Better and Poorer Kinds of Guidance in Parenting

One evening a mother was busily preparing a birthday party for one of her adult friends. Unfortunately, she had not figured out how to manage her young children while getting the party ready. She was overwhelmed with … Read more

Godly Parenting: Honoring Both Justice and Mercy

Latter-day Saints have a unique view of law. For us, law is not a quirky and mysterious invention God uses to test His creation. Rather we understand that law governs the universe, and God Himself obeys it. … Read more

More About Nurturing Children

When I was a high school teacher, one of my students came to me after class and told me how he loved to go up to a nearby reservoir, crawl through the marsh, and watch the ducks.  … Read more

The Single Biggest Factor in Parenting

Terry was a kindergartener. He showed up at school one day with a note pinned to his jacket. He worked his way around the classroom proudly displaying his note to classmates. Eventually the teacher spotted the note … Read more

Having Compassion for Humanness

Flora, age six, complained that “lately” she had been receiving fewer presents than her brother.  Her mother did not deny the complaint. Neither did she explain to Flora that her brother was older and so deserved more. … Read more

Kinds of Compassion in Parenting

Sara is the youngest of our three children. She was always more cautious than Emily or Andy. I don’t know why. We never deliberately tricked or deceived her. She was just more cautious. In fact, she was … Read more

The Foundation of Great Parenting: Compassion

Our own spiritual well-being—our relationship with God—forms the footings on which all our parenting structure rests. God is the rock on Whom we build.

The next step in building our structure is the foundation which supports the … Read more

Flourishing People Make the Best Parents

“A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things.” Matthew 12:35

It is nearly impossible to be a good parent when we are frazzled. Some years ago, Nancy and I received … Read more

Learning How to Parent the Way God Does

We all want to be good parents. We want to be close to our children and we want them to develop into good people. We have mental pictures of loving, peaceful, happy families extending into eternity.

But … Read more