Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Teens”
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. …
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 …
Our words can bless or curse. Wound or heal. Build up or tear down. Words. Are. Powerful. I came across an article the other day about a seventh grade boy who posted on Instagram that he was planning on committing suicide on his birthday. This young boy had been severely bullied. He had been wounded by other students’ words and actions. While being hospitalized for treatment, the boy’s mom got an idea. She asked people on Facebook to send her son words of encouragement. He received THOUSANDS of responses. All uplifting and hopeful. The words of affirmation, affection, and love all …
Let’s face it. There’s something about each of our lives that only we can get excited about. You know what I mean. You wait with baited breath to tell someone the most wonderful thing that has happened to you in weeks and . . . they meet your excitement with a blank stare and eyes darting for another topic. Maybe you’re a rare key collector, a plane engine buff, or someone who loves to discover how other people’s favorite color relates to their personality. Maybe you’re the world’s best Salsa dancer. Or pogo stick bouncer. Or plant whisperer. When …
Just over a year ago, actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died of an apparent heroin overdose. This brought the topic of drug use back to main stream attention. We have become aware of kids using prescription drugs, but now we hear heroin is making a comeback; reminiscent of the 70’s and early 80’s drug culture. Heroin is making a comeback Click To Tweet In one of the parenting courses I’m teaching, I asked, “Why heroin”? A mom and dad who are sadly intimately knowledgeable about this issue answered, “It’s cheap and easy to use.” After doing a little research myself, …
Dear Lovely Moms, One of the most beautiful things about God’s love for His children is that it is unconditional. Because of this unconditional love, we get to be close to our Father in Heaven. This close relationship helps us grow into who He wants us to be. Through careful direction and love from our Father, we learn how to walk in His ways and become wiser as a result, hopefully making less mistakes through His guidance. If God was harsh and unforgiving, our tendency might be to run from Him and not to Him. The same is true for our children. When we are harsh with our children, they …
Wendy Hirschfeld is a single mom accomplishing the impossible. Beautiful fields, grazing farm animals and a tight-knit family surrounded Wendy as she grew up in Nebraska. Emmitt, on the other hand, struggled to survive amid the drug laden streets of Chicago. Emmitt’s father was robbed from him through carbon monoxide poisoning when he was only 8, and was left to survive with his drug addicted mom. Emmitt’s family eventually drifted to a shelter in Omaha, Nebraska while he attended middle school. While there, his birth mom abandoned him… Emmitt had absolutely nowhere to go. Until Wendy took him as her …
I asked Siri a question. I am not sure why since even my kids believe Siri hates me. She doesn’t seem to know what I am asking her and even when she says she understands me her answer doesn’t make sense. Here is an example: I wanted to chunk my phone across the room. As a mom, sometimes I feel like this when I am talking to my children. I may say, “Go clean your room.” Yet somehow they hear, “Go play with your toys.” But often our miscommunications are of the deeper sort. I want to be available …
There’s no greater DoAhead on the planet than raising good kids. It can feel like a daunting task when they are little but sometimes it can feel impossible when they become teens. One such example has to do with weekend recreation. You know the drill. It’s a Friday night and your beyond exhausted waiting for your teen to get home. Oh, it’s not that you have a bad kid. It’s just part of parenting teens. Years ago a mother who mentored me told me that there are two seasons in which a parent becomes sleep deprived. The first season is when the …
When it came to guys and dating as a young women, did you feel like you went at it alone? No one gave you any direction on figuring the whole thing out? My youth pastor tried. He told me to make out “my list” – …the one with all of the qualities I was going to look for in a guy. Wow, was that one long list! Faithful Honest Stable Hard-working Kind Funny… With my list in my head and in my heart, I began the search. What someone failed to tell me was when you’re 19 years old, finding …
