Category: Bethany’s Guest Posts
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What We Need Most When We Feel Left Out
“I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” – John 15:15 Distress obvious on her face, my 7-year-old pal from the after-school club I volunteered at ran over….
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Kids Need to Know Faith Is More Than “Being Good”
“Be good,” we say to little ones as the babysitter arrives. “Be good,” we say to school-age kids before they go over to a friend’s house. “Be good,” we say to teens before they drive off in their own car. This familiar phrase is one kids hear all throughout their childhood, and the meaning differs…
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3 Ways to Encourage a Child Who Leans Toward Legalism and Perfectionism
“Ready, set, let’s head out,” I told my Sunday School group. Everyone clamored into line eagerly except for one little girl. I urged her to join us. “But you didn’t say go,” she uttered dejectedly. It wasn’t the first time her precision overtook her participation. She was always the first to duck out of unstructured…
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Q and A with Lois Flowers
One of many ways God has wonderfully surprised me is through the community found when writing about Him publicly. Several years ago, I met Lois Flowers as we both joined the same blog link-ups. We became friends – and I also consider her a mentor! Her wisdom, practicality, and kindness are a gift to me….
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God is Sufficient for Your False Guilt
“I feel bad about…” I began. My husband joked it was time for my daily list of “things I feel guilty about that I probably have no control over anyway.” If only he wasn’t right! Too often, I find myself stuck replaying all the ways I could have done better, loved more, anticipated and therefore…
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Helping A Child Through a Big Life Change
Change is messy. Even when we’re well-prepared. Even when we’re excited about it. This is true for kids experiencing seasons of transition, like when they move homes or schools, get their first job, or join a new club. However they feel about the change before it happens, there’s a good chance there will be bumps…
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3 steps to helping kids grasp God’s grace when they’ve messed up
She proudly led me into the hall, demanding I cover my eyes first. When she said “open them!” my jaw dropped. The surprise was a drawing done in pen and marker…first on paper, then all over the wall. “You drew on the wall?!” I asked, flummoxed by her surprise and trying to remember where her…
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Follow in Full
Follow In Full “I know the plans I have for you[.]” (Jeremiah 29:11) This verse is often cited (out of context) to encourage modern Christians of the good plans God has for them. But so often, God’s good plans for us aren’t what we expect at all. Imagine what God might have said to Paul…
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One Mind, One Mission
What makes a group project so hard? Why is planning a family trip that everyone will enjoy so complicated? How is it that even when we’re all together we can still feel alone? People. We’re all so different! Having one mind among many people isn’t an easy thing. In fact, it’s impossible in and of…
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Death, Where Is Your Sting?
Call me morbid, but the first time I heard the famous song, “Live Like You Were Dying,” I thought, “Well . . . we are.” We are all dying, day by day, until we wind up in the grave or Jesus comes back again. The aim of the song, of course, is to encourage people…