parenting
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Parenting“When you coming home, dad?”
Cat’s in the Cradle was once described by the artist’s brother as the song that “…put more fathers ill at ease than any other song…
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ParentingTeaching small fries to take notes, sing psalms, and speak to God
When your child is old enough to write… When your child learns to write he is ready to begin taking sermon notes. Say, what? Let’s…
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ParentingThe Pity Party Pit and how to get out of it
Homemaking and motherhood are hard. There are days and even seasons when the monotony can feel palpable as we change one more diaper, wash one…
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ParentingThe Golden Rule: the biblical response to self-pity
Sin is devastating. An eight-year-old tries to be kind to his older sister. She responds with, “That was stupid!” Michael is crushed. He tried so…
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ParentingGive your kids a super power
I’ve been thinking lately that books are incredible. They are full of adventures and worlds and characters that shape us in profound ways. They make…
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In a NutshellTidbits – March 2026
Still true in some places… Johan had left Edmonton to go up northward, near Neerlandia, for a bit of skydiving. Late Sunday evening he was…
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MarriageThree questions for you
Here are three questions you should ask yourself about your communication with those you love. The way you answer these questions provides insight into the…
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AssortedA theology of cleaning?
Solomon was a wise man. But as a king, he passed over some vivid illustrations in the futility chapter of Ecclesiastes. Allow me to add…
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AssortedThe definition of patience
Patience. It’s a word we would never bother looking up in the dictionary because we already understand its meaning. But sometimes a well-known word can…
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ParentingThe part about parenting I didn’t find in any parenting book
I tend to be a fairly methodical person, so what does a methodical person do to prepare for parenthood? Why, read a small library of…
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AssortedBusyness in the home
If you have a family, you know that your loved ones are greatly affected by your decisions around time management – and your children are…
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InternetAustralia and Denmark restrict social media use by children
In at least two western countries, children under the age of 16 will soon be barred from using many social media sites and apps. The…
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ParentingWhy it’s good for teens and kids to do chores
Chances are, as a part of the family, you are asked to do various menial (or not so menial) tasks about the house or yard….
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Christian educationEducating Royalty
We must teach our children to be Kingdom heirs—not just laborers in the marketplace **** “Who are you?” a university student once asked me. Odd…
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ParentingJ.C. Ryle on teaching our children to pray
In his book “Duties for Parents,” J.C. Ryle encourages parents to take seriously the admonishment in Proverbs 22:6 to “Train up a child in the…
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Adult non-fiction8 Errors Parents Make and How to Avoid Them
by Michael Brock 2024 / 224 pages Climbing the ladder out of the tranquil waters of Middleton beach, my ears were assaulted by an angry…
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Adult non-fiction13 quick thoughts on “Screen-Smart Parenting”
Parenting is _________. You fill in the blank. It is so many things. It is an adventure with no shortage of ups and downs. I…
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PornographyHow to lock your phone from pornography… 101
“Always lock the doors.” As a boy, this teaching served me well. We lived in a place with frequent break-ins, so the danger was real…
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Economics – Home Finances5 things I’d like my kids to learn about money
The saver, the spender, the schemer – as my kids get older, it’s interesting to see their “money personalities” develop. In the area of money,…
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AssortedDon’t follow your heart
Making the happiness crisis in America even worse, especially for young people, are completely wrong diagnoses. What’s needed to increase happiness is not more money,…
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ParentingHave a child – change the world
In his best-selling book Atomic Habits, James Clear makes the case for committing to tiny changes in your life, for drastic change. “Here’s how the…
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NewsFree video series to protect families from porn
Parents who want to keep pornography away from their family received a gift early this year. John-Michael Bout and Jacob Valk have produced two new…
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Economics – Home FinancesHow do you buy a house when you are 19?
Our son Seth read this story and gave his permission to share it. How do you buy a house when you are 19? The answer…
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ParentingWhat’s the purpose of family devotions?
A friend who was adopting two toddlers asked two of my adult children how we did our family devotions and what they appreciated about them….
