Don't Make Me Come Up There!: Quiet Moments for Busy Moms


Kristen Welch - 2010
    But she needs it. She needs the moment to refocus and refresh her soul. She needs the inspiration to find God in the mess and the mundane that often defines her. She craves the solitude of a moment with the Master to quiet the storms. She needs to laugh and remember why she loves being a mom.Don't Make Me Come Up There! is filled with inspirational and hilarious true-life stories and reflections written by a very human mom. Moms will recognize themselves in the pages of this book written for real, everyday mothers who know what it's like to catch vomit with one hand while starting a load of laundry with the other (and never confusing the two!). The fifty-two reflections encourage moms to revel in the everyday beauty of their lives and grow closer to God through it all."I couldn't help thinking of the last time my children had scattered up the stairs and disappeared into a quiet abyss. Initially, I thought they were just delighting in one another's company, holding hands, and making paper daisies. But that thought lasted for 1.2 seconds before I snapped out of my delusion only to discover my oldest giving her brother a "haircut" and my youngest smearing soap all over the bathroom. . . " from the book

Boundaries: When to Say Yes, How to Say No to Take Control of Your Life


Henry Cloud - 1992
    A boundary is a personal property line that marks those things for which we are responsible. In other words, boundaries define who we are and who we are not. Boundaries impact all areas of our lives: Physical boundaries help us determine who may touch us and under what circumstances -- Mental boundaries give us the freedom to have our own thoughts and opinions -- Emotional boundaries help us to deal with our own emotions and disengage from the harmful, manipulative emotions of others -- Spiritual boundaries help us to distinguish God's will from our own and give us renewed awe for our Creator -- Often, Christians focus so much on being loving and unselfish that they forget their own limits and limitations. When confronted with their lack of boundaries, they ask: - Can I set limits and still be a loving person? - What are legitimate boundaries? - What if someone is upset or hurt by my boundaries? - How do I answer someone who wants my time, love, energy, or money? - Aren't boundaries selfish? - Why do I feel guilty or afraid when I consider setting boundaries? Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend offer biblically-based answers to these and other tough questions, showing us how to set healthy boundaries with our parents, spouses, children, friends, co-workers, and even ourselves.

Glow Kids: How Screen Addiction Is Hijacking Our Kids -- And How to Break the Trance


Nicholas Kardaras - 2016
    Like a virtual scourge, the illuminated glowing faces―the Glow Kids―are multiplying. But at what cost? Is this just a harmless indulgence or fad like some sort of digital hula-hoop? Some say that glowing screens might even be good for kids―a form of interactive educational tool.Don’t believe it.In Glow Kids, Dr. Nicholas Kardaras will examine how technology―more specifically, age-inappropriate screen tech, with all of its glowing ubiquity―has profoundly affected the brains of an entire generation. Brain imaging research is showing that stimulating glowing screens are as dopaminergic (dopamine activating) to the brain’s pleasure center as sex. And a growing mountain of clinical research correlates screen tech with disorders like ADHD, addiction, anxiety, depression, increased aggression, and even psychosis. Most shocking of all, recent brain imaging studies conclusively show that excessive screen exposure can neurologically damage a young person’s developing brain in the same way that cocaine addiction can.Kardaras will dive into the sociological, psychological, cultural, and economic factors involved in the global tech epidemic with one major goal: to explore the effect all of our wonderful shiny new technology is having on kids. Glow Kids also includes an opt-out letter and a "quiz" for parents in the back of the book.

M Is for Mama: A Rebellion Against Mediocre Motherhood


Abbie Halberstadt - 2022
    Unfortunately, our worldly culture offers moms little in the way of real help. Mamas only connect to celebrate surviving another day and to share in their misery rather than rejoice in what God has done and to build each other up in hard times. There has a be a better way, a biblical way, for mamas to grow and thrive.                   As a daughter of Christ, you have been called to be more than an average mama. Attaining excellence doesn’t have to be unsettling but it will take committed focus and a desire to parent well according to God’s grace and for His glory. M is for Mama offers advice, encouragement, and scripturally sound strategies seasoned with a little bit of humor to help you embrace the challenge of biblical motherhood and raise your children with love and wisdom.  Mama, you are worthy of the awesome responsibility God has given you. Now it’s time to start believing you can live up to it.

Don't Make Me Count to Three


Ginger Plowman - 2003
    Ginger's candid approach will help moms move beyond the frustrations of not knowing how to handle issues of disobedience and into a confident, well-balanced approach to raising their children.

Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus


Elyse M. Fitzpatrick - 2011
    And we want to be good parents. But what exactly do we mean by "good?" And is "being good" really the point?Mother-daughter team Elyse Fitzpatrick and Jessica Thompson contend that every way we try to make our kids "good" is simply an extension of Old Testament Law--a set of standards that is not only unable to save our children, but also powerless to change them.No, rules are not the answer. What they need is GRACE.We must tell our kids of the grace-giving God who freely adopts rebels and transforms them into loving sons and daughters. If this is not the message your children hear, if you are just telling them to "be good," then the gospel needs to transform your parenting too.Give Them Grace is a revolutionary perspective on parenting that shows us how to receive the gospel afresh and give grace in abundance, helping our children know the dazzling love of Jesus and respond with heartfelt obedience.

