All Articles for Foundations

One woman says her upbringing was based in fear and shame because of the concept of sin. God was a megaphone in my head: “You’re bad, you’re bad!”

In a first world country, our kids know that everything they could ever want to buy is accessible. How do we teach them the value of things and money?

For one couple, becoming foster parents happened in a really unexpected way.

Many parents fall into the well-meaning mishap of clearing an easy path for their kids, regardless of the cost. Have you?

Most kids on today’s campuses probably fall into the category of “bystander.” They know they should probably do something, but they don’t.

From a FamilyLife Today^® broadcast, a list of ideas to help your kids think missionally about life.

I’ve always believed that’s what birth mothers really are—heroes.

We cannot live redemptive lives and hate our neighbor. Diversity in relationships not only shows unity to the world but also builds in our own hearts a love for others.

My kids need to grow up with the knowledge that I require a Savior just as much as they do.

Talking to my kids about shootings doesn’t come easily—how do I answer questions about things I don’t understand myself?

My husband and I are raising our daughters to identify with who God designed them to be, embrace the characteristics He gave them, and develop confidence in the goodness of their Maker.

You have the privilege of growing a child who knows the love of God personally and knows how to love people well.

Is foster care messy? Of course. Is it worth it? Absolutely.

The time we have with our children before they enter into adulthood is limited. We have a responsibility to use it well, with a heart of wisdom.

Teachable moments are opportunities for us to imprint God’s values on the next generation.

I want more for Drew Brees and his sons than just what they can earn. And Jesus offers more.

Of all the stories about raising six children we’ve told over the years, this is probably our favorite.

The patterns I saw in my child’s behavior opened my eyes to the damage my phone had done.

Helping a child understand this world is not our home.

If you view your kids as sinners who need salvation, you’ll see parenting as a rescue mission.

A list for parents who want their children to know their love and God’s love.

These verses can become the centerpiece of kitchen table discussions and a tour guide for difficult conversations.

Teaching your children to help others is a lifetime gift to them and to everyone they encounter.

Don't ever think that training your child's language is in vain.

Filling our hearts and minds with the things of God will quench the hunger that the world cannot.

Your kids will encounter this issue someday. How will you handle their questions?

The practice of family worship is a crucial discipline for spiritually healthy families.

My parents showed me how to walk as a believer and honor Christ in all things.

Here’s a ‘game’ I developed to help my kids understand spiritual priorities as they begin to face the pressures and temptations of their world.

Rather than only teaching them simple prayers they can memorize and recite, we need to intentionally educate our children about what prayer should look like.

If you don’t shape your children, with God’s help, the world will.

Your calling as a parent is to model a faith that is authentic and strong.

Four practical suggestions for facing uncertain times with faith and courage.

In the minds of most teenagers, there is no universal standard for sexual morality of absolutes beyond a person’s own view as to what makes sexual activity right or wrong.

Your love for your child should define your relationship—just as God’s love defines His relationship with us as His children.

Training preschoolers can be overwhelming, but starting small will build a strong foundation for more lessons to come.

As much as we hate it, our children lose control, make poor choices, and deal with shame, grief, and remorse. That’s when they need you the most.

Here are a few steps you can take to create the right environment for your son to grow in his faith while he’s still living in your home.

The undeniable fact is that God expects parents to lead the family.

Ideas for creating a gravitational pull that brings family members closer to each other and to God.

As parents we can grow accustomed to doing everything for our young children and lose the opportunity to teach them responsibility.

While we should strive to be a godly example by the way we live, we must be proactive in teaching our children about God.

My desire is to incorporate these truths into the fabric of my family’s values.

How the high school coach of NBA star LeBron James teaches his players about the value of serving others.

We need to help our kids carefully discern good from evil without developing hearts that condemn others.

Too many kids grow up seeing their parents endorsing one thing and living out another.

Jessica Thompson learned that being a good kid doesn’t equal being a Christian.

Answer these questions with honesty, humility, and dependence on God's power.

