Family Ministry

Leading stepfamily expert Ron Deal offers a revised and expanded edition of his signature resource, which addresses key concerns and practical issues facing every stepfamily.

Your personality is a gift, not a liability. This book helps you uncover and embrace the hope, laughter, and joy of using your unique gifts to parent your children. Life as a mom is loud, but you long for quiet. When the volume of family life clashes with your personality, frustration, guilt, and overwhelm naturally result. In Introverted Mom, author Jamie C. Martin lifts these burdens from your shoulders, reminding you that your steady strength is exactly what your family needs in this chaotic world.

What if you could experience a calm, peaceful, and glorious pregnancy and childbirth as God intended it from the absolute beginning? We have prepared more than 300 affirmations, declarations, and words to meditate on and to catapult you into that new way of life. There is a chapter for every trimester of your pregnancy and the last chapter for preparation of the day your child is born. Listen to these declarations throughout your whole pregnancy, and most importantly, repeat them on a daily basis.

Filled with real-life stories and practical advice, Called to Care starts by helping you honestly assess your motivation to help - sometimes the wrong motivation sets the stage for an unsuccessful experience. From there, the book shows what adoption and foster care really look like in a variety of situations, from domestic and international adoptions to short-term foster care and foster-to-adopt arrangements. Also included is how churches and individuals can minister to refugees.

Sexual abuse, sex addiction, gender confusion, brokenness, and shame plague today's world, and people are seeking clarity and hope. By contesting long-held cultural paradigms, this book equips you to see how sexuality is rooted in the broader context of God's heart and his work for us on earth. Instead of arguing with the world about what's right and wrong about sexual choices, this practical resource equips you to share the love and grace of Jesus as you encounter the pain of sexual brokenness - your own or someone else's.

The relationship between a father and a son is like none other. Dads have a God-given role to protect and provide for their families, always striving to teach their sons the life skills they'll need to grow into honorable men. But many dads struggle with feelings of inadequacy regarding their fathering abilities. They want to be better dads. Rick Johnson can tell them how.

Empower your kids to respond well to the hard questions that threaten their faith. It's no secret that children of all ages are being exposed to negative criticism of Christianity as they spend time at school, with friends, or online. Are you prepared to talk with your kids about how they can effectively answer the tough questions that come their way? In Keeping Your Kids on God's Side, you'll find 40 of the most common challenges kids face - along with clear, easy-to-understand responses you can discuss together.

Who are you when the teeth come out? For every true act of leadership, there is an equal and monstrous act of sabotage. Our leaders have been entirely routed by the agitated and the anxious. These emotional tyrannies manifest themselves in local libraries, HR cubicles, elder meetings, and at your Thanksgiving dinners.

How can a good parent like you become an even greater parent? By shifting the focus to what's right with your kids instead of what is wrong with them. Discover how you can replace your frustration with joy by taking the pressure of performance and comparison off your children's shoulders. Based in the belief that every child has God-given greatness within them, Play to Their Strengths shows you how to move with the natural momentum of your kids' talents and make the shift to a collaborative, strengths-based, and motivational approach to parenting.

In The Difference a Father Makes, Ed Tandy McGlasson challenges dads to excel in fatherhood and equips them to do so. Using the model of Jesus and God the Father, he contends that setting up goal lines in the lives of children, marking when they enter into adulthood, is a must - and a father's job does not end there. In a powerful way, he answers the "Yeah, but how?" question every man asks after being stirred to be a good father.

With Raise Them Up you will learn effective strategies to lift your children up in prayer. You will discover the joy of interceding for your children as you pray specific scripture prayers. Through inspirational stories and thoughtful guidance, you'll be motivated to pray bold prayers to help your children in every situation, experience the impact of powerful prayers to fulfill God's purposes, trust God more when you speak His Word over your children, and live out your purpose as you seek God's will for your family.

For many, friends now play the role of family, but often our friendships don't turn out quite as we envisioned or hoped. Bible teacher Kelly Needham debunks our world's constricted, small view of friendship and casts a richer, more life-giving, biblical vision for friendship. In Friend-ish, Kelly Needham takes a close look at what scripture says about friendship. She reveals the distorted view most of us have of it and recasts a glorious vision for a Christian understanding.

After 30 years of parenting five children and 20 years of working with teens, Connie Albers has witnessed the negative impact of well-intentioned but misguided parenting styles, all focused on managing teens rather than guiding them. But through learning to focus on the hearts of your teens, you can avoid those pitfalls and build relationships that last beyond the transition years as you intentionally learn about, connect with, and listen to your teens. In a world filled with distractions and devices, it is possible to guide their hearts and remain the primary influence in their lives.

A good marriage is a strong and sacred foundation upon which a God-loving family may be built. It is between a man and a woman; it is a permanent union; and it is blessed by God. Unfortunately, modern marriage laws no longer reflect true marriage - in fact, today's legal definition of "marriage" bears little resemblance to the institution of traditional marriage many of us still hold dear.

We live in a society of broken homes. Having parents in the home doesn't mean that parenting is actually happening. Parenting is a God-given task that ensures young children are protected and nurtured into maturity in the fear and admonition of the Lord. But America and the church face a crisis of parenting: detached or absentee fathers, single mothers, and grandparents raising the next generation.

Sometimes moms see the never-ending laundry, dirty diapers, and skinned knees as relatively insignificant when compared to activities and callings that seem more important and lasting. But there is eternal value in even the most mundane moments if the great commission informs how we're thinking about all of life, including what it means to be a mom. Tracing motherhood in the story of the Bible and drawing out key implications for moms today, Gloria Furman helps women live out God's story.

From the moment you discovered you were going to be a mom, you envisioned spending each day with your kids, guiding, teaching, and loving them. But diapers, wipes, shoes, and braces are expensive. Though it may feel impossible to manage on one income, author Erin Odom of The Humbled Homemakerblog is here to tell you that, through God's grace, staying at home with your kids isn't just doable; it's doable while living the good life. Erin shares 100 tips, tricks, and simple ways that she has provided the good life on a budget for her family, and you can do the same.

If you're like many Christian moms today, you've been reading the headlines and watching the rapid-fire changes in our culture with frustration and fear. Let's face it: Moms today are facing questions that previous generations didn't even see coming, and even our right to determine what is best for our own children is under fire. Popular speaker and blogger Heidi St. John ("The Busy Mom") believes that today's mothers need a special kind of strength. We need to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

Jodie Berndt shows you how to make the Bible a book of prayers that can powerfully influence your children's lives. You'll discover how to pray specifically and expectantly for their faith, character, safety, relationships, and future. You'll gain new, biblical perspectives on God's purposes for your children. And through the encouragement of the Scriptures and true-life stories, you'll find out what a huge difference your prayers really make in the lives of those you love most.

Learn to navigate life's twists and turns to find God's best for your marriage with the help of Dr. Greg and Erin Smalley. They'll lead you and your spouse to discover true love as described by God in the Bible. With candor and grace, these beloved marriage experts share the secrets of a strong marriage that yield a lifetime of adventurous and cray-zee love.