This wasn’t the part of the plan. You and your daughter were planning for high school graduation, but now you’re trying to get used to the idea that she is going to be a mother. You’re both trying to sync schedules around baby. How exactly will she do this mom thing and how do you help her? It happened to me. One day I was cheerleading for the football team and the next–I was fighting with my mom, feeling oh-so tired and scared as I held a positive pregnancy test in my hands. What did my future look …
5 Questions to Help You Connect with Your Teen
After living with teenagers for nearly 18 years, you would think I’ve figured out exactly how to connect on a heart-to-heart level, right? Of course, you may be wondering how does one live with teens for that many years? Well, my husband is a boarding school teacher, so I’ve literally spent my whole adult life with tweens and teens from around the world and across the United States. We eat together. Worship together. Enjoy life together. I get to see what they are really like when their parents aren’t watching and especially as they try desperately to gain the approval …
The message your girl needs to hear
“You are more than a body.” That was the powerful message of the 20-something, handsome young man speaking at the podium. He continued, “‘You are beautiful. And I want to be clear. If any boy does not respect you and your boundaries, they aren’t good enough for you. Period.” It sounds like something a mother might say – should say. But coming from this young man, it had an especially entrancing — and hopefully lasting — effect on the middle school girls in the audience. As part of a spring Mother/Daughter Bible Study at our church, I had asked our area’s Young Life Director …
Beach Safety & First Aid by Karen Ketchie
We’re blessed to hear from 2 registered nurses this weekend as they share about water safety! Yesterday, RN and M.O.M. mentor, Angela Mackey shared about how to recognize drowning and what to look for with what is called secondary drowning. Today, we are blessed to have another registered nurse, Karen Ketchie share about beach safety and first-aid! AND… At BETTER TOGETHER, Angela Mackey will be sharing some amazing workshops…one of those workshops is called, Sex, Sex, Sex…When and How to Talk to Your Kids About It. And Karen Ketchie will be sharing a workshop called, First-Aid for the Family. You …
Water Safety
It is nearly Summer. School is out and temperatures are beginning to soar. That can only mean that swimming pools, lakes, creeks, and oceans are calling our name. Most of us think we know what drowning looks like. We’ve seen it on T.V. or in a movie. Right? Someone is wildly flailing their arms and crying for help. That is how we know someone is in trouble. But is that reality? According to Dr. Frank Pia – over 20 years experience as a life guard – there is an instinctive drowning response that looks less like the movies and more like …
Mom the Enforcer or Mom the Evaluator by Lori Wildenberg
Do you sometimes feel like you are the Enforcer? Or the Parent Police? Okay instead be the EVALUATOR! Summertime is filled with countless decisions because of the additional flex time. Evaluating every activity deciding, whether or not to give the go ahead nod or deliver the dreaded no is exhausting. No matter the age of your kiddo, youngster to young adult, constantly thinking on your feet to determine if your answer is a yea or nay is such a brain drain! Constantly thinking on your feet to determine if your answer is a yea or nay is a brain drain! …
A Story Like Yours… or Maybe Not ~ But a God Who Makes Beauty Out of Ashes…OH…and a Conference You Just Can’t Miss!
Hey you. Yeah. You! The one who may have had a rough day, a bad past, or are feeling a little lost in this great big wide world. I want to share a bit of my heart with you about what God has brought me from and what God has brought me to. It’s not a rags to riches story…but is is beauty from ashes story. It’s a story about a girl…a girl whose story might be like yours…or maybe not. But it’s about a God who is really good at making beauty out of ashes. It’s a story about …
God in the Strife and Struggle l Lori Wildenberg
Exhaustion. Part of the parenting experience. Little ones challenge us physically and emotionally and bigger kids physiologically, emotionally, and spiritually. Neither path is…smooth. But God is faithful in the strife and struggle. Even though there are times it doesn’t feel like this, he has perfectly chosen and equipped you and me to be our child’s parent. Even though there are times it doesn’t feel like this, He has perfectly chosen & equipped us to be our child’s parent Click To Tweet Many parents of tweens, teens, and young adults are perplexed by the issues their kids are facing or by …
5 Ways to Assure that Your Kids Will Rebel
It’s a lie. Not every child rebels when they hit that magical age of 13. But some do. In fact, statistics tell us that the majority of kids rebel in one way or another. There are so many physical, emotional, hormonal and social changes that take place during those very crucial years that there are bound to be times when they balk at the boundaries their parents place on them. But resistance doesn’t have to become rebellion. Parents have the opportunities to sow seeds in their children’s heart, and to cultivate an environment that fosters faith, integrity, responsibility, morals and wisdom, …
Who Else Wants Clear Direction?
I blew it. Days of swimming through murky teenage “stuff” paired with this new stage of parenting resulted in my not-so-pretty meltdown. Late the same evening I found myself on the edge of my teen’s bed. His now huge 6 foot, 15 year-old frame had his back turned towards me as my quivering words spilled out, “I’m so sorry. I blew it. My words were awful. Will you forgive me?” Parenting is hard. We stumble through one developmental stage, look back on that point in time with confidence as we emerge, then find ourselves knee-deep in doubt …