As I write this, I am listening to the decisions made by my home state of Minnesota about school this fall. After this spring and the experience of distance learning , my children and I are ready for school to be back in session.

When I was younger, I loved being part of reading programs. I would stay up all night under the covers with a flashlight, reading some of my favorite books until my parents would come in and tell me to go to bed. Once I started growing up, my love of reading books for pleasure was replaced with the necessity of reading books for my education. But a love for reading should be in every child’s—and every adult’s—heart. Why not pledge to read more this year with the CPH Reads program? In fact, I have five great reasons why you and your family should join this new reading adventure.

My parents are two of the most supportive people in my life. When I told them I was moving to St. Louis for a job, they immediately helped me find a relative to live with temporarily, packed up my car, and gave me some gas money to drive all the way down. They check in on me weekly (if not daily) and have been incredibly supportive of my personal and professional endeavors.

My name is Brenda, and I am the author of God’s Gift of Family. But I’m also a mother of five, a wife, and the founder of Run Hard. Rest Well., a nonprofit that seeks to restore the biblical rhythm of balance between work and rest.

Teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 
(Deuteronomy 11:19, emphasis added)

It’s almost Christmas, and most of us are preparing to travel over the river and through the woods to Grandmother’s house for the holidays. Check out these FAQs so your family can do your Christmas road trip better this year.

Pastor Monte Meyer, the facilitator of parish life for the Minnesota North District, had an ambitious goal:

To get families in the Minnesota North District to read the Bible together every week.

He knew this was easier said than done. “Church leaders have tried to introduce Bible reading plans to their congregations without a lot of success,” he said. “It just gets tough to wade through all the material, some of which is difficult to understand.”

Moment of truth: I asked my teenage son to help me write this. He’s an almost-sixteen-year-old, who is willing to give me input about initiating the "sex talk." I kind-of-most-definitely want to hear what he has to say. I wanted to know what he feels we've succeeded in and inevitably, what he feels we've failed at over the years. I asked him because, truth be told, it's hard for me to pinpoint exactly how to initiate this conversation with kids.

I tend toward using my phone to check out. I’m just going to say that out loud and let it be a thing.

As a child, family devotions were a highlight of each day. We gathered after dinner for this short yet amazing family time together. Sometimes us kids even got to lead them. One night, it was my little brother’s turn. He was only three. Watching the rest of us as examples to follow with object lesson ideas, he wanted to do something too. We all watched as he brought out crayons and other interesting supplies. After handing everything out to us while we tried to hide our giggles, he finally sat down and folded his hands. Out of his mouth came three little but very powerful words: “God is love.” That was it. That was the whole devotion. Best devotion we ever had. That little brother is now in his fifties. We still remember his message from God to our family even to this day.