To live free: thanks giving

September 30, 2011 | Faith: Knowing Christ, Family: Nurturing Family, Feelings: Intentional freedom

I love Thanksgiving. In the Eller family it is a feast with at least 100 to 150 family members showing up. This is an actual table from our last Thanksgiving. It’s just one desert table (there were four), not counting the meat table, the salad table, the side dish table. Crazy, huh?

But to live free is not about this kind of thanksgiving, but rather thanks giving.

In Psalm 100:4 the Psalmist encourages us to enter into His gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.

The gates and courts he is speaking about are areas where only priests could enter. But after Christ came, that changed.

When give thanks we enter in to that special place of intimacy with God. It draws us close, in spite of our feelings or circumstances.

What might happen if for the next 24 hours you and I offered nothing but thanks giving?

A child talks back. (more…)

moms need each other

August 24, 2011 | Family: Nurturing Family

Yesterday on Moms Together, Laurie shared her heart as a special-needs mom. She recently had to admit her daughter to the hospital due to special mental health needs.

Her beautiful topic, “When the Ropes Fray” prompted lots of special needs moms to share their stories. Both the beautiful and the harder stories: like being judged when you don’t have all the answers, or how to redefine your dreams for your child, or how those who don’t have a special needs child can help, or hurt a situation. (more…)

TY Catelynn

August 22, 2011 | Family: Nurturing Family, Just me

Don’t watch it, someone said.

But I did. Holding baby Luke on my chest, his little body warm and heavy, I watched an episode of Teen Mom.

And as the program unfolded, I found tears running down my face.

I cried for Catelynn, the too-young-momma whose own mother called her names that should never be spoken by a mom. I watched as Catelynn comforted the adults in her life who should have comforted her.

So backwards. So very, very backwards. (more…)

giveaway today at MT

August 17, 2011 | Family: Nurturing Family

Carey Wiggins Scott is joining us as a host at Moms Together. We will miss Jill Hart, radio host and founder of Christian Work at Home Moms as she pursues more opportunities to minister through LeadHer, but we are excited about Carey stepping into her shoes.

Today we are celebrating this day by giving away a $35 gift card to Starbucks. According to Carey, when motherhood gets wild and wooly, it’s a frappy day if she doesn’t get to have her favorite coffee.

I’m not a coffee drinker, and I’m not eligible to win anyway. But if you’ve been waiting to check out this thriving community of moms, maybe today is a great day to check it out.

See you there! (www.facebook.com/MomsTogether)

strengthening family: communication

August 11, 2011 | Family: Nurturing Family

One of the most important things teens wished for in communication was encouragement. Have you ever said “My teen smiles at everyone else, but he or she is sullen/quiet/reserved/noncommunicative with me.”?

Teens say that sometimes they experience the same thing. In church or outside of the home they see a smiling, laughing woman who is their mom, but she seems always put out/upset/frustated with them.

Ouch, right?

How do we encourage our children, encourage others? One way is to catch the people we love the most doing something right.

Suzie, you don’t know my child.

I don’t. But it’s important that we remember that our children, even teens, are a work in progress. Brain development continues into the early twenties (explains so much, doesn’t it?). Things like impulsiveness, reasoning, and cognitive skills are still being formed.

And we have a part in that. (more…)

strengthening families: communication

August 10, 2011 | Family: Nurturing Family

Real Issues, Real Teens!

This is our hot topic today on Moms Together.

When I interviewed hundreds of teens to write Real Issues, Real Teens: What Every Parent Needs to Know, I learned more as a mom than I ever did as a researcher. After the book was published, my teens (at that time) said, “Wow, mom. You’ve really grown!”

What they didn’t realize is that even though I worked with teens for several years, and was a mom of three teens, that listening to the honest heart of teens had completely changed the way I parented my own children.

You see, teens are honest. I asked many questions about faith, family, pressures, sex, relationships, and more. But one topic really triggered some amazing conversations. That was on the topic of communication.

I asked:

Does your conversation with your mom or dad ever go deeper than “How’s Your Day?”? What would you say to your mom or dad if they really listened?

And they spoke up. Out of this honest dialogue came 5 things teens wished their mom and dad knew about communication. Why they may not talk, or what they wish they could say if they did.

The first was: I wish my mom or dad would stick to the topic.

What does that mean?

(more…)