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ParentingRaising a family to hunt
I put my vehicle into four-wheel drive before attempting to climb the driveway to the home of Rick and Chelsey Ewald, perched on the side…
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RP AppCanadian women’s unfulfilled fertility goals and the country’s declining birth rate
TRANSCRIPT Welcome to Reformed Perspective. I’m Alexander Ellison. Today we are diving into a pressing issue – Canada’s record low birth rate. Statistics Canada recently…
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Book ReviewsWise Up: 10-minute family devotions in Proverbs
by Marty Machowski 160 pages / 2016 Rating: GOOD/Great/Give This is a solid family devotional. Author Marty Machowski takes passages from Proverbs and makes them more…
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HistoryWhat I learned from my Oma
Solomon tells us the first step to learning wisdom is to pursue it (Prov. 4:7), so I recently sat down with my Oma and listened…
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NewsSperm counts plummet
An Oxford Academic journal has found that human sperm concentrations have dropped an average of 51.6% in the past 45 years, from 104 million to…
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Parenting4 problems with State-funded daycare
Orthodox Christians are champions of the family, and rightly so. Stretching back to the beginning of history, marriage – and, by extension, the family –…
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ParentingKeeping in touch with the grands
“Grandchildren are the crown of the aged…” Prov. 17:6a “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,” Prov. 13:22a It used to be…
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ParentingTeaching your kid to appreciate broccoli
One of the most common complaints I hear from other parents is how they have been unable to get their children to eat certain types…
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Book ReviewsThe Great Escape
by Christine Farenhorst 2002 / 182 pages Rating: Good/GREAT/Give Christine Farenhorst is a superb storyteller. The Great Escape is a collection of forty short stories…
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ParentingQuantity, not quality: good parenting takes time
In The New Tolerance authors Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler share the way one parent taught his teenage son to see through the worldly messages…
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ParentingThe high cost of fatherhood: being a blessing to your children is hard work
Sociologists and politicians on the right of the political spectrum often tell us that one of the biggest problems facing society is the lack of…
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ParentingChores are good for our kids, and the earlier the better
Something parents have long suspected but few children have believed has been verified by research: chores are good for kids. The research that backs this…
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Parenting“Mom, where’s my toothbrush?” 9 packing tips for before and during the trip
The well-circulated belief that “moms are supposed to know where everything is at every given moment” was humorously illustrated for me two years ago when…
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Human RightsHow mom and dad can fight Big Brother
Governments in BC, Alberta and elsewhere have shown they want to use government schools to teach children that their gender is something they can choose….
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Adult non-fictionReflections on “12 ways your phone is changing you”
The phone has had a huge impact on our way of life. This was true already, back in the 1920s, when the coming of the…
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ParentingDon’t let the culture train up your children in the way they should go
Our family loves to watch the Olympics. As we’ve watched the last several years, we’ve been noticing how different each Olympics has been even from…
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Parenting5 tips for family devotions with small children
For Christian parents, reading the Bible and praying with our children each day is a critical part of raising them in the faith. Yes, it’s…
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Parenting6 Duties of Parents
I suppose that most professing Christians are acquainted with the verse at the top of this page. The sound of it is probably familiar to…
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ParentingFading to black: alternatives to screen-time
An upcoming issue of the magazine will feature 200+ movie recommendations, and were anyone to watch even a fraction of these films, that’d be an…
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Parenting10 games you can play with your toddler without having to roll off the sofa
A young relative has two toddlers, and our conversation reminded me of some useful strategies from those wonderful and exhausting days. While I don’t miss…
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ParentingGel-Pen faith
Not too long ago a young woman was over at my house for some reason that I cannot remember. Now on a typical day at my…
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ParentingChristian fathers are coaches
Have you ever felt frustrated in dealing with your children? Have you found yourself complaining to your spouse that your child “just doesn’t listen well”?…
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ParentingOne way to talk to your kids about God
In Matthew 16, Jesus presents his disciples with a two-part question. It is a masterful question and one that parents can use with great benefit….
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ParentingParents: do you have the courage to be gentle?
A gentle response to an angry or defiant act seems weak and out of place. The Holy Spirit has a different perspective: A gentle answer…
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Parenting21 things I learned living with teenagers
We’re almost running out of teenagers in our family. Our eldest of six is well past the mid-twenty mark, and our youngest is less than…
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ParentingParenting: many different approaches – only one set of guiding principles
Empty threats – that’s what they are called – and some are more ridiculous than others. I once overheard an employee at Target, a young…
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ParentingIf you want to spank your child, don’t
The photo website I use for most of the pictures for Reformed Perspective has more than 24 million stock pictures, so no matter what the…
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Book excerpts10 QUOTES: On technology and the family
We need to control our technology; it can’t control us “…it is absolutely completely possible to make different choices about technology from the default settings…
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ParentingWhy Reformed churches should be full of adopted children
When it comes to adoption rates, our Reformed churches aren’t unusual. While Canadian statistics are hard to come by, in the US it appears about 1%…
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ParentingHelping our children listen well
It will not come as a shock that in Christian schools too, students will be inattentive. Teachers, coaches, pastors, volunteers, and community instructors notice and…
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ParentingRaising children who despise themselves
It seems like such a simple thing. You ask your child to do something and in response, he quietly keeps playing with his toy. If…
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ParentingSpanking on trial: how to make a public defense
If spanking were to be put on public trial how would the jury rule? In countries like the Netherlands, Germany, New Zealand and more than…
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NewsSaturday Selections – July 11, 2020
Miracles happen… John Barros has been walking back and forth outside an Orlando abortion clinic, reaching out to the mothers, long enough to wear a…
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ParentingThe problem with explanations
God has not called parents to explain but to train. Explanations often lead to frustration and anger for both parents and children. Children are not…
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ParentingGentleness: a gift to your family
Do you want your children to see you as someone they can trust? Do you want your spouse to take comfort in just being with you? Are…
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ParentingExposing the poor research fueling the anti-spanking campaign
“Spanking is linked to aggression, antisocial behavior, mental health problems, cognitive difficulties, low self-esteem, and a whole host of other negative outcomes.” So declared a…
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Articles – BooksHow to get our boys to read
In a 2010 Wall Street Journal article, Thomas Spence argues that the way some “experts” were trying to encourage boys to read was all wrong….
