how to stand firm with your kids

Exhaustion can get the best of us sometimes as moms. Have you ever seen your child misbehaving and thought, “I’m going to let that go, just this one time. I don’t have the energy to fight that battle today.”? You’re not alone, mom. I’ve done it — too many times, in fact, as my kids were growing up. Here’s the danger: “One time” rarely ends up being just one time. The more we give in to weariness, temporary apathy or fear of our kids’ anger or disapproval, the easier it is to do it the next time. We may not …

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Encouraging First Time Obedience

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” Ephesians 6:1-3 (NKJV) First time obedience is a goal parents desire for their children.  Parents desire it so children learn to respect authority, for their safety, and our sanity.  However I often wonder if the goal for first time obedience removes the human element from our children. Children are not robots. They have plans, desires, dreams, and wills of their own. Therefore children will get frustrated when …

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5 Ways to Know If You’re Giving Your Children too Much or Not Enough Attention & 5 Ways to HELP!

“And Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” Genesis 25:28 (NKJV) There we were in the middle of aisle 5 of the grocery store when my little guy decided to make a scene. He was 4, impatient, and he wanted my attention RIGHT THEN! MOMMY! MOOMMMMMY! MOOOOMMMMMMMYYYYYYY!! I neeeeeeed you! I rushed to find out what my frantic little four year old wanted when I quickly discovered that what he was pitching such a noisy fit over was a box of cookies. . When I told him no, the noise escalated at warp speed and all …

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The #RAISINGLEADERS Challenge & 10 Tips to Help

Do you want your children to grow up to have a strong faith, live godly lives, be courageous for the cause of Christ and serve the Lord all the days of their lives? I think pretty much most Christian moms do…but when you’re smack dab in the middle of parenting those precious little tikes from toddlers to teens, it’s so easy to get caught up in the moment that you miss the point of it all. Parenting is something we do every day, but parenting intentionally is hard. But parenting with a plan an a purpose is what separates intentional …

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5 Things I Want My Kids to Know

Before we get started, I’m excited to announce the winner of yesterday’s giveaway of MAGNETIC by Lynn Cowell. DRUM ROLL PLEASE……… And the winner is – Micah Day! Congratulations Micah! You’ll be receiving an email with info about how to receive you book! SUPER EXCITED for you! —————————————————————–   My momma used to say, “Hind sight is 20/20.” But I never really understood what that meant until I was old enough to look back and discover that time is like a really good teacher that showed up to give you all the answers after you already graduated. Looking in the …

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See Coming Before It’s Coming & a GIVEAWAY ~ by Lynn Cowell

 Happy Monday! This is Stephanie and I’m super excited to share with you about Lynn Cowell’s new book, Magnetic! It’s definitely a MUST READ and Lynn is graciously giving away a copy to one blessed commenter to this post! SOOOOO… before you dive into today’s power-packed post by Lynn, let me tell you how you can enter to win.  ENTER TO WIN MAGNETIC: Packed with honesty, encouragement and perspective-changing truth Magnetic, by Lynn Cowell, will empower girls and young woman to reach their fullest potential by focusing on becoming who God made them to be! A girl who reflects God’s love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, …

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Why You Should Let Them Cry

My teenage son walked down the stairs with a frown on his face. College classes have gotten the best of him. My pep talk with him yesterday apparently wasn’t as good as I thought it was. My future as a motivational speaker went down in flames.             When I brought my first child home from the hospital cries were immediately met with a soothing rub and my full attention until the whimpers quieted. From baby tears to teenage sulking, I want to make my child happy. I’ve exhausted myself trying to make this happen. I’ve finally realized I can’t make …

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3 Keys to Teaching Your Children Money Management

“I want that!”  My daughter’s eyes widened as she grabbed a colorful stuffed animal at the toy store. At that moment, a wave of frustration came over me. After I just bought her a toy the day before, I could hardly believe my ears when she wanted something else. Doesn’t she have enough? I thought to myself.  Surely she can’t be that consumeristic, could she?  As her face changed from jubilation to disappointment at my refusal to buy the toy, a startling reality came over me: I caused her selfish attitude. I didn’t do it intentionally. My husband and I …

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