The Disciplemaker Team 
By Connie Albers, author of Parenting Beyond the Rules: Raising Teens with Confidence and Joy What does a teen need? As my first child entered the teen years, I found myself asking this critical question everyday. For decades, parents have wrestled …
by Connie Albers, author of Parenting Beyond the Rules: Raising Teens with Confidence and Joy Teens are living amid a rapidly changing culture. Some teens easily adapt while others struggle to figure out how their beliefs fit within the current culture. …
We’ve all heard the saying, “It’s good to have friends in high places.” The junkyard (and I have lots of great, junkyard lessons in my book, Salvaged) turns that axiom upside down. In reality, it’s good to have friends in …
Leaders ultimately are judged by their actions, which Jesus teaches flow from the heart. Some of the stuff that came out of my dad’s junkyard would have made Dr. Frankenstein proud (and I have a lot of great junkyard stories …
Read moreLeadership Will Never Be Right if Your Heart is Wrong
I was in seventh grade when Mom and Dad bought a run-down cattle ranch about thirty miles northeast of San Jose. Besides the sprawling but neglected ranch house, there were acres of rolling hills, fenced pastures, and decrepit fruit trees, …
Why should I practice hospitality in spiritual friendship? To me, hospitality is a natural thing you do in friendship. You open your home to your friend whenever she needs to come to you—and she would do the same for you. …
The amazing thing about service is that it rarely returns void, even if we don’t see the end results ourselves. Service has a way of inspiring others to see the areas of need around them and step out of their …
When I offer hospitality, something amazing happens—so much more than I have anything to do with. An exchange takes place. Our guests bring who they are with them and enlarge our lives in their offerings. When we offer guests space, …
One year when my daughter was in middle school, I had the unusual opportunity to pick her up from school every day. I worked downtown and we lived in the suburbs, so this was a short-lived and precious season. Each …
Read moreWhat Picking Up My Daughter From School Taught Me About Surrender
We arrive home, and I unload the bags while Penny unpacks her backpack. “Do you have any homework?” I ask. “Nope,” she says. “Well, are you working on anything at school these days?” “Research,” she says. I have learned to …
Read moreWhat My Daughter with Down Syndrome Helped Me Understand About Sin