Family Ministry

Harriet Sulcer didn't want anybody to know her husband had left home. For more than 20 years, she had been leading Bible studies on the Christian family, and now her own family was falling apart. "If I don't tell anybody," she thought, "maybe Lou will come home before they find out." Lou was gone for 10 years. During that time, their teenage son began his own prodigal journey. Harriet fell into depression and then financial bankruptcy, losing her home, then losing herself. As she lay in the hospital bed, Harriet's daughter told her, "They want to move you to the fifth floor."

As parents, we long for our kids to have family relationships that last a lifetime. But how do we create an atmosphere for connection on this messy journey of parenting? The Messy Life of Parenting shows you small changes you can make now to build lasting relationships, even when the going gets tough. By applying God's design for interdependence, you'll be able to: strengthen family relationships, encourage leadership skills, distinguish between enabling and helping, discuss without creating division, and so much more.

Today's youth struggle with difficult questions of sexual identity. How can a youth worker offer wise care and counsel on such a controversial and confusing subject? Mark Yarhouse, Director of the Institute for the Study of Sexual Identity, writes to equip youth ministers so they can faithfully...

This is not how this was supposed to go! I had envisioned many more decades with my husband Robb in the complicated, beautiful life of marriage. But in the course of 12 hours, our family of four became a trio, and since that day my boys and I have been creating a new life in an upside-down world. This new book is in a lot of ways is a sequel to And Life Comes Back, to answer the question: “And then what happened - after the crisis became reality and your life began again?”

Aaron Dean Ruotsala, 24-year-old husband, father, business owner, and pilot shares a true story about a heart-wrenching experience he calls the best and worst experience of a lifetime. This story will provoke you to laughter, tears, and cause you to examine yourself and your role as a human on this temporal journey.

Belinda Bauman was living a comfortable life as a wife, mother, and nonprofit leader - but her soul was checked out. Then she met Esperance. An assault survivor living in one of the poorest, most dangerous countries in the world, Esperance and other Congolese women shared their harrowing stories with Belinda. Their vulnerability set Belinda on a path of embracing empathy. If Esperance could love in the face of so much pain, maybe there is hope for the world, too.

Every guy knows that the right mix of music can make or break your day and set whatever mood you want to create. Husband, father of four, podcast host extraordinaire, and certified mix-master Jerrad Lopes drops fourteen dynamic tracks, each one of them addressing a different question about how to love and lead your family well.

Renew your imagination for what family life can be. Many of us feel overwhelmed about the prospect of raising children in our high-performance, rapid-pace culture. Reflecting on difficulties from our own families of origin can increase our doubt and insecurity about being a good parent. Positive examples of family life can seem few and far between. Mark and Lisa Scandrette understand these challenges, and in Belonging and Becoming they cast a compelling vision of what the family can be.

Family life is an adventure in becoming real.... Jennifer Grant’s girlhood dream of being the perfect mom withered quickly once she got a real taste of the messy, creative, sometimes hilarious, and often taxing process of raising a family. With MOMumental, she presents a warm, compassionate audiobook filled with uncommon and amusing insights about being an intentional parent - and about realizing that family matters, no matter what yours is like.

Almost any parent you asked would tell you that they want their children to be happy, successful adults. But many of us forget (or never knew to begin with) that lasting personal joy is not necessarily found the way the world says it is - through reaching a certain socioeconomic status, having a certain job, buying a certain house, or having a certain amount in one's bank account. In fact, says Kristen Welch, author of Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World, personal satisfaction comes not from grabbing onto things but from holding them with an open hand and, very often, giving them away.

There's nothing quite like family - and some people would say that there's nothing better. But in a world where we sometimes know more about the Kardashians than we do about the people sleeping right down the hall, it's easy to forget that walking through life with our family offers all sorts of joy wrapped up in the seemingly mundane. There's even a little bit of sacred sitting smack-dab in the middle of the ordinary. And since time's-a-wastin', we need to be careful that we don't take our people - and their stories - for granted.

In bow hunting, being at full draw is the height of adventure, the moment when you're poised to take your best shot. Hunting enthusiasts and popular Discovery Channel personalities David and Karin Holder believe you can live the same way you hunt - at full draw, excited, and ready for whatever God has in store for you.

An intimate account of the American Revolution as seen through the eyes of a Quaker pacifist couple living in Philadelphia. Spanning a half-century before, during, and after the war, this gripping narrative illuminates the Revolution’s darker side as patriots vilified, threatened, and in some cases killed pacifist Quakers as alleged enemies of the revolutionary cause. Amid chaos and danger, the Drinkers tried as best they could to keep their family and faith intact. A master storyteller takes his listeners on a moving journey they will never forget.

Stepparenting with Grace offers a soothing salve and a holy nudge of daily encouragement for anyone navigating the unique dynamics of a blended family. These devotions provide companionship, encouragement, understanding, and biblical insights from a veteran stepmom. This trusted resource will help you gain strength, wisdom, and comfort as you navigate the rocky terrain of creating a blended family.

Let’s face it: when it comes to mothers and their daughters, things can get a little... complicated. Momplicated, you might say. Whether your relationship with your mom has been wonderful or stressful, redeemed or broken, close or nonexistent, it’s one of your life’s most important and defining connections. Its effects have probably followed you into adulthood. If you have conflicting feelings toward mom - or if you wish you could get past some of the baggage that holds you back - this is your audiobook.

In July of 1975, shortly after coming to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Ron Tyler prayed, “Lord, I will be anything you want me to be! I will go anywhere You want me to go! I will do anything you want me to do!”

You can meet Hannah in 1 Samuel, chapters 1 and 2. The Bible says she was "barren", and we know she suffered heartache, anguish, and grief because of her empty arms. Perhaps you do, too. Hannah's Hope is for all who long for a child yet to be conceived, grieve for a baby too soon passed from the womb, or have lived through the no-man's-land of failed adoption. It is intended as a guide to assist you in making wise decisions as you struggle through your grief.

In this vulnerable memoir of transformation, Rebekah Lyons shares her journey from Atlanta, Georgia to the heart of Manhattan, where she found herself blindsided by crippling depression and anxiety. Overwhelmed by the pressure to be domestically efficient, professionally astute, and physically attractive, Rebekah finally realized that freedom can come only by facing our greatest fears and fully surrendering to God's call on our lives.

It's time to stop trying to be the perfect mom. You long to be the mom your kids need, but often you're convinced you come up short. The label "not enough" seems to be stamped across everything you do - and yet parenting is the one thing you want most to get right. What if the solution is simply to embrace the truth that you are not enough - but God is?

Every father knows failure. It comes with the territory. One generation to the next, imperfect men chip away at God's original design for daddies, leaving a flawed pattern for their sons to follow. Overwhelmed by their failures, it's easy for fathers to feel they have blown it for good and can't redeem themselves. In this book, Tim Bayly offers a frank and hope-filled path to overcoming the inherent failures of imperfect fathers - and to reclaiming manhood and dignity for the man called Daddy.