Why you should let your child win (some) in 1-on-1 games

March 10, 2015 | Michael Foust | Posted in Parents of infants, Parents of toddlers, Parents of young children | Tagged Bible, Children, games, God, let them win, let win, life, life lessons, Parents, sports

My biggest hobbies as a teenager were, in order: football, basketball, baseball, hockey … and any other sport that was stuffed in the local sports page. I was a sports nut, and my family didn’t even have ESPN.

On Wednesday nights at church, my friends and I would gather on the parking lot for the fiercest pickup basketball game you’ve ever seen from uncoordinated skinny kids. On Sunday afternoons, you could find us playing touch football in the church yard, with me often being selected as what we’d call the “all-time quarterback.” During the rest of my free time, I was playing my mom and dad in one sport or another, determined to beat them, too.

Fast forward to today.

My oldest son, who is 6, is at the age where he wants to beat dad each time we play anything: board games and sports … even tag. That, of course, raises the question every parent confronts: Should I intentionally let my child win—or should I just mercilessly beat him at each contest?

It seems at first a trivial and pointless question, but it’s not. Remember that old coach who always told you that “sports teaches valuable lessons about life”? He may not have known it, but he was borrowing a scriptural theme.

The Apostle Paul—who no doubt would have watched a little bit of ESPN—compares the spiritual walk to a runner in a race eyeing the prize (1 Corinthians 9:24-25). He further notes that “every athlete exercises self-control in all things”—implying that the Christian, too, should practice self-control in day-to-day living. It’s not the only reference to sports in Scripture (see, for example, 2 Timothy 2:5 and Hebrews 12:1).

God, it seems, does see value in sports. After all, it can be a microcosm of life, and children can begin learning valuable “adult lessons” long before they’re able to apply them in the adult world. We win and lose in sports, just like in life. We learn to be disciplined and patient, to practice self-control, to be a leader, to listen to those in authority, to be responsible, to bounce back, to get up when we don’t want to, to get along with those we normally wouldn’t like, to encourage, and to share. Everything translates to life.
Continue reading →

4 ways snow (really does) glorify God

February 25, 2015 | Michael Foust | Posted in Parents of infants, Parents of toddlers, Parents of young children | Tagged glorify god, Martin Luther, snow, snow glorifies god, winter

4 ways snow (really does) glorify God

For most of my life, snow was in the same category as kangaroos, koala bears and the hilarious king penguin. That is, I knew it existed and I sure would like to see it someday, but for the most part it was relegated to television.

Well, not entirely, but you get my point.

Where I grew up in the South, a snow day was a once-every-two-year event, with perhaps 2-3 inches of accumulation that closed school for several days and back country roads for a week. As a child, the formula was simple: snow = several days out of school = fun.

I still like snow, but my enjoyment has been somewhat tempered. That happens when you and your family move to a Midwest location in the middle of the worst winter in years. That first winter we received 50 inches of snow in about two and a half months, not to mention a blizzard warning on one night and a -45 degree Fahrenheit wind chill on another night (yes, seriously).

I’ve been on both sides of the snow “fence.” I still enjoy sledding in it and I really do enjoy working outside on a snowy weekend with my oldest son. I even like hiking in it. But I no longer love snow – particularly when it falls on a weekday.

My changing perspective on snow has led me to wonder: How does snow reflect God’s glory? It’s one of the most beautiful parts of God’s creation, but so many people I respect – people who love the Lord – hate it. And at times, I do, too.

It’s easy to see God’s glory during the spring, but what about winter, when we’re surrounded by the white stuff in the midst of sub-freezing temps?

Well, snow really does reflect God’s glory – in every way imaginable. Here are four ways:
Continue reading →

Skip ‘Fifty Shades’ and watch ‘Old Fashioned’

February 13, 2015 | Michael Foust | Posted in Parents & media usage, Parents of infants, Parents of toddlers, Parents of young children | Tagged christian, dating, fifty shades, fifty shades of grey, movie, old-fashioned, Rik Swartzwelder, romance, valentine's day

This story/review first appeared in two other publications.

