When a Mother’s Love Is Not Enough: 11 Things We Can Do to Help Our Children...
As I made my way up and down the aisles in the grocery story, my thoughts were at home with my child who was hurting. As I passed the candy aisle, I was reminded of the days when my children were...
View ArticleI Met Hazel for Coffee
The other day I met Hazel for coffee. The youngest, most adorable coffee date I have ever had! We met at the local coffee shop. Her mom and I spent time talking while Hazel had fun eating Cheerios,...
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Holidays with Parents and In-laws: Let It Be Good
You’re into preparation mode-shopping, cooking, invitations, fundraisers, junk mail, Christmas cards, special parties. And this is above and beyond the regular stuff on your plate–sports teams,...
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Launching Our Children Like Arrows
This past fall a photo stream of parents dropping their kids off at college filled my social media newsfeeds. Proud, teary eyed parents, beaming teenagers, decked out dorm rooms, and an air of...
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My Adult Children
“Lord, teach me how to pray for my adult children. I know You are greater than anything they face. Thank You that my prayers for them have power because You hear me and will answer. I pray You will...
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Exit Bitterness
My mother and grandmother had a contentious relationship. I say “relationship” very gingerly. As a youth the divorce of her parents put a wedge between them that would last until Nana’s death at age...
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Disappointments as Divine Direction
When things don’t go the way we want, for us or our kids, it is so easy to try to “fix” things, make them go the way we believe they should. But by taking control of the situation we are often, without...
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There is No Fear in Love
I’ve always been passionate. Passion for me spills over into just about everything I do. I cook with passion, trying to improve each recipe. I write with passion, about the things I really care about....
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What I Gained By Giving Up Time On Facebook
A while back I hopped on Facebook first thing in the morning, as was my usual routine numerous times a day. The routine had started innocently several years back. I used to check my email first thing...
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The Importance of Honor
During my lifetime it has been easy to breeze past the commandment to honor my mother and father. I admit, at times, the commandment may have even been met with a roll of the eyes. Honor your father...
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Praying For Your Children
Maybe I started the day she ran away. I’d placed Lexi in her room for a “time out” and five minutes later the doorbell rang. A woman I’d never seen before was standing there holding my daughter. “I...
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College Freshman Warning
If you read the title of this post and got here quick to see what calamity might befall your precious college freshman, the warning is for you not your child! The tips listed below are for you! There...
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Mamas, Help Your Boys Grow Into Men
This past summer I spent a few days with my 15-year-old son, my sister, and her kids at our family cabin at the lake. While my sister and I were visiting on the deck, we heard a commotion from the...
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Stepmom Living: The Things I Have Learned
I had two stepmoms in my lifetime. One when I was fourteen, and the second when I was thirty. That means I should have known what it was like to form a stepfamily and become a stepmom, right? Wrong. My...
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Don’t Freak Out: How to Respond Wisely to Your Teen and Young Adult’s Choices...
Dear Dr. Degler, What is up with my 18-year-old child? She’s a good kid overall but she is making choices that upset me, like saying she isn’t sure if the Bible is true or saying she might not go to...
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Six Tips for Raising Kids Who Will Still Go to Church as Adults
The stats are scary. Seventy to 90 percent of kids who attended an evangelical church will stop attending church by age 18 (here’s an excellent article summarizing a wide range of studies on young...
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Madness: Raising Teens
Although I’ve raised two daughters to adulthood and know parenting teens can be a job, it never ceases to amaze me that parenting teens is also downright hard. Now I’m the mother of three teenage...
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When Adult Children Miss Holiday Dinners
Guess who’s coming to Thanksgiving dinner? No one! This coming Thanksgiving will be the first time in many years that my husband and I will sit down to dinner without any of our four children. It will...
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A Good Prayer
We moms have a zillion concerns for our kids. It doesn’t take long to discover that we as parents need all the help we can get. But an interesting transition occurs when your children get older,...
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Stepfamily Suggestions for Weddings, Graduations and Proms, Oh My!
There’s nothing like a wedding, graduation, prom, or special occasion to get the tension taut in a stepfamily. That’s because dreams, family traditions, and high expectations are tied to these events....
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