All posts by Derick Valencik

Parent’s Corner: What Three Months with My Daughter Has Taught Me About God

February 15, 2016 Derick Valencik Leave a comment

They say that having a child colors your understanding of God and life. That bringing new life into the world changes how you see the world. Until three months ago I didn’t realize how incredibly true this was. I feel like the charcoal sketch that I was looking at has been transformed into the most vibrant of Monet’s. Possibly the most profound instances of this is in regards to how God has painted my understanding of prayer and His emotional nature.

Feeling Prayer

I’ve always prided myself on being a man who was confidently in touch with his emotional side and when it comes to prayer I’ve always prided myself on being the guy who says “it doesn’t matter what you say — just speak and let the Holy Spirit translate it for you!” But if I can be honest, having Maisey has opened my eyes to just how theological I’ve been about all of it. It’s been a standard case of the “head but not heart syndrome”. I’ve known in my mind how God desires us to talk to him in prayer, I’ve known theologically how the Holy Spirit intercedes and translates for us when we talk to God but I haven’t felt God’s heart for us regarding prayer. It took the birth of my daughter for it to finally click.

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Family Life

April’s Parent’s Corner: Worship in the Family

April 29, 2015 Derick Valencik Leave a comment

Hello Parents,

I’m planning to post articles related to issues of faith and parenting each month. In order to keep some semblance of order in the upcoming stream of posts, I will cover a theme that will span multiple months. Each month, I’ll cover a different angle within the theme. First up: family worship. I am convinced that the way parents worship makes the largest determination on whether or not their children will adopt their faith as their own.

Continue reading April’s Parent’s Corner: Worship in the Family →

Family Life

Helpful Advice for Parents: Teens and Their “Risky” Brains

April 22, 2014 Derick Valencik 1 Comment

The land of adolescence seems to become more murky with each successive generation that passes through it . If you are a parent or someone who volunteers their time working with teenagers you know this. You also know how tricky it can be to help them navigate through those years. On one hand there are the trials and tribulations that mark the transformations of those “in-between” years known as puberty. And as if that wasn’t enough the other hand is full of the added complexities of living in the 21st Century.