5 reasons why fatherhood is far better than football

June 8, 2014 | Michael Foust | Posted in Parents of infants, Parents of toddlers, Parents of young children | Tagged Children, Christ, dad, daddy, daughters, Father, fatherhood, fathers day, football, God, sons

I remember my first big-time football game as if it were yesterday. I was 13, sitting beside my dad and a friend in a huge stadium.

The game, though, didn’t go as I had hoped, and a loss seemed certain — when something amazing happened. With only four seconds left, my team’s kicker booted a 51-yard field goal that tied it up, and we all went wild. It was a college game and there was no overtime back then, but we rode home feeling as if our team had won the Super Bowl.

I also remember the birth of my first child as if it were yesterday. I was 36, standing in the delivery room with the doctor and nurses all around, minutes after midnight. Then something amazing happened. I heard a tiny, helpless, sweet cry, followed by a booming voice from the doctor: “It’s a boy!”

They placed my son under the warmer and I saw him up close for the very first time. He was full of life, looking all around, squirming from head to toe. It was the most precious sight I had ever seen.

My wife and I drove home two days later, feeling as if we’d won, well, the Super Bowl.

Those few seconds
when I enter the house and
my three kids go wild as they
hug my leg are better than any
balloon drop at a political rally.
To them, I might as well be president.

I’ve been to quite a few football games in my life while spending far more money than I care to acknowledge, and I can say without hesitation: Fatherhood is infinitely better than football. This should be obvious, of course, but we do live in a day where too many of us men are making a life out of our hobbies, extending our teen years into our 30s.

As we approach Father’s Day, consider these five reasons why fatherhood is better than football — or any hobby, for that matter. Continue reading →

3 great resources to teach your children theology

June 6, 2014 | Michael Foust | Posted in Parents of toddlers, Parents of young children | Tagged Children, Christ, Christianity, God, Jesus, Parents, teaching children theology, theology, Trinity

When it comes to asking tough and sometimes comical theological questions, nothing comes close to an inquisitive child.

I should know. My oldest son, who is 6, currently is the reigning world champion in the “asking tough questions” competition, and he shows no signs of slowing down.

Take a recent dinner table discussion, for instance. His cup had pictures of superheroes, and he asked with a serious look on his face: Does God hate the Incredible Hulk? (No, I told him, God loves all people, and besides, the Incredible Hulk isn’t real, anyway, and just because the Incredible Hulk has a mean look on that cup doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy.)

Then there’s the constant question he asks when we discuss heaven: Will his favorite stuffed animal – the one he sleeps with every night — be in heaven? The problem: If I say “no,” heaven isn’t looking so grand to him. He once cried when I told him “no.” (My latest stab at that for him was more of a non-answer. I asked with a smile, “Do you want him to be in heaven?” He said “yes,” and we moved on. I do tell him that I believe dinosaurs will be in heaven – which excites him.)

Children’s storybook Bibles are plentiful, but children’s theology books? Not so much. I have found two that I really like, although I am certain there are others out there. Know of others? Let me know in the comments section.

Continue reading →

8 stress-reducing steps to a happier family

May 29, 2014 | Michael Foust | Posted in Parents of infants, Parents of toddlers, Parents of young children | Tagged Children, Christ, families, family stress, God, Parents, reducing stress, stress, toddlers

When you’re at the hospital preparing to take home that 7-pound bundle of joy, the nurses don’t provide any advice on dealing with stress. They don’t even hand you a book.

I was thinking about stress recently when my wife called me at work and said, in a tone of voice that matched the circumstance: “There’s water in our basement!”

We already had a garbage disposal that wasn’t working, a dishwasher that was leaking and a clothes drier that wasn’t drying. With three small children, clean clothes and dishes are a necessity. Things weren’t looking good, but God soon provided. The basement leak slowed, and we pinpointed the problem. We fixed the drier (lint blockage) and then discovered that the dishwasher leak was linked to the broken garbage disposal.

Through it all, we told one another: Don’t stress out, this is small potatoes. In other words: Keep things in perspective.
Continue reading →

7 tricks to get your children loving books

March 13, 2014 | Michael Foust | Posted in Parents of infants, Parents of toddlers, Parents of young children | Tagged books, Children, getting children to read, God, kids, Parents, reading, reading books, reading to children

What’s your favorite picture of you as a child? Is it the black-and-white picture of you in 1970s plaid pants, or the ’80s snapshot with you and a big head of hair? (I’m guilty of both.)

I’m not entirely sure what picture of my own children is my favorite, but the leading contender likely is one I snapped several months back, with all three of them—ages 5, 2 and 2—on the couch, each of them looking at a different book.

As a parent, those moments when you see the fruit of your labor are precious, aren’t they? You spend hours and hours teaching them something and think it’s never going to sink in, and then all of a sudden, God gives you a gift that makes it all worthwhile. It’s as if He was telling me, “Keep giving books to your kids.”

Reading, though, isn’t as popular in the U.S. as it once was. The latest data from 2013 shows American teens rank 17^th in the world in reading—a tragic stat because reading forms the core of nearly every other type of learning. Perhaps that failure begins at home: Only one in three parents of children 8 and under read to their kids each night, according to a 2013 survey by Reading is Fundamental and Macy’s.

Looking back on the past few years, I can see what my wife and I did right in raising children who like books—and what we could have done better. Of course, children learn to read at different paces, but even kids who can’t read can enjoy books. Here are seven tips to raising kids who like books: Continue reading →

4 great winter science experiments for awesome family fun (with videos)

March 9, 2014 | Michael Foust | Posted in Parents of toddlers, Parents of young children | Tagged boiling water, Children, family fun, freezes, glory of god, God, Mississippi river, Parents, science experiments, winter, winter science experiments

Scripture tells us that all of creation declares the glory of God, but many of us scratch our head and wonder, “Does that mean, winter, too?”

Of course it does. God was wise to give us variety in creation because it helps in our worship of Him.

For instance, we all enjoy scenic pictures of mountains and beaches, but what if the entire world was one big beach or one huge mountain range? As much as we think we’d enjoy it, we really wouldn’t. We’d soon grow bored and our sinful nature would lead us to say, “Is this all there really is in the world – one monotonous stretch of white sand?”

Consider the 24-hour day cycle. What if that wondrous starry night never ended or that beautiful sunny day went on and on? We’d rebel and start pouting, “God, I can’t sleep with all that sunshine!”

It would be the same with a week’s worth of steak suppers or lobster meals, and it’s the same with the seasons. Variety in creation is good for us. We see God’s glory on display in different ways, and about the time we grow tired of beautiful buttercups or red maple tree leaves or a stellar snowy landscape, God changes the scene and gives us a different reminder of His greatness. Winter makes us long for spring, and summer makes us long for fall, and on and on. Continue reading →