by Janel Breitenstein | Jun 8, 2018 | beauty, Culture, current events, identity, kids
I remember watching the pageant on my stomach on the carpet: One of my favorite television events of the year. There was the talent portion, the interview, the evening gown. Your ideal, they sang. And sure enough–girls around the nation wondered just like I did: Could...
by Janel Breitenstein | Jun 5, 2018 | closeness and intimacy, compassion, failure, fear, identity, love, Marriage, relationships, shame
It’s an interesting dynamic for an Americans traveling to Asia or Africa when we first encounter the shame/honor thing in cultures. To my naked eye, it’s sometimes looked like them not telling the truth. I’m probably going to botch this...
by Janel Breitenstein | Jun 1, 2018 | children, closeness and intimacy, Family, Holidays; Occasions, Ideas, kids, practical, relationships, time alone with God, time together, tweens and teens
So my kids are home for the summer after their first year in public school. Observations: a. I’ve been looking forward to quality time with them. That said, if they fight like, one more time? I may be glancing at tickets for four children to, say, Abu...
by Janel Breitenstein | May 30, 2018 | free download, Printables and Freebies, shareables, spiritual life skills/spiritual disciplines
I’ve written a lot lately about spiritual disciplines for real families (check out the series here for lots of practical ideas). This summer, I’m creating some incentives for my kids to squirrel away a few more verses in their minds–and hopefully...
by Janel Breitenstein | May 25, 2018 | Africa, difficulty, fear, poverty
I spoke recently with a friend who’s packing up her family’s life to move to a developing country–a path of utter excitement, surrender, and loss. She described a terrifying kidnapping epidemic in the country to which she’s moving. In her...
