Life can be sweet, refreshing, and joyful. Do your children and spouse see God’s joy in you? Do they get refreshed by your joyful spirit? God gives us joy (Ecc. 2:26), He is our joy (Ps. 43:4), and He commands us to be joyful (Phil. 4:4) and full of joy (Jn. 15:11) regardless of our circumstances (Heb. 10:34). No matter your personality type, God wants you to bear His Spirit to your family. Come ready to be rejuvenated and encouraged to “rejoice in all to which you have put your hand, you and your household” (Deut. 12:7).

Handout available at: https://www.oceanetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/Life-Bowl-of-Cherries-Joy-handout-2018-05-02.pdf

First Corinthians 1:12 is one of many scriptures reminding us we are not defined or directed by the cultures of the world. We have been bought with a price (Revelation 5:9). Betsy will talk about cultural influences and share some ideas on how the culture or cultures that own us influence our family life—especially our marriages, and what and how we teach and train our children.

Watch your step! Those wee ones are learning form everything you do. Betsy will offer encouragement and ideas for mothers of toddlers, especially those balancing their older and younger children's education.

The teenage years should be the beginning of the harvest as our young people come into their own. If we plan for the storms of life and prepare, we can build through these years with less frustration, wasted time, conflicts, and fruitlessness. We need to make the most of the time we have (Eph. 5:15-17). Betsy will help you consider and examine important principles so that you can prepare yourself physically and spiritually for situations that will arise.

Fathers and husbands, it is time to love and lead - now. Love your wife like Christ loves the church. Nurture and admonish your children but do not provoke them. Lead your family in God’s exciting will. Is all of this possible? Yes. But what can you do? Mothers and wives, it is time to love your husband as God has declared and to lead your children. Brian and Betsy will help and encourage you with scripture, their experiences, and what they have learned during 20 years of marriage and the ongoing raising of eight children.

This is for all the other moms who have been futilely asking for a maid every year for Christmas. How do you do more than is humanly possible? (which most of us are trying to do!) or justify not doing it? (which is an easily acquired skill!) You will be challenged to determine priorities as you seek to organize your time.

The command for women to be keepers of the home is not persecution from God or man, but a gift from the Lord to free and fulfill us. As we become ALL He has called us to be, our family becomes mighty in the Lord and a beacon to this generation. Whether you had a nurturing mother or not, God can teach you how to be one as you seek His heart for yourself and your children.