From Jerusalem, a prayer for America



Every Fourth of July, I think about the country where I was born — a nation built on faith, courage, and the belief that every person is created in the image of God.

Independence Day is about fireworks, parades, and time with family. But it is also a reminder of the miracle of America and the values that have shaped this nation for 250 years.

From Jerusalem to every corner of the United States, may this Independence Day be a celebration of gratitude, unity, and hope.

As an American-Israeli, this holiday carries special meaning for me.

I grew up in the United States, where freedom is woven into daily life. Today, I raise my children in Israel, a country whose very existence is a miracle of biblical proportions. Each year on July 4, I am reminded how blessed I am to belong to two nations rooted in faith, resilience, and hope.

America and Israel are different in many ways, but their foundations are strikingly similar.

Both nations were built by people who believed in something greater than themselves. They trusted God, longed for freedom, and sacrificed for a better future.

America’s founders risked everything to establish a nation where liberty could flourish. Israel’s founders rebuilt a homeland after 2,000 years of exile, guided by ancient promises and unshakable faith.

Both nations understand that freedom is never guaranteed. It must be protected, nurtured, and passed to the next generation.

And both nations know that a country’s greatest strength lies not in its power, but in its values.

On Independence Day, I often think about the men and women who have served in the U.S. military — those who fought in World War II to defeat evil, those who stood against tyranny in the decades that followed, and those who continue to defend freedom around the world.

As a Jewish woman, I will never forget that American soldiers helped liberate the concentration camps. They brought hope to a world drowning in darkness. They saved lives — not only the lives of Jews in Europe, but the lives of my own family members.

Both my grandfather and my father-in-law survived the Holocaust, thanks in no small part to the sacrifice of American service members. Their courage is part of the reason the Jewish people are alive today.

As an Israeli, I see that same spirit of courage in the young men and women who serve in the Israel Defense Forces.

America and Israel both understand the cost of freedom. Both nations honor those who protect it. And both nations know that not every hero comes home.

Living as both an American and an Israeli has taught me that miracles are not only ancient. They are happening right now.

RELATED: America turns 250 with a broken heart

Erik McGregor/LightRocket/Getty Images

America is a miracle: a nation founded on biblical values, where people of every background can pursue their God-given purpose.

Israel is a miracle: a nation reborn from ashes, thriving against all odds, and standing as a beacon of hope in a troubled region.

To belong to both is a privilege I thank God for every day.

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, this Independence Day feels especially meaningful. It is a moment to reflect on the values that built this nation — faith, freedom, courage, unity — and to rededicate ourselves to living them.

These are the same values that sustain Israel. The same values that bind Christians and Jews together. The same values that light the way forward in uncertain times.

This Fourth of July, my prayer is simple:

May God bless America with peace and protection. May He strengthen the families who build this nation every day. May He guide its leaders with wisdom and humility. And may He remind all of us that freedom is both a gift and a responsibility.

From Jerusalem to every corner of the United States, may this Independence Day be a celebration of gratitude, unity, and hope.

Happy Fourth, America.

Vatican declares ultra-traditionalist sect schismatic, takes grave measures



The Society of St. Pius X is a breakaway Catholic sect founded in 1970 by Marcel Lefebvre, a French archbishop who took issue with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. After consecrating four new bishops in 1988 without the approval of the Vatican, Lefebvre was excommunicated. He died three years later.

The Vatican lifted the canonical excommunication on Lefebvre's prelates in 2009 in hopes of restoring the group's "full communion" with Rome, although SSPX remained without canonical status. The Catholic Church's efforts since to bring SSPX back into the fold appear to have been in "vain."

'To tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity.'

The SSPX, which has a global membership of roughly 600,000 members and 700 priests, crossed the Rubicon on Wednesday with episcopal consecrations that Rome explicitly warned the Lefebvrists not to pursue.

In his last of multiple appeals, Pope Leo XIV wrote on June 29 to Rev. Davide Pagliarani, the superior general of the SSPX, "I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: Please turn back! I urge you to consider carefully the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you are about to undertake would deprive them of the licit and, in some cases, even valid reception of the Sacraments, which they love and seek for their sanctification."

"The Church is open to a path of dialogue and understanding that the Holy Spirit can make possible and fruitful," continued the pope. "I pray for you, because to tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity."

Pagliarani said in response that the SSPX believes it "to be our very duty to do everything possible to mend Christ's seamless garment, torn by forces and pressures incompatible with a truly Catholic spirit," adding that the SSPX desires to serve the Catholic Church "by means that are extraordinary, as one would assist a mother in distress who requires particular help."

RELATED: Five standout denunciations and warnings in Pope Leo XIV's new papal encyclical

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, 1979. Wojtek Laski/Getty Images.

