How to Not Go Crazy in the Chaos

“They found the kidney stone,” he told me on Monday. “And I’m going to have surgery today at three.” This was the conversation that my husband and I had after his doctor’s appointment last week. While I was relieved that he would be having surgery to relieve the pain he had felt in his back for over five months, I was completely caught off guard by the timing. “Today? At three?!” I’m a full-time working mom who hasn’t accumulated enough vacation time. We have three kids five and under who would need to be babysat. I had just meal-planned a …

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20 Memory Making Ideas for Summertime Fun

“There is a time for everything,  and a season for every activity under heaven” Ecclesiastes 3:1 I love the summer! How about you? Everything is alive and lively. The days are longer, the air smells sweeter, the kids are out of school and it’s time to play! Unfortunately, when my children were young, I often found school was knocking on the door of our summer fun before we really got to enjoy the season that seemed to all-too-quickly slip through our fingers. Making memories with our kids means we have to intentionally plan our days; purposely putting some things on …

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kid's summer reading

5 Easy Ways To Encourage Summer Reading

Summer. Just the smell of sunblock can bring all the images of summer rushing in. Thoughts of swimming, grilling, snow cones, watermelon, late nights and lazy mornings come flooding in. And, of course, the joy of freedom from government tyranny, errr, I mean school. And for our family, there is one more really important part of summer – books. We are readers all year long, but summer kicks it up a notch. My ten-year-old daughter has been scouring Pinterest for fifth grade summer reading lists for weeks. She’s compiling her own this year (which means I won’t have to fight her …

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Top 10 Teen Must Reads

Top 10 Teen Must Reads Click To Tweet “…the books read and the philosophies absorbed in one’s teens and twenties erupt with a delayed effect, exerting redoubled influence in one’s middle years.” -Ravi Zacharias* From the thick, bite-marked board books of yesterday to the tattered worn pages of chemistry and algebra books tossed on the table today…each book has taken its turn shaping my children.  As we witness our older children’s youthful journey coming to an end and their life as teens beginning to bloom, what should we encourage them to read?   Here are the top ten teen must reads, …

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How Children Can Hear God

When hormone-crazed emotions mix with future-impacting decisions, quick answers such as ask “Just ask God” can leave our children feeling frustrated, fearful and filled with more questions than before! We can help teach them how to hear from God. Anxious to be independent as fast as I could, learning to drive was so exciting for me! When my mom compared a streetlight with hearing from God, I listened. Try this explanation with your child as well. You can open the door for a great conversation on your next road trip or errand to the store: Heading somewhere new, your eyes …

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Is Your Girl Dieting?

In my interactions with moms, many have shared with me that this really is a scary topic; one many even see as taboo to some degree. I truly believe God when He tells us in James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” He can give us the wisdom we need to speak truth and life into our children, even about those oh-so-tough topics like body image!  You might be thinking, “My daughter is young; I don’t need to be thinking …

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How to Talk to Your Child about Divorce

  It’s an unfortunate truth in society today: half of all children will go through the break-up of their family, and their parent’s divorce. Though it’s obviously not God’s ideal, it does happen, and needs to be approached with grace from those on the outside, as well as those on the inside. One of the biggest mistakes parents make while going through a divorce is leaving their child out of the conversation. They have suffered a loss as well, are grieving as well, and need someone to work through it with them. So, how do you talk to your child about …

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The ADHD Bill of Rights – A Must Read for Every Parent

Can I be honest for a minute?  I have been lonely, angry, and guilt ridden. I know it’s summer, I know we are all busy, but what made issues for me more intense was realizing I had no one who understood what I was going through. Maybe they didn’t want to. Who knows? But, when you’re a mom of a child with ADHD and processing disorders, it’s a new ball game.  When you’re a mom of a child with ADHD and processing disorders, it’s a new ball game. Click To Tweet The rules of cause and effect don’t apply. Discipline …

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I Just Need 15 More Minutes!

Can you give me just 15 more minutes? I whisper a prayer, grabbing my phone so I can slide the little button under my original alarm setting. I simply need more time to prepare.  Time to prepare so I could face another day of different. As I lay there, I can’t go back to sleep as I had hoped. Instead, I begin to pray; asking the Lord to heal my family member who is sick, a job for a friend who needs to provide and a prayer for me. Prayer to have the discipline to get out of my bed. …

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Hold On Loosely, Don’t Give Up Hope

Moms of teenagers and adult children, oh how I would love to pull up a chair beside you, pour a cup of coffee and commiserate over this new season of parenting you’re in. It’s not an easy transition by any means but I’m hoping that as we sit and visit that you and I both will learn a little bit about how to hold on loosely in this season when you feel like giving up hope. Chances are if you are a child of the 80’s, you’ll remember a song from the band 38 special called, “Hold On Loosely.” In …

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