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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
The Art of Talking Back
One of my daughters, might have had the advantage of most lawyers at age two. By the time she turned ten, she could befuddle my brain to the place where not only did I forget the point of my argument, I couldn’t even remember for which side I fought. As parents we did our best to refine this less-finer aspect of her character—the art of dispute. It was not easy. The Apostle Paul, addressing the much bigger issue of Israel’s rejection and God’s justice, reminds his readers of our propensity to bicker and want our own way. “But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” Romans 9:20 (NIV). “But you said if I cleaned my room, I could stay up later,” she whined. It sounded like an echo in my ear. “Why does she get to have more chocolate?” “How come he gets to watch TV?” “Why do I have to do the dishes? It’s his turn.” Talk-back is unacceptable to God, preposterous, like clay to a potter. “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” The word Paul used in Romans 9 is...
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The Hope of Lent
Lent is a time to remember Jesus chose to die for us and that meant He would suffer. It’s also a time for hope and remembering Jesus rose. That gives us hope all year. We can hope as we pray, and we need hope when we’re sad or to face tough days During lent, read scriptures on hope as well as ones related to Jesus giving his life for us. Put these verses or references on slips of paper to fill a little hope chest. Add in symbols that are reminders of the road to the cross and resurrection—such as a little nail, thorn, and more. When you need hope, pull out a verse to read and an object. Then thank God for hope and replace the items in the chest. Scriptures on hope: Hebrews 6:19 Romans 15:13 Romans 8:28 Romans 8:39 Romans 5:5 Scriptures on death, resurrection of Jesus: Luke 23:33 Matthew 27:50,54 1 Peter 3:18 John 11:25-26 Luke 24:5-6 Make a hope chest: Cover a box to make a hope chest. Or check on Pinterest for patterns to make a folded paper treasure box. Or buy a wooden chest at a craft store. Decorate the chest and start filling it. Symbols: Nail – Mark 15:27 Grass or small flower-praying in garden Matthew...
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Don’t Bypass God
I waited in the game room at church for Grace to come out of her Wednesday evening activities. Her weekday school teacher, Miss Wanda, was in the same room and she and I chatted while we passed the time until Grace and her class were dismissed. It wasn’t long until we heard the children coming down the hall. The adults turned toward the door. I smiled when I saw Grace come around the corner. “Hey, Grace!” I said as...
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Love When It Hurts
With tears streaming from her eyes, Kristina ran from the bus into my arms, devastated by the remarks of a friend. Jessie had said some very cruel things. When her words were spent, I asked how she would respond. She was puzzled, not knowing what to say. Silently praying for wisdom, I recognized this opportunity to teach these sixth graders how to handle conflict, not only now, but when it strikes the families they build in the future. I...
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White-Knuckled Prayers
“Dear God, gank You for cars and dump trucks and street sweepers. And most of all, gank You for Jesus, Your Son, who died for our sins. Amen.” Before “amen” finished rolling off his tongue, my three-year-old firecracker began shoveling food into his mouth much like the dump trucks—which he so reverently lifted up in prayer—might slide mounds of dirt into a bottomless pit. When my son paused from filling his hollow legs with pasta, he took a breath...
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Lessons from a People-Mover
It’s funny what kids remember. “Mama, remember the time when we sat next to the elevator and ate a cookie?” My son smiled as he repeated the story. He must have been four or five when we took that afternoon outing to the mall. We started out at the play place, then headed to the food court for a candy-filled cookie, sitting next to the glassed-in elevator as we ate. My little man stared in awe. I marveled that...
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Laughter in the Laundry
I recently opened my washing machine to discover the load I just washed also contained a $10.00 bill, a pen, and a leftover ticket stub. Obviously, I washed more than clothes. I was literally “laundering money!” Has your laundry ever produced the same results? You open the door to discover that your children’s and husband’s pockets contained items from their busy week; pencils, crayons, stickers and sticky notes, business cards, quarters, and maybe even an expired pizza coupon! It’s...
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