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Parenting“I will fight for our young people. Will you?” – a pastor’s plea to Christian parents
This essay comes from the heart as a passionate plea to parents out of our shared concern for our covenant children. It is difficult to pastor…
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Christian educationMartin Luther on the vital, foundational, educational calling of parents
Martin Luther loved God’s Church so much he risked his freedom and life for it. He boldly took on princes, bishops, emperors, and popes, all…
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Christian educationChurch, Home, and School – A Two-Legged Stool?
A popular metaphor for education in the Reformed community is the image of a triangle, a tripod, or a three-legged stool. The legs of the…
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ParentingIn defence of Biblical spanking
Why would anyone want to write an article defending spanking? This is one of those topics which the modern world considers a fundamental sign of…
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HistoryQuestioning daycare and preschool: how young is too young?
In this twenty-first century, more and more children are being relegated to daycare or other institutions that look after them for a great many hours…
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ParentingPatricia Polacco gets woke
In my idyllic and very Christian small town I keep forgetting that even here there’s a spiritual war going on. This past weekend I got…
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ParentingTeaching boys to fight
Boys today are no longer expected to become warriors as a rite of passage to manhood. And that’s a good thing; I’m grateful that my…
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DocumentaryIrreplaceable – What is family?
Documentary 104 min / 2015 RATING: 8/10 Everyone knows something is wrong with the family these days. But what? For this Focus on the Family…
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Children’s picture books3 picture books that tackle anxiety, anger, and failure
Children get anxious. And angry. And they can get frustrated when they fail. As adults, we often struggle with these same emotions, and sometimes we…
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ParentingA smartphone contract for our kids
The ““Lights at Stewart’s Place” Facebook page is normally about the Stewart family’s incredible Christmas light display. This past December they turned their whole house…
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ParentingParents: Understand that much depends on you
In this modernized excerpt, from his book “Duties for Parents” J.C. Ryle points to the enormous role God has given parents in shaping our children…
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DocumentaryCONNECT: Real help for parenting kids in a social media world
Documentary 70 minutes / 2018 RATING: 8/10 Connect offers “real help for parenting kids in a social media world” and the host, Kirk Cameron, starts things…
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Parenting
The Golden Rule: the biblical response to self-pity
Sin is devastating. An eight-year-old tries to be kind to his older sister. She responds with, “That was stupid!” Michael is crushed. He tried so hard to…
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Being the ChurchOn being a Titus 2 young woman
Older women [must] train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of…
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ParentingFathers, fear, and self-interest
Men, our legacy since the fall is that we tend to either be indifferent or become angry at our children’s sin. Both responses are dangerous…
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ParentingDiscipline or punishment: do your children know the difference?
There is a huge difference between punishment and discipline. Since children are born wanting to go their own way, every parent engages in some form…
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ParentingWhen you’re asked, “Do you spank your child?”
On a December edition of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors Truth in Love podcast, Stuart Scott was asked how he would answer if someone who…
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ParentingShould it be “I’m sorry” or “Please forgive me”?
“I’m sorry” or “please forgive me” – does it make a difference? Aren’t they just two different ways of saying the same thing? Not really….
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Parenting
Teaching small fries to take notes, sing psalms, and speak to God
When your child is old enough to write… When your child learns to write he is ready to begin taking sermon notes. Say, what? Let’s…
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Adult non-fictionParenting: The 14 Gospel Principles That Can Radically Change Your Family
What’s the best passage in the Bible about parenting? Maybe some will say Ephesians 6:1-4. Others will point to Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Paul Tripp has his…
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Adult non-fictionSpanking resources to read, listen, or watch
God gave us children and gave us his Word to show us how best to raise them up to know and love Him. In addition,…
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ParentingParents, are you pushing or leading?
Do your children feel led or pushed? Are you as a parent dominated by love or frustration? The two questions are tightly connected. Leading is…
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ParentingAre our children leaders?
Picture a group of teenage boys: the sort who attend a Christian school and who, after having Bible class in the morning, are still so…
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Children’s non-fictionA book for children, to help prevent sex abuse
God Made All of Me: A book to help children protect their bodies by Justin S. and Lindsey A. Holcomb 32 pages / 2015 Rating: GOOD/Great/Give…
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ParentingThere is more to life than being safe and legal
Rules and parenting are things that go together. But there is more to life than rules. Rules, by themselves, will not produce spiritual maturity. What…
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ParentingFrom explanations to dialogue, from monologues to questions
Explanations often lead to monologues, especially with teenagers. This is not a helpful communication pattern. The goal for good, biblical communication with teenagers is the…
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ParentingFive things I wish I had known… about being a father
As I have met many fathers around the country at conferences and homeschool conventions, I am often reminded of my own time as a father…
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Adult non-fictionSex Matters
Sex Matters is a book intended for Christians – McKee provides answers from the Bible and explains the Bible’s message using research and real life…