The SSPX proceeded, however, in Switzerland on July 1 to ordain four new bishops — Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michael Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Happier — without papal approval.

The primary celebrant executing the consecrations was Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta who was joined by Bishop Bernard Fellay — both of whom were among the original Lefebvre prelates.

The SSPX's ordination of bishops without a pontifical mandate is regarded by the Catholic Church as a matter of great gravity and scandal because it breaks the line of succession extending back to the earliest days of the Christian church and undermines church unity.

Pope John Paul II, since declared a saint, noted when recognizing the SSPX as schismatic in 1988 that "it is impossible to remain faithful to the Tradition while breaking the ecclesial bond with him to whom, in the person of the Apostle Peter, Christ himself entrusted the ministry of unity in his Church."

For having carried out "an act of a schismatic nature," namely the "episcopal consecration of four presbyters, without pontifical mandate and against the will of the Supreme Pontiff," Galarreta, Fellay, and their four new bishops incurred automatic excommunications from Rome, according to a decree released on July 2 and signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In addition to those who participated in the ceremony, all of SSPX's priests, bishops, and lay adherents have also been excommunicated and are now considered schismatics by Rome.

The Vatican decree noted further that:

the holy People of God are warned that the sacred ministers of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X administer the sacraments illicitly, and that the sacrament of penance administered by them and marriages assisted by them are invalid.

In addition to warning Catholics to refrain from taking part in celebrations promoted by the SSPX, the decree noted that "the Church, as a caring mother, will welcome with sincere affection and lively solicitude all those who wish to return to full communion."

According to Catholic canon law, an excommunicated person is prohibited from: celebrating or receiving the sacraments; administering sacramentals; celebrating the other ceremonies of liturgical worship; and from exercising any ecclesiastical offices, duties, ministries, or functions.

Excommunication is regarded as a medicinal spiritual penalty that effectively pushes the offender out of the church in hopes of prompting a change of heart. Although his or her baptism cannot be effaced, the excommunicated person is effectively a stranger to the church until brought back into the fold.

The SSPX General House stated following the ordinations on Wednesday, "The profound joy inspired by these episcopal consecrations cannot, however, be overshadowed."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

What A 20-Year-Old Convertible With A Broken Roof Taught Me About The Good Life

Family, faith, and community are the real basis for the good life. A convertible, whether new and expensive or old and cheap, is at most a cherry on top.

Check in: When did Britain last have a Christian in this key leadership role?



The United Kingdom is constitutionally a Christian nation.

Its king, Charles III, is "supreme governor" of the Church of England — England's established church — and an ordinary member of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. Anglican bishops serve as members of the House of Lords, and the Anglican church's legislation requires parliamentary oversight.

'If we’re serious about the future of this country, we shouldn’t shy away from that heritage.'

The United Kingdom — whose flag is an amalgam of Christian crosses — is not, however, a majoritively Christian nation.

A Labour Force Survey survey conducted in summer 2025 found that only 44% of adults in Britain identified as Christian, down from 54% in early 2018. The 2025 British Social Attitudes survey found that just 5% of all adults attend a Christian service on a weekly basis.

Elements of Nigel Farage's Reform UK party and Rupert Lowe of Restore Britain have discussed in recent months bolstering or at least maintaining Britain's Christian identity. If serious about such a project, they might have to consider the matter of Christian representation in top government leadership roles.

RELATED: 'Beyond evil': Nightmarish report reveals full scale of mass Islamic rapes of '250,000' white British girls

Richard Baker/In Pictures/Getty Images

The home secretary is the fourth most senior political office in the U.K. government after the prime minister, chancellor of the exchequer, and the foreign secretary. Yet a publicly self-identified Christian has not held the position for nearly a decade.

The current home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, is an avowed "practicing Muslim." Her six immediate predecessors were either non-Christians or individuals who do not appear to have publicly identified as Christian:

  • Yvette Cooper, the current foreign secretary who in 2015 chose to affirm allegiance to the Crown rather than swear an oath on a holy book, which Christian Today noted at the time is usually done by nonbelievers;
  • James Cleverly, the current shadow secretary of state for housing, communities, and local government, who identified himself in a parliamentary debate last year as "an atheist" and "a humanist";
  • Suella Braverman, a practicing Buddhist who served in the post from Sept. 6, 2022 to Oct. 19, 2022, and again from Oct. 25, 2022 to Nov. 13, 2023;
  • Grant Shapps, a Jewish politician who was in the role for only a few days during Liz Truss' tumultuous final days as prime minister, then later served as secretary of state for defense;
  • Priti Patel, a practicing Hindu from an Indian family who migrated to the U.K. via Uganda, who now serves as shadow secretary of state for foreign, commonwealth, and development affairs; and
  • Sajid Javid, the son of Pakistani Muslim immigrants who reportedly referred to himself as a "Muslim Home Secretary" but also claimed "not to practice any religion."

