parenting

Over the years, a lot of parents have asked me: “How does dating work in the Haas house?” Ie. What are your rules? What are your requirements? Keep in mind: My kids are a work in progress. I hesitate to even write some of these ideas down because, some day I may look back and…

Marriages don’t fall apart over-night. The initial cracks that eventually crumble a marriage often start long before. And it’s easy for these cracks to start when the kids are young. Here’s why: When you’re dating, the relationship is all about getting to know each other. The relationship is all about dreaming together and treating each…

If you know my wife at all, you’d know that she’s obsessive about being a great parent.  In fact, I call her the “Mommy-ologist” because she’s always got at least 2 parenting books on her at any given moment.  (I’m not kidding.  It’s almost ridiculous).  In fact, I don’t think we’ve gone on a vacation…

Being a parent with young kids can be one of the most chaotic seasons of life. And if that’s you right now, don’t give up! It only gets better. To make things even more difficult for my wife and me, we made the decision to plant a church (while having 3 kids under the age…

Recently, I preached on parenting – some of the top regrets I hear, & how we can avoid them! We assume that, because we’re socially intelligent, our kids will necessarily catch it. But, it takes a lot more intentionality than most Christians think. To put it simply: life has a way of crowding out many…

All of our kids went through phases where they hated church. Sometimes, the problem was simple: They lack friends. Other times the problem was more complicated. But it’s critical that parents learn how to negotiate these seasons. After all, 75% of Christian kids are walking away from church when they graduate. Think about that stat.…

If you’re feeling busy or weary, lets talk. In part 1 of this blogging series, we discussed the idea that: Success in one area of our lives won’t compensate for failure in another. The happiness of professional success will never make up for a lack of success in our marriage, friendships, parenting, etc. So, if…

Most Christians believe that reading the Bible is “good for them.” Yet so many people still struggle getting “into it.” And if you struggle, don’t sweat it! I just wrote a blog last week on how to “get addicted” to Bible reading. But did you know that you can increase your child or grandchild’s intelligence,…

Very few things are as euphoric as having your own kid. To be honest, I was kind of a “baby hater” until I had kids of my own. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I “punched them” or anything… It’s just that I never thought they were cute… And I never wanted to hold…