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]
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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]
The ABCs of Safety & Manners
The ABCs of Safety & Manners One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made as a mom was to expect what I haven’t taught. I’d take my kids out and expect them to know not to ask the lady sitting next to us at the park for part of her lunch. Or expect them to know… [Continue Reading]
How to Stop Your Child’s Angry Cycle
How to Stop Your Child’s Angry Cycle The flash of anger in my tween daughter’s eyes surprised me. We’d been camping, and Maddie’s 6-year-old sister, Aly, had just burned her finger on hot ash. As I treated the wound, Maddie strode up. “I hurt myself, too,” she said, with attitude. “Last night when we were… [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 To Find Peace in Chaos
How To Find Peace in Chaos I know that most of the time I look encouraging to my online friends. Why? Well, I don’t want to be a complainer or a whiner. I truly believe we can do more by lifting people up than tearing people down. We can also live freer by rejoicing than… [Continue Reading]
Little Foxes (and One Big One) that Can Destroy a Marriage | Sharon Jaynes
Little Foxes (and One Big One) that Can Destroy a Marriage I was going through a drawer at my mom’s house, looking for a scratch pad, when I came across a small vinyl record. It was in a cardboard sleeve dated 1950. My dad made the record for my mom when he was in the… [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]
How to Enjoy Motherhood Without the Mom Guilt
How to Enjoy Motherhood Without the Mom Guilt Recently I had the opportunity to chat with Jennifer Blossom of Blossoming Mom & Baby about how to enjoy motherhood without the mom guilt. It was a great conversation full of help and hope for moms in the trenches. Blossoming Mom and Baby is all about supporting… [Continue Reading]
How to Go From Grumbly to Grateful
How to Go From Grumbly to Grateful Sometimes my kids drive me crazy. They are too negative, too cranky, and too quick to point out ways their siblings fall short. They get frustrated with the dog and they don’t often pick up after themselves. Grumble. Grumble. Grumble. One day, as I was going through a… [Continue Reading]