Blaze News did not receive comment from Cooper or the Home Office.

While the religiosity of Amber Rudd — home secretary from 2016 to 2018 — has not been publicly advertised, there is no mystery about former home secretary and Prime Minister Theresa May's affiliation. May — in the post from 2010 to 2016 — made clear on multiple occasions that she is a practicing Anglican.

Of the current and past seven chancellors of the exchequer dating back to 2016, two have been self-identified Christians; two hail from Muslim backgrounds; one is a practicing Hindu; and the other two have kept their religiosity out of the public eye.

Of the eight foreign secretaries the U.K. has had dating back to 2016, one — Cleverly — is an avowed atheist; one — Cooper — has signaled she might be a nonbeliever; four — David Lammy, David Cameron, Boris Johnson, and Jeremy Hunt — have identified as Christians; one — Liz Truss — has said she shares Anglican values but doesn't practice the faith; and one is an apparent enigma — Dominic Raab, who has a Jewish father, was raised in the Anglican Church, and married a Catholic, has expressed uncertainty about which boxes to check for "diversity questionnaires" with regard to his family.

As for prime ministers going back to 2016, half — Johnson, May, and Cameron — have been Christian, and the other half — Keir Starmer, Rishi Sunak, and Liz Truss, are, respectively, an atheist, a Hindu; and what statisticians refer to as a none.

The character of these so-called great offices of state have — like the public they represent — tended in recent years not to be Christian in character. The Christian character of the nation is, however, something that politicians right of center have fixated on in recent months despite polling indicating that the public is generally unfussed about the nation's de-Christianization.

Reform's Home Affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf said in a February interview with the Times (U.K.) that renewing Britain's Christian faith was essential to tackling the "crisis of meaning culturally," especially among young men.

Yusuf emphasized that Christianity was "core to the history and the DNA of the country" and the country was losing its Christian values because of the "sheer quantities of people that came to the country in a short period of time."

"Regardless of whether somebody is of faith or not, or which faith they follow, I think the Christian heritage of this country is very important, and protecting our heritage and our culture is important. Otherwise the country is not a country; it’s just an economic zone," added Yusuf.

Danny Kruger, a Reform UK member of Parliament, said months earlier that he would "love us to be a more confidently Christian country that acknowledges its Christian heritage. A society aligned more closely with the teachings of Jesus would be a happier one."

Reform UK is not the only outfit signaling a keenness to reverse the U.K.'s atrophying Christianity.

Rupert Lowe, leader of the Restore Britain party, stated earlier this year, "Britain is a Christian country, and under a Restore Britain Government — it will remain a Christian country."

Like Reform's Yusuf, Lowe has identified mass immigration — particularly from Muslim countries — as a factor driving Britain's de-Christianization. He has, accordingly, advocated for halting mass immigration and reversing the "islamification of Britain."

Neither Reform UK nor Restore Britain immediately responded to Blaze News' requests for comment.

Even the Conservative Party has expressed a need to return to Christianity — if not to the roots then to its fruits.

Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch stated in April, "Britain was built on a foundation of Christian values that have guided our institutions, our laws, and our sense of right and wrong. If we’re serious about the future of this country, we shouldn’t shy away from that heritage, we should be confident enough to embrace, promote, and defend it."

David Jeffrey of the University of Liverpool published a dashboard last year that provides some sense of how many members of Parliament are Christian on the basis of their public affiliation, their public speech about their affiliation, and what text they swore in on. The dashboard suggests that as of last year, 54.7% of MPs were Christian; 36.4% were nones; 3.9% were Muslims; 2% were Jewish; 1.9% were Sikh; 0.9% were Hindu; and 0.2% were Buddhist.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

The new kid in the waiting room



The receptionist asked me to verify my date of birth.

I gave her Gracie’s.

For years, I have encouraged fellow caregivers to pay attention to their own health rather than waiting until a crisis forces the issue. This experience has only reinforced that conviction.

She glanced down at the chart in her hand and then back at me with a puzzled expression. Before she could say anything, I caught myself.

“Oh ... that’s my wife’s birthday.”

After 40 years as a family caregiver through surgeries, appointments, hospital admissions, medications, insurance forms, and enough medical paperwork to clear a small forest, I had automatically answered with the date I have given thousands of times before.

This time, however, I was the patient.I was at the cancer center for imaging and treatment planning in preparation for radiation therapy for prostate cancer. Thanks to routine screenings and excellent physicians, it was caught early. The prognosis is excellent.

