Morning Briefings

It is not what you do for your children but what you taught them to do for themselves that will make them successful human beings.

– Ann Landers

When Maurice Johnson was laid off a year ago from his six-figure salary it wasn’t his future he was worried about. It was his children’s. Mr. Johnson’s two oldest are attending Johns Hopkins, at an annual cost of $50,000 a piece and his youngest daughter recently began her own college search. Johnson isn’t sure whether he’ll be able to help her go to college, or even to get the older kids to graduation.

– Mary Pilon
Bank of Mom and Dad Shuts Down Amid White-Collar Struggle

While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

– Luke 2: 6-7

One minute they’re playing house with their baby dolls, and the next thing you know they have homes and lives of their own. We all complain about spending too much time at the office, but who among us regrets having spent too much time with our children?

– Doris Christopher
Come to the Table: A Celebration of Family Life

We take the occasion of Thanksgiving in America to express how blessed we have been through the company we keep. As we sit down with our families and other friends this holiday, please know that you will continue to be in our humble prayers of thanks.

–
In the Company of Prayer

Abigail Van Buren once wrote that, ‘a church is a hospital for sinners, not a museum for saints.’ As important as history and tradition is to our Church, our faith is not a museum exhibit filled with long-dead specimens, stuffed and propped up to show what the ‘real thing’ looks like. Our Church is and must be alive and real, and that means filled with fragile, weak and sinful humans.

– Steve Givens
Living Faith

After years of facing all sorts of financial pressures they never expected, from adult kids moving back home to their own parents needing help to retire, empty nest parents are struggling with a new headache. Thinking it was only natural to want to help children and grandchildren, many co-signed student loans. Now, they’re becoming the latest victims of the nation’s mounting problem with student-loan debt, which surpassed the $1 trillion mark last year.

– Kelly Greene, The Wall Street Journal
New Peril for Older Parents: Student Loans They Co-Signed

Over 100 different drugs have side effects that can mimic Alzheimer’s in some people.

– Melinda Beck, The Wall Street Journal
Detective Work: The False Alzheimer’s Diagnosis

My son, keep your father’s commands and do not forsake your mother’s teachings. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.

– Proverbs 6:20, 22 from
Proverbs for Parenting

You can always tell when a man is not living in the purpose for which God created him. You sense his unrest. You get a feeling something is not quite right, even if you can’t put your finger on what it is. When you are around a man who is fulfilling his calling and doing what he was created to do, you’re aware of his inner direction, confidence and deep security.

– Stormie Omartian
The Power of a Praying Wife