This past week I had the immense pleasure of going to listen to one of my favorite authors, John C. Maxwell, speak at an intimate gathering some hours away.  

I drove the four hours there and back in less than 24 hours so I would not miss too much at home and I listened to books, ate road trip food (hello Baked Lays, nuts and Kind bars) and even got in a beautiful visit with friends who lived in the area.  

But, in doing this trip I was able to listen and learn in a concentrated, uninter...

Can you think of one thing that can give everyone what they need?  Maybe the Mary Poppins Bag or the Wizard of Oz’s bag with the heart, slippers and oil can in them?  The genie or the fairy godmother?  These are all fiction, but believe it or not there is one REAL source you can go to in life and in raising your daughters and sons that gives you what you need and that is scripture.  I know…  I didn’t believe it for over 30 years, but it is true.

Why DOES scripture work even when your daughte...

I was working with one of my daughters the other day in chemistry.  I actually have two daughters in chemistry right now and one is loving it and the other loathes it.  

“It’s too much info!”

“I don’t understand!”

Listen, not every subject is going to be easy for your child.  It would be weird if they all were!  That is like a pro basketball player also being a pro baseball, pro golfer and pro quilter!  Our brains are all different and we work better with different things.  But here is ...

I have two rambunctious, brown, adorable rescue dogs that are probably not working with a full deck if you know what I mean.  

One day one of our precious daughters left the gate open in the backyard, even though we had repeatedly said to check the latch when it closes on SEVERAL occasions [it’s ok, deep breaths].  

Well, when my dogs see an opening they go for it with everything they have and start an adventure or maybe just a curiosity mission.  Either way… they are gone!

Now, to unde...

The other day during a women’s book study I was prompted with a question…

“What is unfailing love to you?”

I grabbed by journal and just let the words pour out of my heart and mind and onto the page…

“Unfailing love, for me, is the patient love of the Father who was there for me, guided me, didn’t walk away (even when I didn’t follow him right away), but waited patiently until I clearly saw through the haze of the world and my own traumas and dramas.  He humbly, kindly, lovingly waited ...

Two questions...

1. Do you leave everything in your child’s future up to the OTHER people in their life? (ie. the 2nd grade teacher, soccer coaches, friends, friends parents, high school geometry teachers etc.)

2. Are you merely there for the food, water and shelter requirements of parenting?

My guess is that the answer to both of these is ...No!

Why?

Because they are your kids and if you are reading this you have a heart to be there for them and with them.  You want to love the time you ha...

Well, the video quality leaves something to be desired (working on fixing it for the future friends) but the content is PRICELESS so be sure to listen and take notes!

Grounding, talks, yelling, spanking, talking, time-out, grounding.... blah blah blah...

Does it just keep happening?

This is a super common rut of repetition among families.  You are not alone.  

The question is WHY do the same infractions keep happening again and again with the same result?  That is enough to drive a person cr...

We have all been there, right?

Time and time again it has been proven that if we rely on patience it will 9 times out of 10 fail us.  As a species it is just not one of our strong suits and, let's be honest, the world today plays into our lack of this attribute even more.

So, let's just kick this unpredictable friend out of the equation when if comes to schooling at home, shall we?  

I want to note that we have a lifetime to work on patience and we always should be, but we have a finite amoun...