6 Ways to Effectively Lead Young Children What does it mean for a parent to effectively lead a family with young children? The answer to that question has come to me through years of trial and error (mostly error). As a young mom, I didn’t give leadership much thought — I was just trying to… [Continue Reading]
family
Be The Change
Be The Change Lately, I’ve been thinking there’s a lot of things I’d like to change. 1) I’ve actively started exercising and using a food journal to lose weight and get in shape. 2) I’ve been trying to curb my spending. 3) And I’ve been learning to be more thankful. All of those things aren’t… [Continue Reading]
How to Pray for Your Child Each Day
How to Pray for Your Child Each Day So many times I find myself praying for the same things for my children. That they are healthy. That they are safe. That they are obedient. The other day I was reading the Bible, and I came upon Philippians 1:9-11: I pray that your love will overflow… [Continue Reading]
How To Wait Patiently
How To Wait Patiently Are you currently waiting on the Lord? Maybe you’re waiting for a job, a spouse or a wayward child to return home. Maybe you’re waiting for wisdom for the next steps or how to handle a hard situation. Waiting is hard because there is so little we have to wait on… [Continue Reading]
Chore Charts Can Curb Complaining
Chore Charts Can Curb Complaining When we adopted our two sweet children, we sort of went into “survival” mode. Both children had emotional issues, and they need weekly behavioral therapy. Bella was enrolled in a therapy school, and Casey had physical, occupational, and speech therapy. I was spending hours and hours each day on the… [Continue Reading]
How Prayer Changes the Future for Adoption
How Prayer Changes the Future for Adoption I’d like to think I’m an expert pray-er. I can clearly see how my prayers changed things. For example, I have three little kids—not birthed from me—running around my house who are examples of that. Yet the way that my prayers changed the future is different than you… [Continue Reading]
A Forever Home ~Hope for Orphans
A Forever Home ~Hope for Orphans I know my writing work is important because I get emails, tweets, and Facebook notes from online readers. But God reminds me often that my ministry isn’t just online … it’s offline, too. There are seasons when the most important heart I can touch is within arm’s reach. My… [Continue Reading]
Calming Angry Kids With A Million Praying Moms
Calming Angry Kids With A Million Praying Moms Today’s episode of the Million Praying Moms podcast is for every mom who has been in the whirlwind of dealing with an angry child. You’ve asked yourself so many questions, but in the end, you just need relief…something to help turn the tide toward a more peaceful home. Friend,… [Continue Reading]
God’s Heart for Adoption
God’s Heart for Adoption I first thought about adoption around 1999 when I was reading an article about orphanages in China filled with baby girls. At the time, John and I had three young kids ages 10, 7, and 5. Around that time I had also just gotten my first book contract. I talked to… [Continue Reading]
Sometimes Love Grows {Adoption Hope}
Sometimes Love Grows In my 25 years as a mom there have been many homecomings as I brought my children home for the first times. When Cory was born, I was a 17-year-old single mom, and we returned to my parents’ house. With Leslie and Nathan, John and I lived in low-income housing while he… [Continue Reading]
No More Grumbles: How I learned to trust God, stop acting helpless, and be a better example to my kids
No More Grumbles : How I learned to trust God, stop acting helpless, and be a better example to my kids So my family and I did a pretty dumb thing. We decided to take on a challenge not to grumble for a year. We chronicled the highs and the lows (lots of lows) in… [Continue Reading]