By Jessica Wolstenholm
In the 27 years I’ve been counseling girls and their families, I have never seen something impact the lives of girls the way anxiety has in the past five years. It has now reached epidemic proportions, with one in four children suffering from anxiety at some time during their growing up years. The research varies, but […]
By Jessica Wolstenholm
It’s Monday, and everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. The dog got loose and you and your kids spent a large portion of the morning looking for him. Everyone got their clothes muddy and will have to change, or else get everything else in the house dirty. Then you find out that the […]
By Jessica Wolstenholm
We had a wonderful church community in our hometown, but then my husband had a job offer in Nashville that moved our family to a new city, and we began our search for a new church family. Trying out churches can be intimidating in any city, but in Nashville—a city appropriately deemed the buckle of […]
By Jessica Wolstenholm
I once heard someone say that a parent’s goal should be to work herself out of a job. Which means, we should teach our kids responsibility and train them to manage the tasks required to meet their basic needs. It sounds so easy and logical, but making it happen comes with some challenges. Thankfully, God […]
By Jessica Wolstenholm
Do you know what’s hard about being consistent with your kids? Being consistent. We know that “being consistent” in parenting is the ideal. But doing the right thing every. single.time? How is that even possible? Discipline the exact same way for the exact same infraction every single time? Be consistent with devotions, meal planning, laundry, […]
By Jennifer Thorson
No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11 (NIV) Balancing grace and correction in parenting is something that most of us strive for, but feel like we fail at doing! Why is it […]
By Jessica Wolstenholm
We begin the summer months with great hope and excitement. But as the temperatures rise, our energy and ideas melt away. Out of desperation, electronics become the go-to activity. The television is turned on for a quick show. A device is given to a child to calm their wants. Without realizing it, a few minutes […]
By Jessica Wolstenholm
One of our family’s favorite things to do is read aloud together. As a matter of fact, reading aloud is a tradition that was passed down to me from both of my grandmothers and my mom. I have so many nostalgic memories of being read to as a child and am so grateful to have […]
By Jessica Wolstenholm
Winston Churchill said, “Continuous effort – not strength nor intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.” Every parent knows Christian parenting isn’t easy and that continuous effort is required – effort to get up when you only got a smidgen of sleep, effort to stay focused on your boundary-pushing child, effort when you […]
By Jessica Wolstenholm
One sticky summer night, I was feverishly clearing the dinner table, washing dishes, and loading the dishwasher, when my five year old daughter Charlotte suddenly took interest in what I was doing. “Can I please help you, Mommy?” Her sweet question totally caught me off guard. I wondered, Can she actually help me? Is it […]