Here are a few Bibles and works of Christian literature that my family enjoys reading together.

Your job is to help your children grow into the adults God intended them to be.

I lost my dad recently. He was the first really close person that I had lost, and the emotions of it all continue to be excruciating. I’ve gone through cycles of grief and sadness, feeling alone as I lost one of my biggest cheerleaders. Standing beside a casket gives an incredible sense of finality—no more […]

Training our kids to be good conversationalists is an example of living out the second great commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

A parent can influence children to become who God created them to be—not by manipulation or force but by watering the seeds God has planted.

It all begins with a foundation of God's Word.

One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is disciplined speech.

Karis Kimmel Murray describes the “Murray Family Code.” She and her husband developed these rules to emphasize practical and biblical expectations for how family members will live and treat each other.

God’s grace serves as the self-healing mechanism for our inadequate lenses when we fail at love, forgiveness, and grace itself.

You are God’s first responders, called to run in with help when your child is in danger because of burning desire or an attack of temptation.

Christians share a common identity in Christ, which takes precedence over ethnicity and every other difference that tends to divide us.

When we scutilize our parenting priorities, we often find that, although we are followers of Christ, we are also products of a compelling Western mindset.

If we had only 30 minutes to talk with you, here's the advice we would pass on.

Accepting the responsibility of teaching the Bible in your home will equip your kids to live by it when they are grown.

Youth entitlement seems to have reached epidemic proportions in both my family and society as a whole.

A few specifics that teenagers need to learn about the opposite sex.

No matter how skillful you are, only God is sovereign over your children.

Advice on how to meet all their needs, but not all their wants.

Stephen and Jill Kendrick's story of adopting Mia

Learn how to leave your children a heritage, not just an inheritance.

What happened when a 15-year-old boy appeared in a Florida church, asking for a family.

My parents’ commitment is a source of strength for their children and grandchildren.

When Laura and Steve Byers traveled 5,000 miles to Ukraine, they didn’t know the name of the little girl they would adopt. They had no idea what she would look like, or how old she would be. And they couldn’t comprehend how much she would change their lives. “How will we know it’s her?” Laura […]

A worksheet to help you determine what you believe in.

It's time to start considering how the sin we tolerate in our lives is impacting future generations.

"I am grateful for proof that two people can love each other for an entire lifetime."

Three suggestions for modeling conflict resolution to your kids.

What are some ways to teach my children about money?

Help your children take responsibility for their actions.

A champion gymnast learns that healing for her troubled relationship with her father takes more than hard work and determination. An excerpt from a new book, Growing Together in Forgiveness.

By building your child's character, you can help shape the future.

God will help you focus your family toward making a strong impact for His kingdom.

We need to realize that we are not just asking for an apology, but we are also training their consciences.

A tribute to J.T. Walker, a man who was passionate about his God, his family, and his church.

It's time for a heart-check about children in the Christian community. Do we truly have God's heart for children? Do we really believe children are a blessing?

September 2006 Like many Christians I know, my wife, Erin, and I had discussed whether adoption is something we would ever do. We liked to think that we would. The topic never really came up more than a handful of times. Then some friends of ours who had adopted invited us to an “If You […]

They thought their "baby days" were over, but they didn't know what the Lord would do next.

Building a simple fire pit in the backyard was key in building up the spiritual condition of our children.

Listening to FamilyLife Today has given me the encouragement to persevere.

A few ideas on how parents can start cultivating an attitude of service in simple ways, by weaving threads of humility, consideration, and an "others-first" attitude into the fabric of everyday life.

In the battle for the hearts and minds of our children, we need to recognize that they need our intentional guidance in countering the deceptions of life.

Explaining natural disasters and help children work through the issues.

Parental love is the first love a child experiences and the first love he (she) understands.

How can Christian parents encourage their children to become followers of Jesus Christ?

The second requirement of teaching children to be peacemakers is to help them understand the root cause of their conflicts.

Dividing responsibilities between Dad and Mom.

Helping children understand that significance is found in fulfilling God’s purpose for their lives.

