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Today’s Tip

Being a supportive parent means having your child’s best interests at heart but also being present, involved, and helpful. It includes:
• actively encouraging them to do their best with school, their hobbies, and interests
• listening without judgment and seeking to understand their concerns and challenges
• acknowledging their achievements and supporting them through mistakes and challenges
• setting consistent expectations and consequences to help them to feel secure and able to predict outcomes
• treating them fairly and developing a trusting relationship.
The influence that you have over your child is more dependent on a trusting relationship than it is on how much authority you dish out and how many lectures you give. It may feel like they’re trying to push you away, but they’re actually trying to push themselves away from you to choose a direction in life, and to shape an identity for themselves as a separate, independent person.
Love, support, trust, and optimism from their family make them feel safe and secure and are powerful weapons against peer pressure, life’s challenges, and disappointments.
Your aim is to keep your child safe and to give them the foundations they need to do their best. At a minimum they need:
• to know they are loved for who they are, and that you are always there to support them
• an environment where basic needs such as a safe and healthy place to live, healthy food, and school supplies are made a priority
• protection and support to keep themselves safe from mental and physical abuse
• respect for their feelings and concerns
• acknowledgement of their milestones and achievements such as birthdays or first day at school
• respect for their friends, clothing, sports and music choices, and interests.

Reclaiming God’s Rest from Your Grind

November 14, 2015

I originally recorded this video devotion for men because so many of us are literally dying from the grind of life. However after recording, it became evident, that this message is for both genders. I pray this short video devotion will expose the schemes of…

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The Lack of Sexual Self Control

November 12, 2015

Now David’s son Absalom had a beautiful sister named Tamar. And Amnon, her half brother, fell desperately in love with her. Amnon became so obsessed with Tamar that he became ill. – 2 Samuel 13:1-2 Many of us men have become so obsessed with the…

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Delayed Discipline

May 11, 2015

Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. – Ecclesiastes 8:11 In the recent years, we’ve seen this scripture fulfilled when young men riot because a judgment…

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Pulled Over But Poised

February 25, 2015

Two nights ago while taking one of my students home, I was pulled over by two Warren Michigan police vehicles for “allegedly” speeding (35 in a 30 mph zone). My student says, “You weren’t speeding.” I tell him, “This is not the time to be…

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Baby Toys & Raising Boys

February 19, 2015

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, think, reason like a child; when I became a man, I put away childish things.” – 1 Corinthians 13:11 One morning as I prepared my 7 year old son’s breakfast, I noticed that he was still…

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Performing For A Fathers Love

December 5, 2014

This morning during his breakfast, I noticed my son trying to study for a speed spelling test after he discovered he scored low on a prior one. Although I despise multitasking, I encouraged him for his effort but told him to stop studying and eat.…

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Training for Godliness – 1 Timothy 4:8

September 6, 2014

The Cave of Adullam’s training was very good today. We got some good physical training in, which is of some value, but the focus was training for godliness, which is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come (1 Tim…

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Confronting the Spirit of Laziness in Boys

September 3, 2014

God never uses lazy people. Unfortunately due to the curse after the fall (Gen 3:17-19), the natural inclination of boys and men is to avoid hard work. This is why so many get lost in chasing a dream, instead of their purpose. In this short…

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Disciplined While Having Fun

August 18, 2014

Usually I would have a lesson prepared for each training, but when I walked into the building, and saw that the bouncy we rented for our summer camp was still there, this day became an impromptu Father and Son competition! What’s a blessing is that…

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Wounded & Abandoned

May 19, 2014

This is the best display I’ve seen regarding the father wound. I know this feeling all too well and remember many disappointing occasions like this with my father. I also remember saying to my father the very words Will Smith said to his uncle in…

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