Still, it felt strange.

I have spent most of my adult life in hospitals because of someone else. This time, they called my name.

Looking around the waiting room, I realized I was easily the youngest man there. That does not happen to me very often anymore. Later, one staff member told me most of their patients are in their 70s and beyond. Sometimes, they see men in their 60s like me, and every so often someone in his 50s.

For this visit, I was the new kid.

I took a chair off to the side, careful not to intrude on this fraternity of men who seemed to know the ropes. They reminded me of the old men who gathered at Nick’s grocery and gas station near my childhood home in rural South Carolina. As a boy, I would stop in for a soda and candy bar while they held court around the coffee pot, solving problems that ranged from weather and crops to politics and church business.

The subjects changed from day to day. The cadence never did.

Men of a certain age possess a remarkable conversational gift. They can begin with trout streams and end with urologists without anyone noticing where the turn occurred.

RELATED: Caregivers should not have to lie to prove compassion

Yuliia Konakhovska/iStock/Getty Images

True to form, this conversation drifted toward prostate cancer, treatments, and the assorted indignities that accompany aging. One fellow described an examination during which the sheet covering him slipped.

Before he could react, the nurse matter-of-factly told him, “Don’t worry. If I see something I’ve never seen before, I’ll kill it.”

Such is the sort of thing you expect to hear in a cancer clinic in Montana.

The men laughed.

I raised an eyebrow and thought, “How comforting.”

But I still laughed.

Soon enough, they called me back. The technicians positioned my legs, explained the process, and slid me into a machine that looked remarkably like something from an old “Star Trek” episode. If memory serves, it resembled the device that kept Spock alive after somebody stole his brain.

After the instructions were complete, they eased me into position and left the room.

A few minutes later, one of the technicians returned looking slightly sheepish.

“We have a bit of a challenge.”

“Do tell,” I replied.

“There’s a gas bubble.”

The expression on my face evidently communicated that I was not following.

She delicately clarified.

“It’s in ... you.”

“Oh.”

I considered several responses, including one with my outstretched index finger that would have made my four brothers proud and the medical staff considerably less appreciative. Fortunately, decades of maturity prevailed.

“What do you recommend?” I asked.

“Maybe take a walk and see if anything happens.”

So there I was, strolling through the halls of a cancer center, trying to solve a problem that five boys growing up under one roof would have regarded as entirely manageable without professional consultation. At times, our household rivaled the campfire scene in “Blazing Saddles.”

The problem was that they had instructed me to drink a substantial amount of water beforehand to achieve the proper imaging. Solving one problem too enthusiastically threatened to create another.

Men over 50 approach certain situations with caution for good reasons.

Eventually, however, everything worked itself out.

Ahem.

The imaging was completed, the planning was finished, and in a few days, I will return to begin treatment.

As I left, I noticed the bell hanging in the hallway. I have seen bells like that before. Patients ring them when treatment ends.

Lord willing, I will ring that bell myself within a month.

RELATED: The song that lets sorrow tell the truth

Sanghwan Kim/iStock/Getty Images

Driving home, I thought about those older men in the waiting room. None of them appeared eager to be there, but neither did they seem intimidated by it.

They knew where to park. They knew where the coffee was. They knew which jokes were worth telling.

In short, they knew the territory.

Eventually, if you stay on any road long enough, you stop asking for directions and start giving them.

One day, perhaps sooner than I would like to admit, I may be the guy telling stories to the new kid who walks through the door — even if the story involves a gas bubble that needed to be walked off.

For years, I have encouraged fellow caregivers to pay attention to their own health rather than waiting until a crisis forces the issue. This experience has only reinforced that conviction.

Prostate cancer is often called a silent disease.

Mine was.

Fortunately, silent does not have to mean deadly.

Sorry, socialists: The system isn’t the savior



What is wrong with man? Every political philosophy begins with an answer to that question. Scripture’s answer changes everything.

As New York celebrated the victories of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s endorsed candidates this week, I recalled something he said after his own victory last fall: “Praise be to Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful.” Predictably, much of the conversation has centered on his politics and, as we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11, his public invocation of Allah.

Government can restrain the effects of evil. It cannot regenerate the human heart.

Those discussions are important, of course. But I found myself thinking about something else.

Gratitude reveals theology because we instinctively thank the one we believe governs reality. Some thank fortune. Some thank the market. Some thank government. Some thank the universe. Some thank themselves.

Our gratitude reveals what we ultimately believe about reality.

New York’s mayor publicly thanking Allah does more than express personal devotion. He is acknowledging a theological authority. Theology never stays inside the sanctuary. Eventually, it walks into the courtroom, the classroom, the legislature — and the voting booth.