What kind of exposure should my children have to a relative who is in an inappropriate or ungodly lifestyle?

What's a parent's number one need?

Encouragement for those who have doubts about adopting.

It begins with the process of attachment—the deep sense of belonging to each other.

If you spend much time studying God and His priorities and passions, you will learn why caring for orphans matters to Him.

When we got out of the car, I could tell I had picked a bad day to bring a little kid to the mall.

Lying, no matter how small, is a big deal. If our children are going to develop the discipline to always embrace the truth, it will be with our help.

These steps will help you keep track of the truth.

As we shape our children’s convictions we need to be careful to give them God’s perspective of lies, false appearances, and misrepresentations of the truth.

Here are some ways to test how well your child is handling the deceit trap.

We need to model and teach a commitment to excellence.

A life of integrity is a life you can trust.

Using chores to teach responsibility.

This can be a time in your child’s life when she can begin to wean herself from her parents and begin to form her own identity.

The child who is developing more complex thinking abilities now has a better set of tools to use in being deceitful.

Do your children know what you expect of them when they spend the night with a friend?

Our children have approached their simple household chores with all the enthusiasm normally expressed for a root canal.

You can use all sorts of methods to teach your children how to earn, save, invest, and spend wisely.

Your children are watching where you spend your time, money, and resources.

Parenting isn’t just a manual task—it’s the shaping of a life.

In a FamilyLife Today interview, Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine say that all of us are called by God to leave something behind—to have an impact on the next generation.

Gratitude is not natural; it must be nurtured.

The beloved coach was raised by a father who believed in building character.

Our love will be the stabilizing power that I hope God will use to pull this child through these turbulent times.

Guidance for teaching your children to be sensitive to potential danger.

Toddlers make mothers feel like they have lost control of the family.

Our children need to catch a vision for being an ambassador for Christ.

Eight "foundation builders" to help parents as they seek to cultivate strong friendships with their young children.

A day full of frustrating challenges gave me a good laugh years later.

What chores can children do at specific ages? The following chart gives some ideas of what is possible.

In most cases I find boredom to be a function of attitude—a result of my own selfishness and lack of vision or initiative or creativity.

These ideas won't cure every problem in your home, but they will help you refocus on kingdom purposes.

Three steps that will help you spiritually invest in your family.

A day full of frustrating challenges gave me a good laugh years later.

Here are some issues to consider as you consider adding to your family through adoption.

Manners were God's idea first.

God allowed me to spend a few precious hours with a husband, father, and grandfather finishing the race strong and loving his family during his last hours on earth.

If the gospel is central to your life, it also must be central in your family.

We can’t take the gospel for granted; instead we need to safeguard it and deliver it unaltered to the next generation.

Copyright © 2009 by FamilyLife. All rights reserved.

The story of one couple's journey from infertility to adoption.

Here's a list of values and character traits that helped us focus on biblical priorities in our parenting.

Ten ways to ensure that your child will not succeed.

Four tips for interacting with a stubborn child.

Here's help if you're concerned about how your children talk to you and to each other.

We used these ideas to help our children on their spiritual journeys.

Many well meaning parents mistakenly focus on a child’s conduct and miss the root cause … the heart.

You never know when God will give you an opportunity to imprint His values on your children.

Too many parents focus on changing a child's behavior. More important is what's going on in the child's heart.

Parents must identify false gods in their children's lives that distract them from the truth.

Will what you do today make a difference tomorrow?

My great-grandfather Peter continues to influence his family—several generations after his death.

Every Christian can make a difference in caring for orphans and children in foster care.

By giving you a brief glimpse into our story, we pray that we will encourage you to prayerfully consider getting involved in adoption and orphan care.

Sons need the model of maleness that they can best find in their father.

The story of an orphan who weighed only five pounds at six weeks, yet taught me about God's love and compassion.

Here are five reasons my family loved the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter and why you should take your family there, too.

Forty-six thousand men took a breath as Tom made his way to his son.