This morning I was writing a devotion for my family/other families from Isaiah 26:3. It's one of my favorite Scriptures...He keeps us in perfect peace as our minds are stayed on Him. Here's a part of the devotion: A mind stayed on God isn't restless. It isn't wandering. It isn't spinning with worry. It's stayed. Like a boat anchored in the harbor, held steady by something deeper. When your mind is stayed on God—fixed on who He is, what He's done, what He promises—you find perfect peace. Not because the world becomes calm. But because your inner world is anchored to something unshakeable. The practice is simple: moment by moment, bring your wandering thoughts back to rest on God. What has He done? What has He promised? What do you know about His character? Each time you practice this—bringing your anxious thoughts back to God—you're building a habit of peace that will carry you through anything. This is how families change. Not through perfect circumstances. But through choosing, again and again, to keep their minds stayed on God. If you want to practice this with your family, we're building this habit in Present—our weekly family devotional that meets you where you are and helps you discover peace together. Present is daily devotions, 5 minutes per day, delivered to your inbox every Sunday. Check it out here: https://www.spiritledfamilies.world/products/present-weekly-family-devotionals

Praying this year is filled with God’s love and goodness for all of you!

Over Christmas we typically spend time with family and often this can be a difficult and frustrating time. We see all the things that we struggle with, but I want to give you a practical way to truly honor your parents and turn relational frustrations into deep joy and gratitude. Because both honor and dishonor are like download buttons, and we only want to download into our lives the things God has put in our parents, and nothing else.

Is the condition of my marriage one that if my children had the same condition in their marriage, would I feel proud of them? Is my marriage (since its defining what marriage is for my children) the definition God wants my children to have of what marriage is? Does my marriage look like God’s definition of marriage? Do I know God’s definition? If any one of these has a hint of a “no” in their answer, my next questions for myself are also a prayer: Lord, what do I need to change? And what do I need to receive from you to make those changes?

Will our children be our sacrifice to arguments and conflict? If we tended and lived in the holiness we’ve been freely given, we’d be so sensitive to the needs of each other and eager to fulfill the other’s needs, even at the cost of our own. The flawless union between a believing husband and wife in this world echoes loudly the unbreakable union of Christ and His bride in the Kingdom. Lord, let our unions here on earth correspond to your union with the Church. Let us not sacrifice our children to anything we consider as worthy of a battle. Let us not sacrifice our children for selfishness.