Theology inevitably shapes our understanding of human nature. That understanding eventually produces a political philosophy.

Most Americans assume we are arguing about taxes, health care, immigration, education, or economics. We are not. Beneath every political argument lies another question.

What is wrong with man?

Every political philosophy answers it.

If man is basically good, then his deepest problem lies outside himself. The system is broken. The economy is broken. The institutions are broken. Change the system, and people should improve with it.

That assumption helps explain socialism’s enduring appeal. If people are basically good but trapped inside unjust structures, then changing those structures becomes the highest moral priority. Build a better system, and society should improve.

Scripture begins somewhere else.

Jeremiah addresses the heart: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick.” Jesus locates murder, theft, adultery, greed, envy, and slander in the heart as well. Paul affirms the same conclusion when he writes in Romans that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

RELATED: Trump showed voters the con behind the curtain

Aaron Schwartz/Bloomberg/Getty Images

If Scripture is right, no political system can solve mankind’s deepest problem.

The reformers understood that sin had not merely damaged humanity but corrupted every faculty of our being. We still bear God’s image and remain capable of astonishing courage, creativity, generosity, and sacrifice. But we are also fallen.

Those convictions profoundly influenced the political imagination of the men who framed the Constitution. The framers did not write the Constitution for basically good people. They wrote one for sinners.

They divided power through checks and balances because they knew power does not sanctify fallen people. It magnifies them.

Their greatest political achievement was not trusting themselves. As a result, the framers collectively produced a document better than they were.

Checks and balances are not expressions of political optimism. They reflect theological realism. They acknowledge that no office, no election, and no majority vote can cure what Jeremiah identified in the human heart.

The same view of human nature should shape how we think about wealth. Whenever someone accumulates great wealth, someone inevitably says, “Think what we could do with all that money.”

Elon Musk’s extraordinary wealth has simply made that argument impossible to ignore.

“Think what we could do with all that money.”

Notice what is quietly assumed. We imagine our compassion is purer, our judgment sounder, and our motives less corrupted.

RELATED: Who wants to eat a trillionaire?

Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg/Getty Images

When Mary poured perfume worth nearly a year’s wages on Jesus’ feet, Judas objected.

“Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”

On the surface, it sounds compassionate, practical, even responsible. Then the apostle John adds one sentence that changes everything.

“He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief.”

John does not debate Judas’ proposal. He exposes Judas’ motive.

There is a kind of generosity that costs us nothing because it spends someone else’s resources. Judas voiced it. John exposed it. Every generation repeats it.

Before we recognize Judas in someone else’s politics, we ought to recognize him in ourselves.

When I stand before God, he will not ask me what others did with their resources. He will ask what I did with mine.

That question reaches far beyond money. It reaches into our families, churches, communities, opportunities, and even our suffering. How we steward each of them reveals our theology.

Politics asks, “Who should control this?” Stewardship asks, “Lord, what would you have me do with what you have entrusted to me today?”

Good government, the rule of law, checks and balances — all of those things matter. But they can only restrain the effects of what Scripture says is already there. They cannot create what Scripture says is missing.

Government bears the sword. Christ bore the cross.

Government can restrain the effects of evil. It cannot regenerate the human heart.

Only the gospel can make sinners new.

We do not merely need a better system. We need a new heart.

Education without 'schooling': Why a godly home is the best place for children to learn and thrive



If God has blessed you with children — and the ability to stay home with them — I urge you to consider keeping them home with you as they launch into more formal education.

If you can’t stay home with your kids — well, let’s start there.

All children are best served by spending the bulk of their time with the people who love them the most. Period.

The most common reason given for not being able to stay home is financial. I would challenge you and your spouse, however, to prayerfully and creatively consider ways to make it happen.

I’ve seen many sacrifices made so that a family can live on one income and encourage that to be seriously considered before children come along. That being said, it’s also never too late and always beneficial to change your lifestyle so that you can spend more time at home with your kids, at any age, period. They grow up awfully fast.

And by the way, I think an excellent goal for fathers is to pursue income opportunities that allow him to be home-based too (at least some of the time, at minimum). Your children thrive best with abundant time with both of you.

Financial obstacle ... or excuse?

But when it comes to home education, we are usually talking more about moms than dads, so let’s address whether finances are really what’s keeping mom from staying home. A friend of mine, who sacrificed a promising career to stay home with her three-soon-to-be-four children, thinks Christian women should ask themselves where their hearts are when career and home are at odds:

  • Am I valuing my own career — and my own time — too highly? Am I willing to submit these things to the Lord?
  • Have I not seriously considered staying home, since so many women don’t? Am I willing to be different?
  • Am I willing to sacrifice? Am I willing to prayerfully ask God if I should stay home?

