Pedaling and Learning Together
By T.I. This summer, our family started going out riding on bikes together. Our daughters, including my youngest who is only two years old, enjoy...
Learning to Swim by Nearly Drowning
This story is a repost. You can find the original post on Growing Good Families. His splashing started to look a little desperate as his head...
Learning through the Eyes of a Child
By Kimihira Miyake Recently, I was reminded as a father just how much our children help us grow. Our two-year-old has recently been more...
The Deep Value in Being Mom
By Karilee Aoki Recently it was Mother’s Day, and I had a chance to reflect on what it means to be a mother. I had to ask myself, “What is it that...
The seeds of Mother’s Day were planted during the Civil War
by Dennis Jamison Mother’s Day in the United States, and in several nations throughout the world, is traditionally celebrated on the second Sunday...
Teaching Priorities: Starting Each Day with God
Lately, I was asked about family traditions and what we do at home to keep God in our daily lives. One thing came to mind. It’s a very simple thing...
Being Thankful as a 5-year-old
By Joy Miyake My son just turned five. Every time my husband and I look at him, we muse to ourselves, “When did this happen?” We know that the...
Learning to Take the Harder Path
By Keoni Takarada This inspirational story comes from a 12-year-old boy who had a memorable experience after going camping for the first time. I...
Epiphany Gained from My Dad’s Sharing
By S.Y. The following story is about a 20-year-old's experience in the Montana mountains, and her first time camping with her family. Our family...
Life Lesson from a 9-Month-Old
The following story is a reflection from a mother of a 9-month-old. Watching her son grow, she has realized that she grows because of how he lives –...
800 Yards in a Cedar Swamp
Recently I was trying to explore a piece of land and reached out to my son for his help. The goal was to reach the Northeast corner of the property,...
Life Lessons from Our Dad
by Dewey, Kenn and Michael Mowris It’s Father’s Day and it's time to be grateful for the father figures we look up to in our lives. As his 3...
A Mother Is God’s Gift
by Naomi MacMurdie “A mother is a person who, seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for...
Putting Love into Action in the Community
By Mike Yakawich My wife, Yukiko, and I have raised five children in Billings, MT. We had a wonderful journey living on the South Side where Yukiko...
Grandma and Fevers
By T.J. Whenever my kids fall sick with a fever, I think about my paternal grandmother. In my life, I have only met her a handful of times but my...
Teaching Character: Think About the Future to Adjust in the Present
My son is almost nine. He loves to make things. Cardboard boxes, scraps of cloth or wood, and pieces of anything and everything are sources of...
A Memorial Tribute to My Wife Giusi Johnson
By Mark Johnson When I think about my late wife Giusi, I am in an endless state of awe and amazement. I had the privilege to witness the life of a...
Healing Fractures: A lesson in parenting
By K.M. When you have a boy, there are certain things that you know will probably be inevitable: knee scrapes, fights, mud, and broken bones. Even...
Keep Doors Open
Susan’s son is now grown. In fact, they are really close. They even work together. But Susan knows, a child’s happiness is not something that comes...
Extending Our Family Means Extending Our Hearts
By Ken Bates There is often a significant event that becomes the "defining moment" for an individual or group. As a defining moment, it's some...
A Precious Gift from My Aunt
By M.I. My life has been quite a journey so far, and yet there is still so much ahead of me. It's been hard sometimes, so it's been important that...
Tales about Grandpa and the Gifts He Gave to Mom
Originally published: Jun 19, 2020 This is a shortened version of a biographical essay I wrote when I was in elementary school. We were asked to...
MaMaw and the Extended Family Ideal
By Mark Johnson How does one explain the deepest experiences of love through words? It is impossible, but we try our best. Our families provide a...
The Filial Heart My Younger Brother Showed Me
By Megumi Tateno I have two younger brothers and this is a story of something that happened when I was 10 or 11 years old. One day, my brothers and...
My Grandmother’s Voice from on High
By Alan Inman A couple of years after separating from my father, I turned about 5 years old and my mother made the painful decision to send my...
