Love Her Well with Kari Kampakis

God must have had great faith in me when He gave me seven daughters. I’m honored to also have three sons, but it is my daughters who have brought me to my knees more than anything else. I want to teach them, but sometimes I’m too pushy. I want to be there for them, but sometimes I’m too busy. In my desire to draw them to Jesus, I sometimes drone on. There are times when I’m too relaxed and other times I’m too rigid. With so many personalities (and all the hormones!), I often feel as if each day is a new challenge with these girls. And that’s why I’m so thankful for Kari Kampakis!

Kari’s new book Love Her Well is going on my keeper shelf. This book is FULL of wisdom, and in the weeks since we recorded this interview I’ve found myself turning to it many, many times. Kari and I talk about ways to connect with our girls, and how to pray. If you have ANY influence in a young woman’s life, you’re going to want to listen to this podcast!

Who is Kari Kampakis?

Kari Kampakis is an author, speaker, blogger, and newspaper columnist from Birmingham, Alabama.

Her two books for teen girls, 10 Ultimate Truths Girls Should Know and Liked: Whose Approval Are You Living For, have been used widely across the country by teen youth groups and small groups to empower girls through faith. Kari’s newest book, Love Her Well: 10 Ways to Find Joy and Connection with Your Teenage Daughter just released.

Kari’s work has been featured on The Huffington Post, The TODAY Show, EWTN, Proverbs 31, Yahoo! News, The Eric Metaxas Show, Ann Voskamp’s blog, and other national outlets. She and her husband, Harry, have four daughters and a dog named Lola.

You can order Love Her Well HERE.

About the Book:

Moms are eager for tips and wisdom to help them build strong relationships with their daughters, and Kari Kampakis’s Love Her Well gives them ten practical ways to do so, not by changing their daughters but by changing their own thoughts, actions, and mind-set.

For many women, having a baby girl is a dream come true. Yet as girls grow up, the narrative of innocence and joy changes to gloom and doom as moms are told, “Just wait until she’s a teenager!” and handed a disheartening script that treats a teenage girl’s final years at home as solely a season to survive.

Author and blogger Kari Kampakis suggests it’s time to change the narrative and mind-set that lead moms to parent teen girls with a spirit of defeat, not strength. By improving the foundation, habits, and dynamics of the relationship, mothers can connect with their teen daughters and earn a voice in their lives that allows moms to offer guidance, love, wisdom, and emotional support.

As a mom of four daughters (three of whom are teenagers), Kari has learned the hard way that as girls grow up, mothers must grow up too. In Love Her Well, Kari shares ten ways that moms can better connect with their daughters in a challenging season, including:

choosing their words and timing carefully,
listening and empathizing with her teen’s world,
seeing the good and loving her for who she is,
taking care of themselves and having a support system, and more.

This book isn’t a guide to help mothers “fix” their daughters or make them behave. Rather, it’s about a mom’s journey, doing the heart work and legwork necessary to love a teenager while still being a strong, steady parent. Kari explores how every relationship consists of two imperfect sinners, and teenagers gain more respect for their parents when they admit (and learn from) their mistakes, apologize, listen, give grace, and try to understand their teens’ point of view. Yes, teenagers need rules and consequences, but without a connected relationship, parents may never gain a significant voice in their lives or be a safe place they long to return to.

By admitting her personal failures and prideful mistakes that have hurt her relationships with her teenage daughters, Kari gives mothers hope and reminds them all things are possible through God. By leaning on him, mothers gain the wisdom, guidance, protection, and clarity they need to grow strong relationships with their daughters at every age, especially during the critical teen years.

Walk It Out Scripture

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7

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Walk it Out #134: Love Her Well with Kari Kampakis