If you’ve been married for more than five minutes, chances are you’ve faced conflict. Sometimes conflicts resolve easily, but other times they can eat away at your heart and mind.

What should your heart’s response be when your spouse is unreasonable and reconciliation seems impossible? When you’re facing serious disagreements with no clear path forward, what are some practical next steps you can take?

Today, we’re going to look at the conflict between two women in the Philippian church and see how Paul addressed and encouraged them. Although this disagreement was between two sisters in Christ rather than a husband and wife, the parallels are striking and deeply helpful.

Listen in as we think through how to navigate those tricky conflicts.

Several years ago, the kids and I started eating our breakfast on the front steps of our house. I had just finished reading The Art of Neighboring, in which the authors encouraged Christians to look for simple ways to be “seen” in their neighborhoods.

One of the easiest ideas they shared was moving some activity from the backyard to the front yard. At first, I set up a blanket on the grass and read stories in the afternoon, but eventually, we settled into being morning “front steps people,” and it’s been a daily routine—regardless of the weather or season—for almost two years.

I love being a front steps person for primarily two reasons—it is sweet outside time and it establishes our presence in our neighborhood.

Obviously, there are other ways to be outside and to be visible in the neighborhood, so what do I love about this practice in particular?

So glad you asked. Let me tell you all about it.

Note: This practice definitely isn’t for everybody. But it is a sweet one for us. I hope hearing about what we do has inspired you to establish your own fun, special and unique daily routines. ❤️

Fall is a popular time to start thinking about thankfulness. Thankful, Grateful, Blessed is on every mug, pillow, and sweater. What’s not to love about gratefulness? Talk to a random person on the street and ask them if they think gratefulness matters and they will almost certainly say yes.

But what is thankfulness? How is Christian thankfulness distinct from secular thankfulness? Why is the object of our gratitude far more important than the expression of our gratitude?

With our own children, how do we help them think about gratitude in the context of being creatures made by a good and powerful creator? What are some ideas for helping kids to grow in gratitude practically?

Join for a conversation about gratitude with blogger, songwriter, author, and homeschool mama Allison Brost. Allison writes at her blog This Side of Perfect and recently published Grateful: 30 Days of Growing in Thankfulness with the Good Book Company.