Out of the Spin Cycle: Devotions to Lighten Your Mother Load


Jen Hatmaker - 2010
    Yes, moms are busy, they need a break, and they'd just like a shower. But they are also strong and brilliant and have the power to move mountains. Author and speaker Jen Hatmaker takes the words and deeds of Jesus, adds the humor of a young mom's life, and offers messages of grace and encouragement. She shows overburdened moms forty things Jesus doesn't expect them to do on their own.Covering areas such as worry, marriage, priorities, money, and the trap of comparison, this lively Bible teacher brings Jesus's message alive in a format geared to the short moments moms have that can be allotted to reflection. This is a devotional for the woman inside the mom--the Bible student, the learner, the world-changer.

Family Worship: In the Bible, in History & in Your Home


Donald S. Whitney - 2005
    But as Donald S. Whitney makes clear, the daily worship of God by families at home is a practice rooted in the Bible and common throughout Christian history. How can people unfamiliar with family worship lead it in their own homes? How do busy households in today's culture recover faithfulness in family worship? This practical book shows you how simple and easy it can be.

Smart Money Smart Kids: Raising the Next Generation to Win with Money


Dave Ramsey - 2014
    Dave Ramsey and Rachel Cruze teach parents how to raise money-smart kids in a debt-filled world.

The Gardener and the Carpenter: What the New Science of Child Development Tells Us About the Relationship Between Parents and Children


Alison Gopnik - 2016
    Yet the thing we call "parenting" is a surprisingly new invention. In the past thirty years, the concept of parenting and the multibillion dollar industry surrounding it have transformed child care into obsessive, controlling, and goal-oriented labor intended to create a particular kind of child and therefore a particular kind of adult. In The Gardener and the Carpenter, the pioneering developmental psychologist and philosopher Alison Gopnik argues that the familiar twenty-first-century picture of parents and children is profoundly wrong--it's not just based on bad science, it's bad for kids and parents, too.Drawing on the study of human evolution and her own cutting-edge scientific research into how children learn, Gopnik shows that although caring for children is profoundly important, it is not a matter of shaping them to turn out a particular way. Children are designed to be messy and unpredictable, playful and imaginative, and to be very different both from their parents and from each other. The variability and flexibility of childhood lets them innovate, create, and survive in an unpredictable world. “Parenting" won't make children learn—but caring parents let children learn by creating a secure, loving environment.

12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You


Tony Reinke - 2017
    Never offline, always within reach, we now wield in our hands a magic wand of technological power we have only begun to grasp. But it raises new enigmas, too. Never more connected, we seem to be growing more distant. Never more efficient, we have never been more distracted. Drawing from the insights of numerous thinkers, published studies, and his own research, writer Tony Reinke identifies twelve potent ways our smartphones have changed us—for good and bad. Reinke calls us to cultivate wise thinking and healthy habits in the digital age, encouraging us to maximize the many blessings, to avoid the various pitfalls, and to wisely wield the most powerful gadget of human connection ever unleashed.

Talking with Your Kids about Jesus: 30 Conversations Every Christian Parent Must Have


Natasha Crain - 2020
    But do you know specifically what those faith challenges are, how to effectively talk with your child about them, and what that means for you as a Christian parent on a day-to-day basis?If your answer is "no," you're not alone. Many Christian parents feel the same.But here's the good news: Talking with Your Kids about Jesus will give you the confidence you need to have the conversations that matter most in today's skeptical world. In a friendly, parent-to-parent voice, Natasha Crain will walk you through essential topics on Jesus's identity, teachings, death, and resurrection. Each chapter clearly explains what skeptics are saying and provides a concise, easy-to-understand response you can discuss with your child (one that can be tailored for any age).Chapters are sequenced in a curriculum-oriented way to provide a cumulative learning experience, making this book a flexible resource for use in multiple settings: homes, church classes, youth groups, small groups, private Christian schools, and homeschools. Every chapter has a step-by-step conversation guide with discussion questions and tips, and content is readily adaptable for use with kids of any age.

Mended: Restoring the Hearts of Mothers and Daughters


Blythe Daniel - 2019
    Discover powerful words that usher in healing for wounded hearts and rebuild, restore, and reconcile your connection.   Set new patterns going forward as you…find common ground and put your relationship ahead of your differenceslearn what to say when you don’t know what to saygrow closer when you do hard things togetherIf you have a difficult history with your mother or daughter, you don’t have to continue patterns of brokenness. No matter how worn you feel, you don’t have to become unthreaded. God wants to mend your heart to His and to hers.

Children and the Supernatural: True Accounts of Kids Unlocking the Power of God through Visions, Healing, and Miracles


Jennifer Toledo - 2012
    These true stories of healings, visions, miracles, prophetic evangelism, marketplace intercession, prophecy, and more will stir you to seek God in a deeper way and infuse you with faith to glorify Him in the world around you.

How to Really Love Your Child


D. Ross Campbell - 1977
    After all, they make sure that their child has the things they need. They attend their child's school events. They buy their child the things they want. So why is it then that most children doubt that they are genuinely and unconditionally loved?In this best-selling book, Dr. D. Ross Campbell reveals the emotional needs of a child and provides parents with the skill and techniques that can begin to help make your child feel truly loved and accepted. You'll learn to really love your child through every situation of child rearing from physical touch to discipline and from affirmation to spiritual nurture.