The release of my new book, I Need Some Help Here! Hope for When Your Kids Don’t Go According to Plan, is just a few weeks away! And to get ready, I have a few great FREE resources to get you ready for summer with your kids.
The first of these resources is my new eBook, Surviving Summer Vacation, Plans and Prayers for a Mom’s Sanity, and for a limited time it is available as a free PDF download. But you have to hurry to get it for free because once it is released on Amazon, I’m no longer in charge of the price!
And could I ask you a favor? Would you be willing to share it via Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter or your blog?
To get the Free download follow the steps below:
Share it with family, friends, coworkers and followers on social media. Choose the platform of your choice:
Option #1: Post on Facebook:
Post about Surviving Summer Vacation on Facebook. Click here to share this post on Facebook.
Option #2: Post on Pinterest.
Post about Surviving Summer Vacation on Pinterest. Click here to repin this pin on Pinterest.
Option #3: Post on Twitter.
Post about Surviving Summer Vacation on Twitter. Click here to retweet this tweet on Twitter.
Option #4: Post About the Book on Your Blog.
If you have a blog, you can write a post about Surviving Summer Vacation. The first 20 people to write about the eBook on their blog AND send us the link will receive a copy of my upcoming book, I Need Some Help Here! Hope for When Your Kids Don’t Go According to Plan being released on June 6. Just email the link to your blog post to bronwyn@kathilipp.com.
To Download your free book, Click here and fill out the form – it’s that easy!
Do you have a blog? Just love Facebook or are a Twitter fiend? Would you like to be on our launch team for my latest book “I Need Some Help Here!” Hope for When Your Kids Don’t Go According to Plan.
All you need is at least one kid and a less than perfect parenting record. Qualify? Click on the link to apply!
I just spoke for a group of moms where one of the mentor moms asked me where I got the ideas for my books. My response, “I usually write out of my own weakness. My next book is all about how we as moms can feel that we are not good enough as parents and how to rely on God in those weak times.”
The mentor mom replied, “Oh, I never felt inadequate as a mom.”
This book? It’s not for her.
My hope with I Need Some Help Here – Hope for When Your Kids Don’t Go According to Plan is that every mom who thought that her parenting journey would be different. Who thought that if she just tried her hardest, her kids would fall into place.
This book is for all of us who have done our best, but our kids — whom we love and adore — are not necessarily on the path we would have chosen for them.
If you have doubts as a mom, join me. We want you to assure the moms that you influence, that you speak to through your blog and via social media, that they are normal. They are OK. They are cherished.
And while we try with all our might to do the best we can with our kids, ultimately, they belong to God. And that is the best place for them to be.
Thanks for your willingness to bring hope to a world of women who desperately need it.
Spending time outside does not have to just be camping, as much fun as that is, but there are many ways to get the kids outside in the fresh air while spending quality time connecting with your children. Ones that don’t include going to the bathroom in the forest.
Ten Ways to Get Outside and Connect
1. Go for a treasure hunt in your neighborhood. Here’s a short list of things for your kid to look for: a leaf bigger than their hand, a rock smaller than their little toe, and something they can recycle. You can also have them make up the list to keep them interested.
2. Tape a large piece of butcher paper to your fence or outside wall and paint a mural.
The biggest thing to remember is to prepare for any event that you do. This means everything from planning on what you are going to eat on your picnic to being dressed warmly enough in case it gets windy. Encourage each child to find something in the activity that they connect with. For the expressive child, it might be the beautiful colors. For the athletic child, it might be games you play while running in the sprinkler. Try to connect with each child no matter what way you choose.
How about you? How do you get your kids outside? What are some fun ways you connect with them while outside? Tell me in the comments and you will have a chance to win my book all about connecting called 21 Ways to Connect with Your kids.
Loving your husband will go along way to make a child feel loved and encouraged. And doing things for your child is a great way to connect with them. But with today’s busy schedules, it is not easy to do special things for the kids all of the time.
We think that saying things should be easier, but
using our words to fill the heart is one way that us mamas think we do, but sometimes forget.
13. I don’t care what we do today as long as I can be with you.
14. I will never stop loving you.
15. God created you exactly how he wanted you.
Say one of these every day for the rest of the month and you will be filling the love tanks of your children and sharing the hope and love of Jesus through you.
What is one encouraging thing you would add to the list?
Ahem…. Well, it happened. My 10-month-old granddaughter kicked my butt.
Yep, this new grandma found herself struggling with a diaper that resembled the aftermath of an atomic blast. Residue, aka baby poo, squirted forth in all directions as squiggling arms and legs that appeared to be practicing infant calisthenics, landed in said residue. I quickly understood that now the small child needed a bath, a new pile of laundry emerged and I spied something that didn’t belong under my fingernails. Eeek! Finishing the cleanup I realized that the baby AND grandma needed a bottle and a nap.
My son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, Elise, moved into our home this past week. They are relocating from another state. I thought handling a baby would be a piece of cake after all; I already raised two kids to adulthood. I couldn’t have forgotten that much, or did I?
