By my faith I understand patience to be one of the most kind and empowering ways to grow in love and cast out fear.

Learning how to love and be loved is like archery lessons that teach us how to cast out fear: aim for the bulls-eye, where the love of God rests and there is peace. Hopefully we are all learning how to become better versions of ourselves, holding one accountable with a mercy and a heart full of hope and faith that the grace of God carries us forward closer to Him when we seek His face.

...Families are formed on purpose, for a purpose: to defend love in the face of evil in the world by educating one another through Wisdom, not by worldly knowledge and controlling motives...

I have come to truly appreciate the trust God has placed in humanity, that he would grant us the capacity to procreate – to bear children and be responsible for their upbringing and care. Through my motherhood journey, I have learned that we are all imperfect parents with imperfect children, and we have the power to make home a safe place to learn how to become better versions of ourselves. To become trustworthy citizens at …

Let this declaration of my choice to believe and walk according to the Word of God resonate in every nook and cranny of my heart and mind, body and soul; in my house, and in every family relationship so that the enemy realizes that I know and You, Jesus, witness that I know, that he who is in the world has no power of what You God have already given me before I was born …

So by my faith I know that the purpose and power of women in marriages, families and communities, as mothers, daughters, sisters and wives, is to pray for our men so as to fully communicate the love of God expressed in Romans 8:38-39, and by faith equip their hearts and minds with abundant grace, as fathers, husbands, sons and brothers. This can only be accomplished when I ask for divine guidance in responding to the …

My faith informs me that my flawed humanity is not the truth. It may be my experience, but the truth is what I know by my chosen faith in Christ Jesus, that nothing can separate me from the love of God. There is no evil or disappointment or hardship more powerful than my God who sacrificed His only begotten Son, and who chooses to live in me and through me by my faith. And so …

It’s a new day for growing up, being a parent, worship and love...

Jodie Stevens is the hostess of The Family Morning Show on 103.9FM The Fish in Sacramento, and the producer of Genuine Life with Jodie Stevens, a devotional about overcoming emotional difficulties including self-pity, anger, anxiety, addiction and low self-esteem. In a recent post, “How would Jesus want us to celebrate his birthday this Christmas”, she calls special attention to the challenges of the modern family, easily overwhelmed with gifting expectations that can lead us far away from the peace made possible by the birth of Jesus as the most precious gift to humanity.

The most challenging “banana moment” for the modern parent is when to issue your child a smart phone. It is a rite of passage that carries with it privileges, responsibilities and dangers tantamount to handing over the keys to the car. And it happens typically around middle school or upper grammar school grades. One of the reasons why it is so challenging to parent youth with mobile devices is that they are empowered by the feeling of no limits to communication, and they will naturally be resistant to parental oversight – especially when shame-inspired content transpires (i.e., sexting, bullying, gossip). And it is easy to keep secrets because cyber connectivity is so clandestine.