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Read MoreAre your parenting batteries depleted?
Could you use some encouragement and inspiration to help you on the parenting journey? Would you like some tips and ideas for ways to have fun and to make memories with your child? Then you’re at the right place and we’re glad you’ve joined us! Eighteen years sounds like a long time—but you really have just 18 summers . . . and we want to help you make the most of them.
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Read MoreSo how did the Just 18 Summers® brand come about?
My pastor, Rev. Ralph Sexton, dedicated a baby at church one Sunday. As the parents walked off the platform, he said, “Don’t forget, you have just 18 summers. Take time to make some memories.” Whew, the poignancy of that slammed into me and I knew at that moment that God wanted me to do something with that thought.
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Read MoreWe want Just 18 Summers® to be about YOU.
We’d love to hear from you with your thoughts, ideas, and ways we can help you on the parenting journey.
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Read MorePlease help us spread the word about Just 18 Summers®!
Post about us on Facebook and Twitter. Tell your friends and family. Tell your pastors, family ministry leaders, and organizations about Just 18 Summers. Let’s encourage and strengthen families across our nation and the world!
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Recent From A Happy Home
Recent From A Lasting Faith
Recent From A Cherished Family
Most Recent Articles
Beating the Back to School Blues
Today, I packed backpacks full of new school supplies, strategically stuffing paper towels, hand sanitizer, glue sticks and crayons. In the next few days, we’ll take a family trip to the shoe store and walk out with fresh kicks to transport us into the new year. I happen to be one of the strange souls that loves school supplies. The smell of new crayons and the clean feeling of a fresh notebook make my heart swell. I love it. Even though I love the preparation, I find myself a little blue each time a new school year rolls around. I reminisce over the fun we had through the summer and find myself baffled at how quickly it expired. I tend to think back through the years and feel a bit heartbroken at how big my children are getting. There is always the exhausted mommy part of me that is excited to get back into the routine and have a few hours of peace and quiet, but the disappointment still looms. I have to make a conscious effort to beat the back to school blues for myself and my children. Below you will find a few of my favorite ways to beat the back to school blues: End the summer with a bang and have...
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Who Taught Him That?
One day after church, our family joined another for lunch. As we lingered after the meal, I shared a funny story about my young son. I had taken the boys to the doctor. As part of the overall physical, the doctor had my five-year-old lie face-down on the table, at which point the doctor gently pushed on my son’s lower back. The doctor’s efforts were rewarded. His pressure on my son’s back resulted in a release of intestinal pressure. After a sound that out-decibeled any whoopie cushion, the room had a certain lingering reminder of the event. “Well, that works,” I said. This story, of course, brought much laughter to our after dinner gathering. Someone at the table remarked, “It’s just like when someone says, ‘pull my finger.’” My son replied, “That doesn’t work you know, I’ve tried it.” Again, we burst out laughing. My son had no idea what we were laughing at, but that didn’t matter to him. He loved to make people laugh so he was happy to have been the source of merriment. But I was intrigued. The “pull my finger” thing wasn’t something I had ever used, nor was I familiar with any of my family using the joke. Later I asked him, “Where did you hear that?” As...
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Consistency: So Hard but So Important
We know consistency is essential in our responses to our children, but it’s so hard! Consistency can be defined as “conformity with previous practice; agreement with what has already been done.” When we are inconsistent in the area of disciplining our children, we give them a consequence for a misbehavior on some occasions and ignore the same wrongdoing other times or become angry and give too strong a consequence. Consistency also can be defined as “the predictability of a...
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Math Storytelling
September 25th is Math Storytelling Day. Math is part of what we study in school. It’s amazing how numbers can be part of a story (The Three Little Pigs) and how often numbers are used in the Bible. Ten Commandment, twelve disciples, three persons in one God, a forty-day flood, and other numbers are part of familiar Bible stories. Jesus told a story about two sons, one who said, “No” and the other said, “Yes.” But then they each...
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Pointers for Parent/Teacher Conferences
Hopefully you and your family have settled into the new school-year routine! Before you know it, parent/teacher conference time will be here. Here are a few tips to prepare you for that day. Here’s the deal. You have 15-20 minutes to speak about or hear everything you need to know about how your student is progressing. Perhaps you’d like to ponder a few pointers to maximize the use of those precious moments. Be positive and prayed up. Be prepared. Think of questions...
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Hold My Hand
“Mommy?” Charity whispered into the dark still night. “Hold my hand.” I felt the soft skin of her little hand slide smoothly into mine. It fit perfectly, like it was meant to be there. The connection reached straight into my mommy heart. Together we picked our way through the rocky path toward the warm light of the house window. Conscious of that little hand warming mine I thought how soon she would grow out of this dependence. Will I...
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Who is Labeling Our Kids?
School is back in session and even if the majority of learning takes place at home—our kids are subject to new influences and influencers on a daily basis. We do our best to make sure those who come in contact with our kids have a positive effect, but we can’t always be there to protect them. One of the most difficult things for me as a parent is when someone else applies a label to my child. Labels are...
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