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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
I Am with You
Recently I’ve said final good-byes to too many dear friends. Some separations I anticipated after difficult illnesses. Others left quite suddenly. In each one the same words, “with Jesus,” announced the home-going. I’ve contemplated those two words, running them over the empty place left behind and pondering on the exquisite going forward they promise. Few words offer such comfort and hope. For surely, tragic as it is to be separated from this earth, to be with Jesus is far better. With is a powerful thing. “Come with me,” she tugged at my hand. I looked down at her upturned face, ski-jump nose and pig tails. “Pleeeease.” We walked together, her hand safe in mine. I reached to get the balloon she could have easily gotten on her own and bent down to wrap its string around her wrist. Her delight smiled into my heart. “Stay with me, don’t leave,” he said tucked into his airplane pajamas with the big hole in the knee. Downstairs clean-up called me. I heard its voice beckoning, “wash me, put me away, finish what you started.” Even though the words called loudly, a much softer whisper from his bed tugged dearer. Light from the half open door split the dark room like a bright triangle. It lit the bed...
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Changing Leaves
Fall is my favorite time of the year. It’s not only the change in weather from hot and humid to cool and crisp, but the beauty of the season that stirs my soul. Our family has always loved driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains and marveling at the myriad of colors found on the trees. When I consider my love of fall, it almost seems out of character. I am a person who detests change—in almost all instances. Yet the season marked by change is the one I like best. As I considered autumn one year, I decided to research what it was that made the leaves turn. What I learned became a turning point for me, and for the way I pray for my children. I discovered that the intensity and brilliance of the colors is virtually unaffected by the amount of stress the tree has suffered during the previous season, as long as it has plenty of rain at just the right time. That knowledge stopped me in my tracks, as God immediately began to apply its spiritual truth to my life. It didn’t matter how great the trial, as long as I looked to Him for provision, I could come through triumphant. Inevitably, I began to think about people around me...
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Take the Chill Off with Warm Family Fun
And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 ESV The calendar ushered October in with slightly cooler temperatures, and hints of autumn surround us. Celebrate a new season with warm, family activities all month long. Take in a high school football game, collect fallen leaves on a family walk, visit a church’s fall festival, and take frequent drives in the country to watch...
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Walking Through Grief with Children
As much as we want to wrap our children in a bubble of only flowers and rainbows, it’s simply not possible. Much to our dismay, they will experience hardships and heartache. They will experience grief. It is our responsibility as parents to walk with them through their grief, teaching them strategies to cope. If we don’t have strong strategies in place ourselves for coping with grief and loss, it’s going to be even more difficult to pass those on...
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Need Courage Today?
Teenagers waiting on the school bus shouldn’t cause you to shake in your boots…or well, walking shoes in my case. And I didn’t really shake. But I did have an argument with God. I risked disobedience. I was soaking up the sunshine and being refreshed by the cool breezes as I took my morning walk. It’s the norm to pray for neighbors as I pass their homes, or strangers that I observe along the way. Sometimes I even tell...
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Praying for My Child’s School
Children and school just seem to go together. Although, school looks very different today than when I was a child. Sometimes it’s held online, or at home, or through a co-op. But however it takes place, it’s an integral part of being a kid. And it’s something we need to bathe in prayer. Many of our ideas about ourselves and others grow out of the experiences we have in school. Sometimes these are positive and affirming, other times ....
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Study in Style
God made you special, including the way you learn best. Read Psalm 139 about how he created you in your mother’s womb. Part of you being special is the way you learn. You are wired to learn best in one of six ways, called learning styles. You can even consider these learning styles as you choose a Bible. Check them out to find your style and try the ideas that will help you learn best. Auditory (learns by...
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