encouragement
-
Ten Strategies for Parenting Teens, #1
Strategy #1 Bring your presence. I think this is my best advice regarding teens. Be around, as much as possible. We eat dinner together on the nights it is possible and try to wait up for our teens to arrive home at night (I’ll be honest, it’s usually my husband. I don’t do well staying up late anymore!) We show up like clockwork at our teens’ events and school functions, even if they act like they don’t want us there. When we’re home, I try to be in the common areas, where the teens hang out, although sometimes I’d rather just hide out in my room! Even if they’re doing…
-
How to Give Our Kids Real Encouragement
Five Messages to Keep on Repeat How can we encourage our kids today? What messages do they need to hear? In an age when anxiety among children and teens is on the rise, when social media often determines, or at least, influences one’s value, does the voice of a parent even carry weight? I say yes, by choosing an intentional message, and putting it on repeat. One sentence at a time, consistently and frequently. Here’s why I think our words carry more weight, even though our message is but one in the sea of messages flowing to our kids rapid-fire, night and day. As parents, we see our child more…
-
Four Easy Ways to Treasure Motherhood
I know it’s long past Advent, but there is this verse, subtly slipped into the end of the Christmas story which is stuck on repeat in my mind. You may have caught it when you did your Advent readings, or, like me the first time, it slipped past without notice. But it’s a good one, a gem, and it’s specifically written for and about a mother. It’s Luke 2:51: But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. (This is Jesus’ mother, Mary, written about her experience of raising Jesus.) As we begin a new year, let’s take this verse and make it a goal for this year. Let’s…