If these questions are asked when a baby is on the way, they may need to be asked again when a child reaches what we deem “school-age.”

Which brings us back to home education, which is the term I prefer over “homeschooling.” That implies we are doing institutional school at home, which further implies that institutional school is the ideal, or at least the norm. I think that’s an idea every responsible parent should challenge, particularly Christian parents.

Like Dorothy said ...

There really is no place like home. No institution can match the power of a godly home as a place for children to grow, learn, and thrive. That applies for all of childhood, starting from birth.

All children are best served by spending the bulk of their time with the people who love them the most. Period.

Daycare cannot possibly provide the nurture, attention, and love that new parents can at home. No preschool can do a better job continuing to nurture a child’s individual needs and gifts as well as loving, committed parents.

And although far too many children do get institutionalized practically from birth, at least parents of babies, toddlers, and preschoolers generally have to pay the institution in question, which has the effect of encouraging parents to at least consider staying home with them, at least part of the time.

But once the children hit school-age, the societal expectation is that the stay-at-home parent (usually mom) will finally be able to go back to work, jump back into a career, get some time to herself, etcetera.

No magic switch

However, there is no magic switch that flips when a child turns 5 or 6, negating their need for, and benefit from, being primarily home with engaged, loving parents.

In fact, I would argue that this is the case throughout what we categorize as the elementary school years. Kids up to about age 12 need their home, family, and parents more than they need an institutional school.

So here’s how you can lay the groundwork in your child’s first years so that home education becomes an organic part of your daily life from their earliest days, making the transition to more formal learning at home more natural when the time comes.

RELATED: 6 ways I'm using 2026 to deepen my relationship with God

Heritage Images/Getty Images

Home education 101

Education is what you’re doing from your baby’s first day of life, by the way.

Dictionary definition of “education” — the process of imparting knowledge, skills, and judgment.

Your baby begins to learn about the world primarily through his/her interaction with mom and dad. This is God’s design and why He brings children into the world through families.

He equips you, the parents, with the desire to protect and nurture your baby, which generally involves you learning new skills, rearranging your schedule, and buying some stuff! (And boy, will those three tasks continue to dominate your life!)

As the preschool years unfold and children increasingly become active in your household, the most important thing you can do for them is simple and organic:

Establish your home as a safe, orderly, loving, peaceful, and interesting place.

It is simple — but it takes effort.

We’ll finish with some thoughts to guide you toward each of these goals.

Safe

You areyour child’s safety. Your daily presence with them fosters a deep sense of security, which is necessary so they can begin to see that they can separate from you, at times.

This does not mean you can never leave, or use a babysitter, but it is helpful if trusted family members or like-minded close friends live nearby and can be part of this security-building experience. After all, when God placed your child in a family, that included the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etcetera.

A sense of security is also fostered by encouraging children to develop resilience. When they take a tumble, if you see it isn’t serious, a cheerful and calm, “You’re OK!” will send the right message and encourage them to get right back to whatever they were doing. This is not to discourage you from comforting them — on the contrary, comforting and reassuring them that you’re there for them will help them comfort themselves and bounce back more quickly.

There is no such thing, in the baby/toddler/preschool years, as too much time with mom, dad, or other loving family members or friends. When safe and feasible, bring them along for chores and tasks and allow them to “help” as just another form of play — but they are learning all along.

Orderly

Children thrive within boundaries; they want them, they need them, you need them.

Generally keeping to schedules (which change often as babies grow into preschoolers) and generally keeping an orderly environment (they can start helping put toys away at very young ages!) help to foster this sense of order.

Loving

You can’t really express too much affection for each other in a family. Children also need to see that mom and dad love each other. Is this a good place to mention grandparents again? Why yes, it is. Have them come over tonight.

Peaceful

Disagreements arise, but with a little person in the house, strive for a peaceful demeanor. Home should always be a refuge. Yelling is not acceptable, nor are temper tantrums (child or adult).

Interesting

And here is where we finally get to what people think of as “education.” But remember our definition — by providing and modeling safety, order, love, and peace, you already are imparting knowledge, skills, and judgment. That’s the most important “curriculum.”

In part 2, we’ll get into curriculum specifics!

A version of this essay previously appeared at She Speaks Truth.

Mormon parents fight woke school district over alleged LGBTQ propaganda in California despite SCOTUS ruling



A Mormon couple seeking to protect their children from radical gender ideology were allegedly notified by Sunnyvale School District in Santa Clara County that LGBTQ instruction was "not optional and is not subject to parent opt-out provisions."

