It’s the weekend…finally. The perfect time to grab a cup of coffee and catch up on some reading. Below, you’ll find some articles I came across this week that I found helpful as a leader and parent and hope you do as well.

Before diving into those, in case you missed them this week. Here are the top 3 posts from my blog this week that I hope you find helpful:

• The Five Stages of Discipleship
• 11 Ways to Know You’ve Settled for a Mediocre Marriage
• 18 Things Every Husband Should Know about His Wife

Now, onto the articles I came across that I hope will help you:

When we think of leaders, we often think of hard driving, goal oriented, take no prisoners, climb the hill kind of people. And that can be good in certain situations, but over the long haul, a leader must learn to be softer and gentler as they lead. Brian Dodd gives a helpful list of 17 Ways To Be A Kinder, Gentler Pastor And Leader.

As the year ends, many people will make resolutions and goals (which I love) but it is also helpful to review your year before you look forward. Here are 3 things I found helpful from Rusty George to do before the end of the year.

If you’re a leader, you know when you are hitting on all cylinders and when you aren’t. But it is easier to know what to do when things are going well. What I’ve found to be helpful is knowing indicators I’m heading for a crash (physically and emotionally) before I get there. Here are 3 helpful indicators for you.

My kids are on the verge of the teenage years (I know this because they tell me everyday) and with that is a lot of anxiety and excitement about this next stage. If that’s you, this podcast on parenting during the teen years is invaluable. I love the idea of coaching as a parent, such a helpful picture.

Many leaders will make goals for their personal lives at the end of the year, but it would also be helpful to make some goals as a church and one of those goals should be around relevance. What does that mean? Here are 5 ways to know if you’re church is becoming irrelevant.