Parenting as a Christian Single Dad

It is common knowledge that there are two primary motivators in life, pain and pleasure. Looking back on my life I can see how this ties in biblically and why I made the mistakes I did and why I am pursuing the things I am today. I believe every, sane, person has an aversion to pain but unfortunately we don’t always have enough insight to link our actions to future painful experiences. In Hebrews 11:25 it states, “He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.” Of course we are more interested in the latter half but when I think about this and apply it towards my life it makes it clear why I got into the predicaments I did. Sin can be pleasurable for a season. I know when I had my first drink all I was thinking about was how much fun I would have. Over time the sin of being a drunk wasn’t fun anymore and I was in a constant state of pain, however the pain of quitting seemed to be even more unbearable. At this po...

Question: What can we do as parents to help our children stay at a healthy weight? Answer: Children stay at a healthy weight by balancing their diet with physical activity, just like adults. One of the best ways to improve your child’s health and the health of the entire family is to improve daily eating habits and activity levels for the entire family. As parents we have to be role models for our children, we can’t sit on the couch eating chips and expect our kids to make healthy choices. Spending time with our children being physically active equals quality time with our children we will remember and hopefully they will too. Did You Know? Americans are growing heavier. Today, the majority of adults are either overweight or obese and our children are following suit. Children that are overweight or obese are at risk of serious problems like: type 2 diabetes, asthma, heart disease, low self-esteem, and sleep problems. Children that are overweight tend to be overweight throughout ...

The past several weeks I have been on a diet, actually I am trying to encourage a lifestyle change to eat better and lose some unwanted body fat. Naturally Madalyn has been a recipient of my new diet - eating the boring meals I have been making. Last night she even told me how much she misses pizza… Poor kid, daddy misses pizza too and I miss chocolate, ice cream, pasta, dr pepper, fruit snacks, etc. The real hard part is that I work for a sugar company and we get all sorts of goodies this time of the year, that are very tempting, from our customers and third party associates. It is hard to say no to 5# blocks of chocolate or cookies that melt in your mouth from across the country. ---Oh boy! Huge digression here—back to the point. Studies have shown that the prevalence of obesity among children aged 6 – 11 has more than doubled over the years. It has tripled for ages 12 – 19. Overweight children have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. We all have heard the ri...

I don’t know how things are going where you folks live but here in Boise it seems that when anyone sneezes they run off to the hospital freaking out about having the swine flu. Granted some might but all they are doing is exposing everyone else that is around them. I think on one recent weekend we had over 200 people hit the emergency room clogging it up creating a huge mess. Its still the flu so really what can the doctor do about it? I agree we need to be careful but we don’t need to over react and live in fear. As for me and Madalyn I just try and use common sense and make sure we both are washing our hands and using sanitizer. The point of this post pertains to an article I recently read about “Where Germs Hide.” I thought it was pretty interesting and makes complete sense. So where do germs hide? 1. Grocery Store – shopping carts and seat buckets are the worst but you also have to look out for the conveyer belt at check out. 2. The Playground – face it kids are messing an...