How to Pray for Your Child Each Day So many times I find myself praying for the same things for my children. That they are healthy. That they are safe. That they are obedient. The other day I was reading the Bible, and I came upon Philippians 1:9-11: I pray that your love will overflow… [Continue Reading]
parenting
The ABCs of Safety & Manners
Have you taught you kids the ABCs of safety and manners? One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made as a mom was to expect what I haven’t taught. I’d take my kids out and expect them to know not to ask the lady sitting next to us at the park for part of her lunch…. [Continue Reading]
How to Stop Your Child’s Angry Cycle
How to Stop Your Child’s Angry Cycle The flash of anger in my tween daughter’s eyes surprised me. We’d been camping, and Maddie’s 6-year-old sister, Aly, had just burned her finger on hot ash. As I treated the wound, Maddie strode up. “I hurt myself, too,” she said, with attitude. “Last night when we were… [Continue Reading]
Chore Charts Can Curb Complaining
Chore Charts Can Curb Complaining When we adopted our two sweet children, we sort of went into “survival” mode. Both children had emotional issues, and they need weekly behavioral therapy. Bella was enrolled in a therapy school, and Casey had physical, occupational, and speech therapy. I was spending hours and hours each day on the… [Continue Reading]
How do you tell your kids about a painful decision from your past?
How do you tell your kids about a painful decision from your past? It was a story I did not want to tell. But as Sanctity of Life Sunday approached, my pastor asked me to share my story with the church — the story I had kept secret for many years. My abortion story. And… [Continue Reading]
How Prayer Changes the Future for Adoption
How Prayer Changes the Future for Adoption I’d like to think I’m an expert pray-er. I can clearly see how my prayers changed things. For example, I have three little kids—not birthed from me—running around my house who are examples of that. Yet the way that my prayers changed the future is different than you… [Continue Reading]
A Forever Home ~Hope for Orphans
A Forever Home ~Hope for Orphans I know my writing work is important because I get emails, tweets, and Facebook notes from online readers. But God reminds me often that my ministry isn’t just online … it’s offline, too. There are seasons when the most important heart I can touch is within arm’s reach. My… [Continue Reading]
Calming Angry Kids With A Million Praying Moms
Calming Angry Kids With A Million Praying Moms Today’s episode of the Million Praying Moms podcast is for every mom who has been in the whirlwind of dealing with an angry child. You’ve asked yourself so many questions, but in the end, you just need relief…something to help turn the tide toward a more peaceful home. Friend,… [Continue Reading]
God’s Heart for Adoption
God’s Heart for Adoption I first thought about adoption around 1999 when I was reading an article about orphanages in China filled with baby girls. At the time, John and I had three young kids ages 10, 7, and 5. Around that time I had also just gotten my first book contract. I talked to… [Continue Reading]
Sometimes Love Grows {Adoption Hope}
Sometimes Love Grows In my 25 years as a mom there have been many homecomings as I brought my children home for the first times. When Cory was born, I was a 17-year-old single mom, and we returned to my parents’ house. With Leslie and Nathan, John and I lived in low-income housing while he… [Continue Reading]
No More Grumbles: How I learned to trust God, stop acting helpless, and be a better example to my kids
No More Grumbles : How I learned to trust God, stop acting helpless, and be a better example to my kids So my family and I did a pretty dumb thing. We decided to take on a challenge not to grumble for a year. We chronicled the highs and the lows (lots of lows) in… [Continue Reading]