Skip ‘Fifty Shades’ and watch ‘Old Fashioned’

What happens when a God-honoring romantic movie is released on the same weekend as “Fifty Shades of Grey,” one of the most sexually exploitive (and popular) stories of our time?

We’re about to find out.

The faith-based movie is “Old Fashioned,” a Valentine’s Day weekend film that turns everything America believes about dating on its head and proves that true romance is found in upholding biblical values, not following trashy novels.

It tells the story of a Christian single man who has developed “old-fashioned” views of dating, years after a promiscuous college life. His theories about romance are put to the test when he meets a free-spirited young woman who is new in town and who is taken aback by his “outdated” beliefs. For starters, he refuses to be alone with her at her apartment. There obviously is mutual interest, but can they make a traditional courtship work in modern-day America?

I watched it and simply loved it. The acting is top-notch and the storyline fun and compelling. It’s probably the only romance movie that I not only enjoyed but also cheered.
Continue reading →

3 reasons to date your daughter every single week

February 7, 2015 | Michael Foust | Posted in Parents of infants, Parents of toddlers, Parents of young children | Tagged daddy daughter date night, daddy-daughter, date, date night, father-daughter, father-daughter date, father-daughter date night, God

There aren’t many things in life that truly terrify me. Natural disasters and tornadoes come close, and snakes finish near the top, too. I’m also not crazy about tight enclosed spaces — and I would rather not die by drowning, if given the choice.

Then there’s the idea of raising a daughter. It’s not terrifying, but there are some parts of it that certainly give me pause.

Let me explain.

I had been the father of an awesome son for three years when our daughter came along. She’s every bit as awesome, but she’s also sweet and beautiful and loving and tender and kind in ways that (my) boys simply are not. She’s smaller than those boys, but I just know her heart is bigger.

Her big heart is on display every afternoon when she runs toward me – pony tail swaying and smile spreading ear to ear – simply to cuddle. When she senses I’m frustrated, she gives me an out-of-the-blue “Daddy, I love you!” And when her brothers hurt her feelings, sadness covers every inch of her face.

3 reasons to date your daughter every single weekv

My daughter and I enjoying a lemonade. Drinking out of the same glass was her idea.

She’s amazing, but I grieve over the world she will face, and over the society that will tell her lie after lie about beauty and what she should be. She will grow up in a world that objectifies women, that uses sensuality and sexuality to sell everything under the sun, that tells women they’re not “pretty” unless they are blemish-free and bone-thin, that idolizes actresses and models and singers for their curves and appearance – and not their talent. Everything I teach her at home, society will try to undo. So I’ll have to work extra hard.

There’s an old saying that women marry someone like their father. I don’t know how true that is, but I do know that I am the only man she will see on a regular basis for the first 18 or so years of her life – and that I will have a huge impact on her. And so, when my daughter had barely turned 2, I started “dating” her. Every week or so, we go out and do something together, and each time, we have a blast.

It’s a habit I wanted to establish early and one I’d encourage all fathers to do. Here are three benefits:
Continue reading →

5 New Year’s resolutions for a more Christ-centered family

January 9, 2015 | Michael Foust | Posted in Parents of infants, Parents of toddlers, Parents of young children | Tagged Bible, child, Children, God, new year, new year's resolution, parenting

My first New Year’s resolution took place as a young adult, when I pledged to read the Bible—from Genesis to Revelation—in one year. I remember enjoying Genesis and Exodus, struggling a bit with Leviticus and Numbers, and then getting bogged down in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy at the time was like quick sand, and I never made it out.

I since have made it through Deuteronomy, but I’m still mostly a failure at New Year’s resolutions. For instance, my 2014 New Year’s resolution was to plant garlic. It’s unique and incredibly healthy, and it would save my family a bit of money. But I never even purchased a bulb.

Still, New Year’s resolutions are worth pursuing, especially when it involves something as significant as your faith or your family. While resolutions themselves aren’t mentioned in Scripture, the Bible does have a lot to say about second chances and new beginnings (Psalm 51:10-11).

I imagine even the Apostle Paul would have made New Year’s resolutions. After all, it was never-look-back Paul who wrote, “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-15).

So what type of resolutions should parents make this year? Here are five suggestions that—if followed—are sure to change your family life for the better:
Continue reading →