has had a profound influence on my way of thinking about children. But it hasn’t been an easy transition. Instead, it’s been one I have to make each and every day. In this psalm, God defines how adults should think about children, and it’s a view that is neither sentimental nor skeptical. Psalm... Read More
Psalm 127: A song of parenting
Have you ever felt like there were relatively few verses in the Bible dedicated to child-rearing? We can find powerful overarching principles (like the importance of teaching our children God’s word, Deut. 11:19) but few passages that help us with “parenting techniques.” Honestly, in all my searching for good parenting advice and scriptural principles, for... Read More
Psalm 32: A song of forgiveness
Once, while I was at a friend’s home, I heard one of them say a sentence I would later hear repeated often: People are more important than things. That one small sentence summarizes many Scriptural principles about love for others and many warnings about greed and pride. I’ve since used it to encourage my children... Read More
Book Review: Relationships, a mess worth making
Title: Relationships: A Mess Worth Making (This book is available is multiple formats on Amazon.*) Authors: Timothy S. Lane and Paul David Tripp Recommended for: Any Christian Every day of our lives is made up of interactions with people. These interactions bring disappointments, comfort, encouragement, frustration, and cause myriads of emotions. In any given relationship,... Read More
The worst place to find hope
An email inbox is no place to find hope. But that’s where I was looking. The thoughts kept circling in my mind like vultures eyeing a huge rotting mess: Why would she say such a thing? I’m sure by now she realizes she shouldn’t have said it. Maybe she’ll apologize today. Maybe she’ll tell me... Read More
Prayer: An all-natural remedy for sleepless nights
Have you ever had one of those terrible nights when all of the problems of the days, weeks, or years came crashing down on you and you felt trapped, pressed down in your bed by difficulty, unable to sleep because of the troubling thoughts that keep swirling around in your mind? Recently, I actually woke... Read More
World’s best recipe
When I think about my life before I became a Christian, there really is one refrain that sums it up best, and it comes in the form of the famous lyrics of the Rolling Stones: “I can’t get no satisfactionI can’t get no satisfaction‘Cause I try and I try and I try and I try….”... Read More