Home for Lunch
“Okay, boys, it’s safe to cross now.” Ginny was the crossing guard at the busy intersection next to Kittredge Elementary School. She had blown her...
Building a Family that Serves Together
Reflections by Nathan and Maruko Breland We can’t help but feel that God designed the family to serve the world together. When a family serves...
With Me
By T.K. I was speaking to my son and I recounted with him the fact that he was in my stomach for a long time. Nine months! But then I realized that...
My Son and His Jacket
By Maruko Breland My two-year-old son has an enemy. It’s his jacket. Every time I ask him to put it on before going outside, he fights me, twisting...
Day Moon
By H.T. Two little girls took a walk after school. One looked up and exclaimed, “Look! The day moon is following me!” “Day moon” is what they call...
Studying God’s Loving Design: Caterpillars
If you do a Google search for “caterpillar to moth”, there are nearly 150,000 videos. And there are almost half a million videos of caterpillars...
Do You Believe in “True Love”?
By K.A. It’s particularly in February - right around Valentine’s Day - that people are reminded, once again, of the phrase “true love”. For many...
Happy Valentines Day, My Love
Even though it's nearly Valentine's Day, I have my daughter's Christmas card up on our counter. I can't remember how she came up with the message,...
One Thing You Can Do Every Morning to Make Your Life Better
When I started college, my sister shared a poem with me. Just as life was getting busy with classes, grades, projects, labs, clubs, and making ends...
Dealing with Death and Grief
By Michael Yakawich As we journey through life, our paths are crossed, created, and joined with that of others—people who raise us, inspire us, and...
Building a Vision for Your Family
As the new year old unfolds and resolutions are made, we should ask ourselves: what am I working towards? Am I working towards something, to become...
Making Family Goals with Dream Maps
The beginning of the year is always an important time to reflect, assess and make new determinations. As our day is determined by the night before...
A Family Farm Trip to Offer 2020 to God
By Nathan Breland Our son stepped out of the car to the sound of chickens clucking and goats bleating. From that moment to the end of our trip, he...
Did You Bring Your Map and Compass for Life?
We started our New Years with a hike. 2020 was quite a year for the world and we wanted to make sure we make the effort to start 2021 with the right...
Letter to My Children
My dear children, This world is not the world I wished you would have to grow up in. I look to the future, and sometimes it looks so uncertain. I...
Raising Our Children to Become Co-Creators
We are raising co-creators. So let’s let God’s creativity shine. Parents are such a big part of nurturing this. Parents encouraging creativity is...
Potty and Perfection
My son is in the middle of potty training. He is getting pretty close to achieving “fully trained” status, but not quite at 100%. We started with...
Our 2-Year-Old Thanksgiving Gift that Keeps on Giving
By Nathan Breland Who knew how this little curly-haired bundle of joy could have had such an impact on me and my wife? He surely has. And it was...
The Thanksgiving Story through the Eyes of a Second Generation Immigrant
By H.T. The American Thanksgiving Story has a deep place in my heart. It is a story I repeat every year to my children. I hope they will carry on...
A Thanksgiving You Can Trust
By Kenneth Bates There are certain things you can count on. Spring follows winter, every dark cloud has a silver lining, and what you give out comes...
To My Thanksgiving Baby
By Maruko Breland My dearest son, You came into our lives the morning of the day before Thanksgiving. You decided to come a week early, and I said...
Love at 90
By K.T. A lot of people muse about what “true love” is. I’ve recently been witness to it, in a very personal way. My mom, who just turned 90 in...
Spending Quality Time with My Parents
By Takae Goto It is a tradition in our family to observe birthdays with a short morning prayer before celebrating with food and friends. It’s an...
Win-Win
Sometimes all it takes to resolve a small situation is taking a larger perspective. Some call it the “birds eye view” or the “God’s eye view” but...
Teaching True Strength
The idea of strength has changed over the years. Years ago, we were told, "sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me." My own...