Well thankfully the baby mama arrived upon said disaster and gave me some gentle teaching with empathy and grace. And a week later, I’m equipped to withstand any diaper that may come my way. *grin*
Even as a grandmother I can learn a lot from a young mom. And younger moms can likely learn a lot from an out of practice Grandma.
I’m convinced that the body of Christ is moving into a new awareness of God’s Presence. And in this next move of God we will see a joining of the generations like never before. The young, old, and in-between will rise to bring God’s purposes and His Kingdom to earth (Matthew 6:9-13).
This is a season in the body where we will learn and place great value the voices of young and old. And just like I had to relearn to diaper a baby there are some timeless experiences I can pass to my daughter-in-law.
As I look back on a lifetime of raising children, if I could tell every mother just one thing I it would be this:
It’s worth it!
It’s worth the years and tears you pour into your little ones. On days when there is poop in the tub, the dog barfed on the carpet, the laundry towers in the hall and little ones cry at your feet. And when no one sees all you sacrifice for your family and a greatly needed pat on the back does not come, it’s still worth it.
Every bit of effort of love, correction, instruction, laughter, fun, and the time you pour into little lives, it is worth it. It is building the character and love into another human being. And your children will step into adulthood fully equipped with faith, love, purpose, and passion.
Mom, You are a legacy maker.
One more thing I would share with every mother is to remember when you begin to question yourself and your parenting ability, I want you to be assured that God is standing by your side, day after day. He is whispering hope into your soul. Life into your tired eyes. Joy into the mundane and love into your heart. Let His voice assure, “You are more than enough.”
When writing my parenting book I came to a place one day where I was stuck. During this frustrating writer’s block, I ask God, “God, what do you want to tell every mother.” Well God was just waiting for me to ask. And immediately a string of words began to go through my head. It’s His personal letter to every mother. Below is a link to download this letter. I pray you will print it out and read in moments of doubt, fatigue, and fear. I’m encouraged to tears of joy each time I read it. I pray you will be too.
God is standing right next to you Mom. He is walking you through to your highest and holy calling, Motherhood.
For a chance to win a copy of Lynn’s book Not Alone share what advice has impacted you the most on being the mother God has called you to be or who has been your greatest mentor in mothering. We are giving away TWO copies. You have until MONDAY, March 17 to enter. You can also buy it on Amazon today.
Lynn Donovan is a speaker, author, and an ordinary woman who shares with audiences her everyday adventures of walking in the Presence of God. Her delight is igniting women’s hearts with Holy Spirit fire, inspiring wives and mothers to step fully into their high and holy calling of marriage and motherhood with joy, laughter and God’s favor. She has been featured guest on the 700 Club Interactive, Focus on the Family, Dr. James Dobson’s FamilyTalk and FamilyLife Today. She coauthored the award winning book, Winning Him Without Words and also Not Alone, Trusting God to Help You Raise Godly Kids In a Spiritually Mismatched Marriage. She has a son and a daughter and a granddaughter. She lives with her husband in Temecula, California. Visit Lynn online at MismatchedAndThriving.com.
I met my husband James in grad school where strangely enough, I studied alongside other students who had been Miss Oregon, Miss California, and even a future Miss America.
Let’s face it. We women are prone to comparisons. When I think about those beauty pageant winners, sometimes I don’t even feel like Miss Cul-de-Sac. I don’t think I could win a contest in housekeeping, beauty, or culinary arts. But you know what? Those titles don’t really matter.
After all, my dear husband didn’t pick a Miss (insert amazing category here). He picked me. For better or for worse. For dress-up date nights and sweatpants mom days.
And guess what? If you are married, your husband picked you too. Over all the other girls in the world, he chose you. (Hang on single ladies, your prince may be on his way too)
Instead of hanging your head down because your make-up isn’t perfect or you need a tummy tuck, put a smile on your face and your best foot forward.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made. That’s what it proclaims in Psalm 119. But I’m afraid many of us believe the opposite. We fear that we are NOT fearfully and wonderful made. If we allow it to, physical shortcomings can sabotage our ability to be happy in our own skin.
We all come pre-packaged with strength and weaknesses. Don’t fall into the comparison trap which quickly diminishes the wonderful gifts you offer to the world. Let go of your unrealistic expectations of “perfect” and appreciate what you have. Accentuate your strengths!
Listen to what God is asking you to do in your marriage, not what popular culture dictates you should do. You are beautiful in God’s sight and you know what? Your husband thinks you’re beautiful too. That’s why he chose you.
So tell me in the comments below the amazing qualities you have the your husband loves and chose YOU for. One reader will be chosen to win a copy of Arlene’s book 31 Days to Becoming a Happy Wife. If you can’t wait to read it you can buy it on Amazon now.
You have until Monday, March 10 to enter.
Arlene Pellicane is a speaker and author of 31 Days to Becoming a Happy Wife.
She and her husband James live in Southern California with their three children.
