Courtney DeFeo has written the book I wish I’d had while my kids were growing up! It’s full of creativity and fun for anchoring twelve key virtues into the hearts of children. I love how her ideas lay a vital foundation for spiritual growth and development—and help families have a blast while doing it.” Courtney provides clear and encouraging guidance for building character into your children in fun, easy and lasting ways. The first time I came across the “In This House…” display was earlier this spring, when the Unitarian Universalist church down the street erected a ten-foot-wide sign on their front lawn, facing the intersection. My eyes grew wide as I took it in. A church, of all places, posting something this outright inflammatory and divisive? A vigilante church board member was the only thing that made sense. I was sure there would be a community outcry and it would be removed within days.

Other topics include: joy, love, forgiveness, faith, patience, perseverance, respect, responsibility, service, humility, and generosity. Each chapter focuses on a virtue (like Joy, Forgiveness and Respect) and gives simple ideas to incorporate it into hearts and home for the month. My favorite aspects are the definitions and catch phrases that Courtney provides to help children understand and remember each virtue. Lauren Tomlin, wife of Christian music artist Chris Tomlin and on the journey with him to raising a family after the heart of Jesus

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Still, the sign stands as one of the more enduring legacies of Trump-era resistance. As a political credo, it is more bold and memorable than anything the Democratic party has come up with in the last four years. Whether its central message survives, or collapses into a thousand more personal versions, the sign has already done a great deal of good.

Sissy Goff, director of child and adolescent counseling at Daystar Counseling Ministries, Nashville, TN, and author of several books, including Intentional Parenting Kindness is everything. The progressive conviction here refers to human-to-human kindness. Basically, be kind to one another (Eph. 4:32) and obey the Golden Rule (Matt 7:12). This is important and biblical, but where the slogan falls short is in suggesting human kindness is “everything”—as if the simple solution to human depravity is human kindness. The Christian version would add one vital word: “ God ’s kindness is everything.” It’s a kindness infinitely more powerful and transformative than human kindness. It’s a kindness that leads to repentance (Rom. 2:4), a kindness that saves (Titus 3:4–6). Recognize Bridges For Christians, then, the “In this house . . .” yard sign should be not a symbol of political provocation, but theological and evangelistic invitation. If we can get beyond the political name-calling and fear that often engulf these issues, what a conversation starter this sign can be! Yes, biblical ideas in this sign have been warped and recast in some unhelpful—even destructive—political ways. But that happens on the politically conservative side too. We can identify and challenge where biblical truth has been distorted or manipulated for partisan purposes, even as we find common grace ground. I learned that all of these points, play a fundamental role in human development and that they will lead us through a path of grace, restoration and the pursuit of the empowerment of our essences, to leave an indelible print for ourselves, our families, friends, beloved ones and therefore, to future generations, as well. I knew I needed In This House We Will Giggle by Courtney DeFeo. "Making virtues, love & laughter a daily part of your family life." A reminder to make every moment count is often needed.How scary could a girl trapped inside a VHS tape be? Oh, wait. Maybe she’s down in that creepy well. Or maybe she’s not as “trapped” as everyone thinks! Just don’t watch the tape to find out. Kudos to actor Rie Ino’o who (despite all that hair in her face) for creating a new horror icon for the ’90s, and honorable mention to Daveigh Chase for reprising the spooky role for the surprisingly solid 2002 American remake. You might not share the politics of the people proudly displaying these yard signs, but don’t dismiss their importance. They should be illuminating and convicting for Christians—ultimately a cause to connect rather than argue with your progressive neighbor. Post-Christian Creed Through love and laughter, each of the chapters focus on teaching a different virtue. The virtues included are joy, love, forgiveness, faith, patience, perseverance, respect, responsibility, service, humility, gratitude, and generosity. DeFeo presents the option of focusing on one virtue each month of the year starting with Joy in January through Generosity in December. This is a great way to not feel overwhelmed but give your family time to really learn about, practice, and embrace each virtue. The chapters include a section called “catch phrase for_(the virtue)_, a memory verse for the month, a kid-friendly definition for the virtue, questions to discuss, a Bible story to read (from The Jesus Storybook Bible), activity ideas and more. If you’re looking for real-life ways to become a more proactive instead of reactive parent, you should read this book. Courtney DeFeo gives us personalized and practical ideas for building love and laughter into our children so we can actually develop an intentional plan for investing in them.”

The book takes my mind and fires up the things that are already bonking around in there, organizes them into manageable pieces for me as well as practicable pieces for children. I wish we could go right to everything but they can't practice all 12 virtues at once so we CAN work on one a month, without using the word "practice" or "work" :) As the book claims, each month's suggestions really are FUN and with materials you likely already have and zero pressure to make anything look show-worthy. It's all about the end heart result. I'm so glad it came out in November when we can so easily skip over right to Christmas - we need to work on instilling gratitude to combat all the gimmes. Here we go! Science is real. Ostensibly the most “who can disagree?” statement of any on the list, this one nonetheless speaks to a particular political divide, mostly regarding climate change and science denialism. As often as science is pit against Christian faith, however, you’ll find nothing in Scripture that contradicts the reality of science or discourages its value. On the contrary, many great scientists of the past (e.g., Isaac Newton ) or the present (e.g., Francis Collins ) found no difficulty reconciling faith and science. Neither should we. Parodies of the sign from a right-wing perspective also exist, including one that promoted the conspiracy theory that the 2020 United States presidential election was stolen, that Epstein didn't kill himself, that Anthony Fauci and Bill Gates are untrustworthy, that Hillary Clinton belongs in prison, and that "media is propaganda". This sign was shared with approval by the Jefferson County, Colorado Republican Party. [3] See also [ edit ]The sign spread rapidly among liberals during Trump's presidency, becoming an almost ubiquitous presence in liberal areas. [1] Some people who have attempted to display the sign have come in conflict with homeowner associations, which can have rules disallowing political yard signs. [2] I realize the idea of deliberately designing opportunities to teach virtues in a meaningful way can sound less like fun and more like yet another item for your never-ending to-do list. As a mom of two little girls, I understand where most parents are sitting today. We are wiped out yet yearning for more. The urgent is pushing out important things. What matters in the next ten minutes is pulling us away from what will matter in ten years.” -Courtney DeFeo, We Will Giggle, pg. 9