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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
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Most Recent Articles
What is the Purpose of Your Face?
Friday nights are a favorite around our house. After running full speed all week, each family member looks forward to an evening of doing nothing. Well, not really nothing. We do have plans, but they’re fun plans, plans to stop everything and enjoy just being together. Most of the time, this means gathering in the living room for a family movie night (because anything else requires too much energy for this worn-out mom.) One of our favorite movies is the DreamWorks film Home, about an unlikely friendship between a loveable alien and a scared little girl. At one point in the movie, as they’re looking for the girl’s mom, she becomes furious with her new friend. Confused by her angry expression, he asks in his awkward alien verbiage, “What is the purpose of your face?” He knows her look means something – he’s just not sure what (though she quickly fills him in!) Like the main character in Home, our faces have a lot to say, and their words speak loud and clear. As we go about our day, our kids watch our faces and subconsciously ask the same question – “What is the purpose of your face?” Let’s be sure we’re communicating what we want them to hear: “You’re important to me” Every...
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Without Apology
I stood before my mini-version. Blonde hair curled at the shoulders, bright blue eyes sparkled, and a pleased smile lighted her face. Behind her on the wall splashed brilliant colors in what undoubtedly could hang as a Picasso in an art gallery, but instead it splashed all over my living room wall. She was that daughter, the one who could make me tear my hair out one minute and laugh until tears ran the next. She brought out in me a lot of emotions I’d never encountered before, some shameful and ridiculous. Her “Who? Me?” innocence radiated from wide eyes and poured into the silence like audible questions. While I stared at my wall, a battle raged Inside. One side desired a mommy temper tantrum to dwarf all others, and another told me to calmly sit her down in front of her masterpiece and deliver an appropriate dose of discipline. No one had to tell me which was right. I knew. No one needed to instruct me which side of my internal war was wrong. Inside my turmoil, one had the upper hand right then and although natural, it was not the better of the two. In that eye-to-eye split second I had a choice to make. “You can always apologize later,” something inside...
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Praying for My Child to Flunk Math
“For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9 (HCSB) Math is not my strong suit and it never has been. It was the subject I struggled with the most during my school years. But I’ve recently discovered that my view of God is filtered through an algebraic mind-set. And when I first noticed the signs, I went into immediate denial. There was no way...
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Happy 4th of July!
Happy 4th of July from all of us at Just 18 Summers. Enjoy some fun family time. Celebrate our country. Take some photos. Make some memories. And thank God for the blessing of being an...
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God’s Not Done with You Yet
I recently spent the weekend at a women’s retreat and the theme was “Under Construction.” It was a powerful message reminding us of God’s work in us and in our lives. He never stops working. We’re never too far gone that He sees fit to simply discard us. God’s not done with us yet.God will never be done with us. This message resonated in the deepest part of my being and I felt an overwhelming peace with it. What...
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Life’s a Picnic in July
He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love. Song of Solomon 2:4 KJV July 2nd marks the halfway point of the year, and July 15th is the halfway point of the summer. How are those days shaping up for your family? Have you enjoyed half of the summertime fun you’d planned? Never fear – you still have plenty of time to enjoy fun in the sun for summer 2019. Be intentional to squeeze...
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Nonverbal Lessons
Recently our city had an outdoor fair at a park downtown. It was a beautiful, sunshiny day so we decided to take the children. When we walked in the entrance to the park, one organization was handing out kites. Another was handing out helicopter spinners. Another provided sidewalk chalk. The park was the perfect setting. The children had looked at the helicopter spinners and didn’t quite know what to do with them. Helicopter spinners are straight sticks attached to...
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