The other evening, I heard the car come in the drive. My husband Chris, had just been giving our 15 year old daughter a driving lesson. The next minute there was a loud CRASH!!
Kate had accidentally put her foot on the accelerator and had shot into the garage, slammed into an office chair and buckled it up, cracked the table tennis table in half, and knocked over a tool… read more

Just yesterday, I went out to the washing line and saw our young puppy, Lucy, standing beside a dead hen. I was horrified, furious! I knew I had to teach her a lesson before she became a confirmed chicken-killer, so I gave Lucy the punishment she deserved.

Only then did I notice the hen had her eyes open. I looked again and realised that there was no blood on… read more

Yesterday something very unusual happened in our house. At least, it was very unusual judging by my children’s reactions. I actually did some ironing.
Kate was the first to see me. “Mum! You’re ironing!” A look of unbelief was written all over her face.
Then Joe walked past the door, glanced in the kitchen and did a double-take. “Good grief, Mum! You’re ironing!”
Seconds later, Eliza came in. She too… read more

Teaching honesty to children can be a real challenge. Inherent in the fallen nature of each one of us is the tendency to lie to save our necks, or to gain something we really want.

Just today I had a wonderful example of honesty. As I waited in line at a supermarket check out, the lady in front of me paid for her groceries, and then handed the operator… read more

I’ve just finished searching through old photo albums looking for a certain photo to go in my next book. I got totally side-tracked as I looked at photos of ten years ago, and my beautiful children – so little and so very cute! How the years fly!

Just last week, a friend of mine was staying at a camp. At night when she went to bed and turned out… read more

The Gift of Values ~ Volume One and Two, now available in hard back edition, are the first two books in a series of four, written to encourage parents in the vital and challenging task of imparting true values to their children.

Volume One looks at six values:
Honesty
Right Attitudes
Courage
Perseverance
Diligence
Obedience

Under each value, there are stories, thought-provoking questions, inspirational quotes, Scriptures, practical and… read more

Diligence. It has a certain ring about it — and not always a pleasant one. Maybe that’s because it makes us think of responsibility? Or maybe because we know it equates to work? And yet diligence can offer us the world!

It would be good to ask your children what this word means, and then look it up together in the dictionary. The Oxford dictionary describes ‘diligent’ as being… read more