I know I don’t know nearly enough to be a good parent. I don’t know how to make bad dreams go away and not come back tomorrow. I don’t know how to calmly and patiently respond to every single “Why?” question. I don’t know which … Read More
Building into Your Marriage While Stuck at Home
Is anyone else struggling to know how to build into your marriage while you’re stuck at home?! Us too. I think ABBA said it best in their song, SOS: “Where are those happy days, they seem so hard to find I tried to reach for … Read More
Practical Tips for Doing School at Home
I love to look at those Pinterest pictures of people who have epically failed at trying something because it makes me feel better about my meagre attempts. Like the time I tried to curl my hair using a YouTube tutorial and landed up with clumps … Read More
What You Need to Know To Tackle Home-Based Learning
It’s only been a few weeks of pandemic isolation and already there is despair, overwhelm, yelling, slamming doors, pencils that have gone flying, and way too many snacks. And that’s just how the parents are doing. I’ve heard teachers express how hard it is to … Read More
One Thing All Parents Need To Put On Their Calendars
The year was 1994. I was rocking a spiral perm, Nancy Kerrigan was crossing Tonya Harding’s name off her list of besties, we were watching the police chase O.J. Simpson’s white Bronco, and the phrase “life is like a box of chocolates” was first spoken. … Read More
3 Important Truths Our Kids Need to Love an Invisible God
Sometimes I wonder if we are dishonest with our kids about God. Now hear me, I don’t think we are usually intentionally dishonest, but we are dishonest nonetheless. Think about some of the things that we say all the time. “Miracles happen every day.” “God … Read More
How To Survive Three Weeks At Home In Spring With Your Kids
I wake up each morning now and resist the urge to check my phone before I do my devotions because when I look at my phone I find more cancellations, a barrage of WhatsApp posts as friends are trying to figure all this out and … Read More
COVID-19, Your Kids, Their Fear
Fear was a big part of my life as a kid. When I was young and had a nightmare I could go to my parents’ room and they had a sweet sheep skin rug beside their bed that we could sleep on. (There was NO … Read More
When Life Hands You Lemons – How to Make Lemonade Out of your Marriage and Parenting Struggles
One of my lemons got handed to me as a “wedding gift”. I got the stomach flu the day before my wedding. Let me repeat that…I got the stomach flu one day before MY WEDDING. It wasn’t pretty. Somehow, I survived the pictures, walked down … Read More
“The Best ‘Thom’ I Could Have Made”
Everyone wants to be good at something. I think most people wish they could be the best at something. I know I do. When I was growing up, there were a few talents that I could boast about. Drawing was one of them, and private … Read More
“Courage to Obey” – A GREAT Video Story For Your Kids
You know, I was going to post a few different cool YouTube videos for parents and kids today, but instead I want to tell you about just this ONE! Courage to Obey is the first book in the series “Tales from Fufu’s Forest.” We have … Read More
What Proverbs 22:6 Really Means
We like to think that Proverbs 22:6 has immediate results, but that isn’t really what it says… Are you OK with that?
The ONE Thing You Need to do For a Better Marriage
I’ve noticed something lately that is sad and a bit scary. Some of my friends’ marriages are failing. It used to be we only heard about someone’s parents’ marriage ending in divorce. But now it’s people I know. People from my high school. People I never thought would … Read More
One Thing Foster Parents Wish You Understood
We had just welcomed two precious kiddos into our home again; a brother and sister one year apart in age. When kids come into care they can be scared, tired, angry, relieved; you name it, we’ve seen it. These little siblings were all over the … Read More
How to Rediscover Joy in Parenting
I remember as a kid walking into an arcade for the first time. I loved just looking at the machines and taking in their lights and sounds. One day I remember walking up to a Back to the Future themed pinball machine. I dropped my … Read More
The Summer I Met My Future Daughter at Camp
Believe it or not, it’s time to start thinking about Summer Camp-this is the week camp registration opens! Here is a camp story with an unexpected twist!
Practical Ways to Recover When Burnout Steals Your Joy
“I wonder what it would be like if I died?” The thought came suddenly. I was raking leaves with my family and the whisper popped into my head out of nowhere. Just as quickly as it came, it was gone again and I was left … Read More
The Most Popular Posts at The Renewed Family
Curious to know which Renewed Family blogs are the most popular? Take a look at the top two from 2019, from our first year (2015) and of all time!
How to get unstuck: When you feel unmotivated to Parent
What if we could get BETTER at getting unstuck? If you need some GREAT tips to get moving again READ ON!