In Chapter 1 of iWork4Him, Ted Hains recounts visiting the Marine Reserves with his friend Doug during his senior year of high school. It was the height of the Korean War, patriotism was running high, and both boys were interested in joining up. However, while visiting the Rock Island Arsenal, Ted decided he wasn’t ready for the military and postponed signing up. A few months later, the local Marine Reserves were called up, and before Ted had graduated, Doug died in combat. Although he is now 87, Ted writes that he still thinks about Doug and wonders who he would have become and what would have happened if they’d talked about the gospel before he passed away.

Too many parents today are making the nest too comfortable, so the kids don't want to leave.  Who can blame them? We must, however, trust God with their lives. He has them, and He has a plan for them.

Marriage has been difficult since sin entered the world, but people always learned to love and adore their spouse, despite the difficulty. God created marriage to introduce Jesus to children. When a marriage destructs, kids are destroyed and kids start to question who God is and why He let their mom and dad split up.

At the Holiday's, emotional hurt is amplified and multiplied. Think about the people you know who have lost a child, a parent, a spouse, or a best friend in the last year. The Holiday blues are a thing.

Teach your kids what it looks like to find opportunities to pray with people when they are hurting but all along be that person of excellence in their school work and their behavior, so that people will ask them why. Work with your kids to identify those they should be praying for by name each and every day.

Did you ever go to church camp when you were a kid? What’s the value in summer church camp? Camp gives kids the chance to see other people living out their faith, connecting their faith and their work.

My parents took us on the Family Vacation of a lifetime the Summer of 1971. We spent 3 weeks on the road with 5 of us. It doesn’t matter how much the trip cost my parents, what mattered was that the trip was spent together as a family.

Life sure changes when school lets out for summer break. Let’s focus on how it can impact our family life this summer. How can we put our iWork4Him thinking into practice during the summer?