The lake stretches out in stillness around me as David and I enjoy some quiet time to read and think on the dock. Up the hill, the house is full of life and laughter. All our children and grandchildren have joined us for our annual pre-Thanksgiving retreat, and it’s every bit as awesome as we anticipated it would be. The babies are old enough now to be really fun, and watching our children joyfully parenting them has been incredibly fulfilling.
This weekend has been overflowing with the sweetest kinds of moments. All of our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren have been here—under the same roof!—for several days. We’ve laughed until we cried, played highly competitive games, passed babies around like precious treasures, and had long, meaningful conversations. We’ve canoed all around the lake, taken lazy rides through the woods, and indulged in more lattes than I care to admit thanks to our son and daughter-in-law’s very impressive espresso machine. It has been full, and rich, and truly wonderful.
Today we had our official Thanksgiving dinner together, complete with our family’s “thanksgiving candle”—a simple candle surrounded by popcorn kernels, each one representing a specific thing we have thanked God for through the years. The candle gets more crowded every time we gather, and this year we spent nearly an hour sharing very specifically what each of us is grateful for. Only our family can turn deeply heartfelt reflections into fits of laughter—but I cherish that so much.
One theme kept bubbling up again and again as we shared: God’s faithfulness. Having adult children who love God, love each other, and love us is a blessing that is hard to put into words. And as I look around our table, I’m reminded that this wasn’t created through one big moment or one perfect decision. It was built through thousands of simple, imperfect acts of obedience—through choosing to follow God’s leading in our marriage, in our parenting, in our homeschool, in our priorities, and in the culture we wanted to cultivate in our home.
And that is one of the primary reasons David and I pour our hearts into Teach Them Diligently. We want to help families pursue God’s best for their homes. We long to see marriages strengthened, relationships between parents and children deepened, confidence restored, and peace reign once again where chaos or discouragement may have crept in. We want to help you build—day by day, moment by moment—toward the future season when your grown children and grandchildren will gather around you, and you will see the fruit of seeds planted in faith.
