Monthly Archives: January 2026

Double Blessing

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Remember that when we stand before the Lord He will judge our actions AND our motives. We can do everything good from good or bad motives. May the driving desire of our heart be to please Him, the Own Who purchased us with His blood.  “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier” (2 Timothy 2:4). (That verse is a reminder to me, mounted above the framed painting of a historic, helmeted, medieval soldier hanging at the end of our hallway. I see it many times a day.)

We read His Word to know Him and how to live for Him. That is a double blessing. We please Him and have assurance of our salvation. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13). We don’t read Scripture for points, unless our motivation is wrong. “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19).

One brother, not only encouraged his family but his church family to read through the Bible, and it was a blessing. “A year ago I encouraged our congregation to participate with me reading through the Bible for the year 2025. We had a good participation, even youth as young as 13 participated. This has been a real blessing. We are now doing 2026 also. We planned (what I called) Grand Ole Bible reading Finale Lunch and games next month, focusing largely on the young people and a way to encourage them to continue reading through the Bible in 2026. Everyone of the youth that signed up for 2025 completed reading through the Bible. This is very exciting! I find the more I read it the more I desire more of it.”

God desires to use each of us. First, in our family, but then in every contact and relationship. Be salt my brothers. Be salt. (Matthew 5:13)

“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

Shrink or Grow

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This is the age of an obesity pandemic. I understand. I love to eat tasty things. It is a war that I’m determined to fight. Have you noticed how skilled we are at excuses that allow for partaking of things usually harmful for us. As we have touched on, God’s Word is nourishing for our souls and is needful daily for growth. Yet how the excuses poor forth for why it can’t/won’t happen. However, once the habit is set, it takes little effort to sustain it. It is not too late to begin your read through the Bible this year. 

One dad wrote after the last Seriously. Joseph said, “My wife and I are currently on a 4 month reading schedule. Reading larger portions helps the whole to stick together better. We are nourished by full bites rather than by crumbs.” That might take 40-60 minutes a day depending on your reading speed. However, I’m confident that for the average family to set aside 20 to 30 minutes a day for a one year reading plan is very doable. The rewards in the parents lives are high and even higher for the children. 

Printable plans are available on the internet. Many churches will offer them to their members and lastly you could target 4 chapters a day, 3 if long ones and that should work for you. 

“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen” (2 Peter 3:18).

If you would like to but are struggling in some way, and I can encourage you personally, write me back. 

One of Those

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Most of you, I expect, have observed enough marriages that you have spotted some that you feel aren’t going to make it. We can’t see a person’s heart, but if we observe their decisions and actions, a pretty good view is obtained. Jesus, when referring to how one can know false prophets says, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20). That truth has wide application. 

Teri’s mom in her later days, just wasn’t able to eat much. She was wasting away, and it was obvious, her time of departure was drawing near. Our bodies must have ongoing nutrition. 

For those who are truly saved, our spirits are analogous. We must feed on the Word of God to be healthy. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious” (1 Peter 2:2-3).

When I meet someone who professes to be a believer, in the conversation I will eventually ask them if they read their Bible every day. Not because they earn something by it, but it is a sign of actual life and view of their spiritual health. There is a reason Jesus refers to Himself as the bread of life (John 6:35, 6:48). I plead with you don’t be like the woman who told me “I’ve read the Bible for years. I don’t need to read it anymore.” 

I’m pleading with you to read the Bible, Genesis to Revelation each year at a minimum. At the end of the day, a man will have done what was important to him. Please, make it important to you. If I can encourage you in anyway, email me. (More to follow.)  

It Adds Up

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Life, and the constant stream of decisions we dads face, fascinates me. Even what we consider to be small decisions add up to be big ones over time. We just didn’t realize we were making them incrementally. 

Consider a few examples. Someone brings donuts to work. You’ve had breakfast, but a couple of your favorite donuts won’t hurt. Lunch out (only a few $ right?) is much more appealing than packing a boring lunch. After dinner, your sons were playing their new video game you bought them for Christmas and begged you to keep playing and not have to stop for family Bible time. So you let them play. Besides you could catch up on few things you wanted to do. Later, watching the news was too tempting to pass up with all that is going on in the world, even though you knew you likely wouldn’t get up for your Bible time. 

Decision by decision, the course is being set for yourselves and your children, your health and spiritual growth. Self discipline is foundational. If you don’t rule yourself well, someone/something else will. Food addictions, strangling debt, health crisis like diabetes, obesity, and heart disease are killing us. We are investing and withdrawing daily, how and what? Will our Lord be pleased? 

“And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul” (Mark 8:34-37)?

A Word Fitly Written 

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Do you write notes to your children – little notes hidden in a place for them to discover, like under a pillow or in a pocket – notes filled with love, encouragement, and gratitude? “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver” (Proverbs 25:11). As a mother who wants her children to grow spiritually and who desires to keep her children’s hearts, I encourage you to see the value in writing notes to them. 

“The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning” (Proverbs 16:21). The sweetness of your lips can be transferred to the written page. In your notes, you have the ability to share with a child what you see the Lord doing in his life and how you are praying for that child. You can thank a child for a special kindness he has done. “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works” (Hebrews 10:24).

These notes do not have to be long or complicated to be beneficial. “Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones” (Proverbs 16:24). Your words in a note will be written reminders to your children of your love for them and your gratitude to the Lord for them.

“A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it!” (Proverbs 15:23). In this verse, I read what I discovered myself. When I wrote my children notes, they not only encouraged my child but brought joy to my heart.

“The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart: and a good report maketh the bones fat” (Proverbs 15:30). Written notes are an excellent way to give a child a good report. We can focus on the work the Lord is doing in the child’s life that has led to our words of praise for him. We can express gratitude for the child’s obedience to the Lord’s working and promptings in his life.

Spoken words vanish in a flash except for the memory of them. However, written words can be kept, read, and reread for days, months, and even years. I have notes that Steve wrote me through the years, along with ones the children wrote, plus ones from others. These words were blessings and encouragements to me when I first read them. In addition, I have read them at various times through the years. Truly, they are treasures to me.

My notes to my children had several goals. I wanted them to express my love for that child. A second goal was to communicate positive spiritual growth that I observed in their life. My final goal was to share Scripture I was praying for them. My notes did not always meet all three goals, and they certainly had additional topics in them, but those goals gave me direction for the notes.

May I encourage you to take a few minutes from your busy day on a regular basis to bless your children (or husband, or grandchildren, or friends) by writing them encouraging notes. Small steps toward a goal are better than no steps at all. If you begin now to write one note a week, it would only take five or ten minutes from each week. In the course of a year, you would write fifty-two notes. What are you willing to sacrifice of your personal time to bless your children by writing to them your thoughts, feelings, and spiritual encouragement? Will you put them ahead of other activities on which you spend you time? May you be a mother who choose to build your relationship with your children and to spur them on to love and good works through your written words to them.

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