The district allegedly gave this notice after — and apparently with full knowledge of — the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor, in which the high court held that a Maryland school district's policy of withholding from parents notice of LGBT propaganda sessions and forbidding opt-outs constituted "an unconstitutional burden" on the parents' religious exercise.

'The school boards will continue to defy the SCOTUS ruling, gaslight, lie, and deflect.'

The district also allegedly denied the Mormon parents an opt-out after the California Department of Education acknowledged in its August 2025 guidance that the "fundamental holding" in Mahmoud was that schools must provide parents with the opportunity to opt their children out of policies or exposure to material that schools have "reason to know will 'substantially interfere'" with parents' religious rights.

Unwilling to surrender their children's hearts and minds to the apparent LGBT propagandists at SSD's Cumberland Elementary School, Justin and Rose Taylor — represented by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit law firm focused on protecting religious freedoms that won the Mahmoud case before SCOTUS — filed a lawsuit on Monday against the district in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

The Taylors — the proud parents of four children, including a rising third-grade son and a rising first-grade daughter at Cumberland Elementary School — said in a statement, "Our children are the most cherished part of our lives."

"We know and love them best and should be the ones deciding when and how they learn about sensitive topics regarding sexuality and gender," continued the parents. "Fortunately, the Supreme Court has recognized that right for religious parents nationwide."

RELATED: Critics blast Chicago mayor for pushing 'transfemicide' 'gibberish' amid deadly shootings

PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP/Getty Images

"California school districts have been putting LGBTQ propaganda in front of students for close to 20 years," Alvin Lui, president of the parental rights advocacy group Courage Is a Habit, told Blaze News. "They're just now much more emboldened. I'm ecstatic to see these parents make an example out of the Sunnyvale School District."

The lawsuit claims that "Sunnyvale's denial violates parents' constitutional rights to direct the education and upbringing of their children in accordance with their sincerely held religious beliefs," and asks the court to:

  • enter a declaration that the SSD's alleged refusal to afford the parents a right to "opt out from LGBTQ+ instruction, including the forced reading of the District’s recommended LGBTQ+ storybooks, violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment";
  • enter a declaration that forcing the Taylors to "educate their children, read,and/or speak consistently with the perspectives contained in the LGBTQ+ instruction, and compelling Plaintiffs’ children to accept one viewpoint to the exclusion of all others violates their rights under the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment";
  • enter a declaration that "forcing students, over their parents’ objection, to read or listen to the LGBTQ+ instruction violates the Taylors’ rights under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment";
  • grant preliminary and permanent injunctions prohibiting the school from forcing the kids to participate in the LGBT propaganda sessions; and
  • award the parents damages for loss of their rights under federal law.

The SSD did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

The lawsuit details some of the LGBT agitprop allegedly pushed by the SSD, noting that its curriculum "integrates LGBTQ+ history, representation, and examples throughout instructional units to show 'diverse backgrounds, identities, experiences, and abilities, including those who are lesbian, gay, genderqueer, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA).'"

This propaganda is apparently foisted upon students at all grade levels.

The "LGBTQ+ Teaching Guide" issued by the Santa Clara County Office of Education, which oversees Sunnyvale, discusses how to incorporate LGBT propaganda into virtually every subject.

Math teachers, for instance, are told in the guide to "use problems that relate to marriage equality, gender-neutral bathrooms, and LGBTQ+ rights to demonstrate mathematical concepts such as statistics, probability, and geometry."

Science and health teachers are told to champion "gender-inclusive biology" — in which, for example, "ovaries" are substituted in for "women" so as not to suggest a link between womanhood and female reproductive organs.

This guidance — which has been embraced by Sunnyvale — even quoted LGBTQ activist Barbara Gittings: "The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community, where it really counts."

The Taylors' lawsuit highlights a number of the agitprop materials allegedly used by the SSD in its LGBT instruction including a book that changes the lyrics of "The Wheels on the Bus" to lyrics celebrating drag titled "The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish" and "Pride Puppy," a book that tasks 3- and 4-year-old students with searching for items they might find at a non-straight parade — including transvestite activists, underwear, leather, "intersex flag," and feathers.

The LGBT instruction under way in Sunnyvale is of the same type addressed in Mahmoud, claimed the lawsuit.

The Taylors' lawsuit alleges that while SSD initially appeared willing to permit opt-outs, "Sunnyvale abruptly flipped its position" and "affirmatively disclaimed its constitutional responsibility to afford families what the First Amendment requires."

Sunnyvale stated in a letter to the Taylors that it was "not granting opt-outs from LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum or storybooks that are part of our adopted educational program."

The district added in its letter that "the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Mahmoud v. Taylor ... addressed a specific set of facts in another state" and neither created a "general or automatic right for parents to opt their children out of required curriculum" nor overrode "California's statutory requirements governing instructional content."

