Juicy red yumminess. I couldn’t wait to eat it for dinner that night. Caleb insisted on carrying the big watermelon in. He walked slowly into the house. And then the mess happened.

As parents, we have the amazing privilege of praying for our children. Praying for your child's school is so important. This is something my husband Jonathan and I take very seriously.  At the beginning of each school year, we go on a prayer walk as a family around our children’s schools. In today’s post, I will share the why, how and what of our prayer walk.

"Mom, what’s for dinner? What are we doing this week?" Do these questions sound familiar? If your kids are similar to mine, you have probably heard these questions countless times. Today, I am going to share with you how two charts have answered these questions for my kids.

Failure. Just reading that word used to make me cringe. The key words are ‘used to.’ Failure is still not my favorite thing but it has become a friend to me. Why? Because I can learn so much from failure. At the beginning of the year, I set goals and felt very optimistic about them. And then life happened. I realized I needed to let go of some goals and make some changes to the ones I kept.

On an average day, how much do you listen? Not just the listen to while you work listening. But the stop everything and give your full attention listening. Be intentional. This is hard to do, isn’t it? But, listening is one of the greatest gifts we can give one another. Listening is especially hard to do with kids. Maybe you can relate? One of the workshops I attended at Hearts at Home addressed this. It was called 10 Questions to ask your kids every year and it was led by Susan Seay.

Do you ever feel like your child is deliberately trying to drive you crazy? Do you ever struggle knowing how to discipline and motivate your children? Me too. Which is why I read You Can’t Make Me by Cynthia Tobias. This book is packed full of information on how to bring out the best in your strong-willed children. Today, I want to share with you three reasons why I think you would like You Can’t Make Me.

Brave. When you hear that word, what comes to mind? Would you consider yourself a brave Mom? One of my greatest desires as a Mom is to raise godly kids. That is the reason I chose the workshop titled “Raising Heroes: Becoming Brave Moms to Godly Kids.”

Discipline. Just hearing that word may frustrate you. It’s hard to discipline our kids. Each kid is different and there is a variety of ways to discipline. But, it’s something that must be done. At Hearts at Home, I attended a workshop called Discipline that Connects with Your Child’s Heart. It was led by Jim and Lynne Jackson. Today, I will share some points from the workshop.

What kind of legacy are you leaving for your kids? Our greatest calling as a parent is leaving a spiritual legacy for our kids. How do we do this with the culture we live in today? There is hope! The first workshop I attended at Hearts at Home was led by Dr. Jim Burns. The title was Teaching Kids Lasting Morals and Values. Dr. Burns started the workshop by sharing the crises our youth face today. Despite the crises, there is hope! In this post, I will share some points from the workshop about how we can make a difference in our families.

Parenting is a tough job. There are long hours and it’s a job that comes with little feedback. Today, I want to remind you to hang in there because you’re doing a great job! Sometimes you may not see it. But, God does and He wants to remind you that you’re a great parent. Here is a story of how God reminded me.