God Uses Long-Lasting Friendships “Inside Out” with Martha Manikas-Foster We need long-lasting friendships. But political divisions, our self-reliance, and the failure to prioritize time with friends all work against sustained relationships.   “Intimacy, trust, and vulnerability–which at least to me are all really important factors in friendships—take time. Like years,” says photographer, marriage coach, and …

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Hope for Widows (and their friends) “I rest in who God is to get me though my day. And that, I think, is what the hope for widows is.”  — Marilyn Nutter  Twenty-eight hundred women a day are widowed in the US. For those women, everything changes.   “A widow has not only lost her husband, …

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Gen Z is Looking for Friends Gen Z has a reputation for being tech-addicted and anti-social, but it makes sense that many are looking for friends. “We were designed by God to experience Him when we’re in fellowship with other believers—believers of all ages,” says Kirsten Franze, author of The Gospel Coalition article “Gen Z …

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Parenting: Taking the Long View We want to raise our children well. Because of that, we look for instructions. That was true for parent and educational consultant Laura Spaulding.  “It seemed to be that there was always just a right way presented to you, and some of it came from the Christian culture, and some …

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The Gift of Thorns “We have to very careful to distinguish between ‘did God let me down?’ or ‘did my expectations of God let me down?’   What if not getting what we want is one of God’s great gifts? “God knows what is good for us when we don’t,” says the Rev. Dr. A. …

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Living your faith, from the “Inside Out” If you’re having trouble helping your kids negotiate their emotions, you’re not alone.    “We always fall into kind of two ends of a spectrum,” says writer and Bible teacher Courtney Reissig. “We either want to protect them too much from experiencing hard things, or we don’t want …

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Little Girls, Adult Pressures  Even the youngest girls feel the pressure to be sexy. Adult pressures on girls begin early. Dr. Danny Huerta talks about ways parents can help their daughters know that their value is deeper than their appearance. Huerta is a father, a licensed clinical social worker, and the vice president of Parenting …

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“Inside Out” on Family Life How do you respond when coworkers tell you they’ve been hurt by Christians, or say that Christianity is offensive? Kaitlin Miller Febles talks about how believers led by the Holy Spirit can live out the most powerful response.     “I think when we first respond with just defensiveness, we can …

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Inside Out:  Managing Family Conflict During the Holidays  Ways to prepare What we can do, and what to avoid Who can offer you comfort? Do upcoming holiday gatherings already have your stomach in knots? A veteran counselor with Focus on the Family suggests thinking ahead of time about how both historic family dynamics and differing …

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We develop our way of looking at the world—our worldview—before we turn 13. Remarkably, new research finds that fewer than one in ten parents think through how to guide their children spiritually during those critical years.   Dr. George Barna directs the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University and includes these findings in his …

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