Becket said that "Sunnyvale’s defiance was no accident. After Mahmoud came down, Sunnyvale told its teachers to 'resist pressures' that might get in the way of its curriculum."

However, Michael O'brien, counsel at Becket and lead attorney for the Taylors, underscored that "the Constitution doesn't come with a California carve-out."

One of the defendants, SSD director of student support services Paul Slayton, said in a statement obtained by the Press Democrat, "The district was surprised to learn that the Taylor family had filed a lawsuit, particularly given the positive and productive discussions that took place following the family’s initial concerns."

"We will continue to approach this matter with professionalism and care," added Slayton.

"When the Mahmoud decision came out from the SCOTUS, like everyone in our space, we were very happy," Alvin Lui told Blaze News. "However, the first thing we did was warn parents that schools, and especially school counselors, will not honor that decision."

"The school boards will continue to defy the SCOTUS ruling, gaslight, lie, and deflect. They'll try to wear parents down so they can continue to put obscene LGBTQ materials in front of children as young as possible."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

Tedious Legacy Media Midwits Hate JD Vance’s New Book About Faith

Vance isn't writing as a theologian, and he's not claiming expertise. He's explicitly describing a journey through years of confusion, as a man who was lost and then found his way to something that he now embraces as home.

Before she knows God, she knows Dad



Every summer, we get to celebrate the first love of every girl: her father. Before she knows what love is, before she has language for it, a daughter is learning it from him. The way he looks at her. The way he stays. The way he shows up on the hard days and the ordinary ones.

Long before she sits in a pew and hears about a God who is steadfast and faithful, she has already been given a picture of what that looks like — or she hasn’t. The difference between those two things will follow her for the rest of her life.

That steady, faithful presence inspired something in me that his illness could not take from him.

Living standard

The role of fatherhood, particularly to daughters, is one of the weightiest callings a man has. A father is his daughter’s first introduction to unconditional love, her first model of strength and gentleness working together. The world provides little girls with countless stories about knights in shining armor and perfectly orchestrated Hollywood romance. It is easy for those fictional portraits to slowly become the standard by which real love gets measured.

But a dad has a more powerful opportunity than any fairytale can offer. He can step into his daughter’s life as the living standard, the real man who shows her what it means to be fully known and fully cherished.

When she is old enough to hear that God loves her as a Father, she will reach for the nearest frame of reference she has. For better or worse, that frame is you, Dad.

Dad's darling

I often think about my own dad, Norm Haverkos, who spent more than 40 years living with multiple sclerosis. By the time I was in grade school, he couldn’t walk without falling. Eventually, he couldn’t walk at all.

What he could do, and chose to do, every single day was show up. Growing up, I followed my dad around just to be near him. My sister would tease me about it and call me “Dad’s darling.” I never denied it. I was his love, and he was mine.

Despite his illness, my father never made it an excuse to step back from his duties to his children. Confined to a wheelchair, he still found ways to be present: in our garage workshop as we refinished antiques on winter afternoons, in the stands at whatever event we were part of, in the confusing seasons when I simply needed him nearby.

He refused to let his limitations hold him back. He was a tender shepherd to our family, guiding us not in the typical way the world portrays strength, but in a way that demonstrated faithfulness. A shepherd doesn’t lead from the front because he’s the strongest. He leads because he refuses to leave. That was Norm Haverkos. He led us, carried us, and loved us, despite his fleeting mortality.

RELATED: Bruce Willis, dementia, and my father

Jim Spellman/WireImage/Getty Images

The grace to guide

That steady, faithful presence inspired something in me that his illness could not take from him. He helped me understand a God who does not abandon His children when life gets difficult. Like any father, my dad was not perfect, but he was present. And in his presence, I found my worth. Eventually, I found my way to the One whose love my father’s had been pointing toward all along.

The weight of the calling each father carries is heavy. But each dad can be equipped with the grace to carry it. You do not have to be a perfect man to be a faithful one. You do not have to have all the answers or feel whole. If you haven’t given it your best yet, there is mercy and forgiveness to start fresh, and start today.

Sacred calling

Norm Haverkos was not flawless — not physically, not always emotionally — and yet the mark he left on my life ultimately shaped tens of thousands of girls I would go on to serve. That is the math of faithful fatherhood. It multiplies in ways you will never fully see.

To every father reading this: Your daughter is watching. She is learning who God is by watching who you are. She is building her worldview on the foundation of your presence in her life. That is a sacred calling, and it is not too late to honor it.

Be the kind of man she can’t help but follow around. Be the kind of man who makes her a darling, not of her father only, but of her Father in heaven.