Index: Changing Hearts

Over the last year, my niece has gone through a change. The once happy, helpful girl changed into a whiny, depressed, girl that didn’t look at life the same. One day I got left home with the all the children whilethe adultswent shopping. While I was home with the children I started giving instructions for everyone to clean things up… Read more »

Considering the consistent shouts for equality for women and the blatant attacks on motherhood, motherhood needs defending. I’m fairly certain public school had a negative effect on me and my identity. When I was a small girl, I loved nothing more than playing house, taking care of my baby dolls, and babysitting. But, by the time I was in the… Read more »

The multiculturalism of modern society, or desire to promote all ideas or ways of living as good, no matter their opposition to moral, religious, social, and familial cultural norms, is creating negativity and confusion when it comes to attitudes about marriage and family. People have spent their young years reading books and watching movies that end in what many human… Read more »

When was the last time you felt lonely? In order to thrive during these socially unusual times, and even times that aren’t unusual at all, it’s important to understand the difference between being alone and experiencing real loneliness, and what we can do to combat the loneliness epidemic that seems to be sweeping many countries. According to 2021 Harvard research… Read more »

Why do we cater to our stresses and forget to choose calmness? After all, calmness is the only state where we truly feel safe and empowered. Stress, anger, and frustration never lead to true empowerment or peace, only emotional bondage.In 1998, when I was the young mother of a small baby and a toddler,and before I went through a complete… Read more »

It sometimes seems like teens don’t want to listen to adults tell them what to do or not to do, but in reality, teens and children are always hoping that adults will teach them discernment. When a person doesn’t know who to follow or what to believe morally, then that person ends up feeling lost and confused. Parents have a… Read more »

Even though the mistakes our children make are glaring us in the face, we also know that each of our children has certain attributes that make them wonderful, individual, and precious to us. Charitable parents focus more on those good, productive attributes than on the negative mistakes their children make daily.Each week I answer peoples’ parenting questions on my weekly… Read more »

Creating quality, loving family relationships requires discerning between what actions are really quality and what actions are nothing more than conformity to social norms. Creating these quality relationships doesn’t require elaborate planning, just time.Strong family relationships are built upon many components, such as good communication, honesty, trust, love, forgiveness, bonding, listening, shared vision, and shared experiences. Each of these relationship-strengthening… Read more »

For years I’ve heard adults complain about how disrespectful teenagers are with a tone that suggests the teenagers should fix their problem. I found myself wondering if it was really totally the teenagers’ problem, and if it was possible for teenagers to fix the culture of disrespect all alone. After many years of helping families fix disrespect problems I can… Read more »

So far, we have learned four of the five characteristics of “Becoming A Joyful Adult.” Now we get to learn about the fifth, being: Character. It is who we are. Character is one of my favorite words described in Webster’s 1828 Dictionary. It says character is: “…the peculiar qualities, impressed by nature or habit on a person, which distinguish him… Read more »

This is the fourth part of the “Becoming Joyful Adults” series. The topic of this part is: Relationships. There are many reasons why relationships are so important to be joyful. Also, in this clip, we learn of three things that will better your relationships. Relationships are what keep the family together and staying strong. They are vital for a life… Read more »

This week’s Gem is the continuation of the “Becoming A Joyful Adult” series. Part three is about another amazing charactaristic: Purpose. We have to have purpose in order to have any amount of happiness. Have you ever found yourself at home with nothing to do? You start to feel grumpy. Purpose gives us something to work for and toward. It… Read more »