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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
Affirmation at the Top of the World
This is a very old story, but it involves fifteen seconds worth remembering. Many years ago, I made an extremely wise decision and married a wonderful young lady. Part of our honeymoon was a visit to Walt Disney World. We splurged and stayed in a nice room on-site. At dinnertime, we rode the elevator to the top floor to fulfill our reservation to dine in the “Top of the World” restaurant. There we enjoyed a tasty meal and an...
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Please Go to Sleep!
“Not again! It’s your turn,” mom says to dad. “I put her back to bed three times while you were in the bathroom. You get the next three!” Nothing can be more frustrating than looking forward to that small break between their bedtime and yours, only to realize that, instead, you are called on for even greater patience, skill, and inexhaustible energy to keep them there. Usually this challenge starts when your little ones realize they have the power....
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Little Cards for Tuck-Me-In Time
Bedtime had arrived for our preschooler, Kim. She reached under her pillow the moment she jumped into bed. Then, wearing a wide grin, she retrieved and opened a zip-locked bag stuffed with little cards. Each card featured one question. “What does it say?” she’d ask, handing the card of her choice to her dad. One evening the question read, What’s the best way to eat spaghetti? “With my hands,” Kim answered. “Why not chopsticks?” asked her dad. “No, not chopsticks,” said...
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Decision Making
Our country made many decisions to fight a virus this year, and we make decisions every day. Chat about decision making. Before making a decision, do the math: Ask, will my decision add + joy to someone’s life? subtract – sin or temptation in my life? multiply ´ love or opportunity to share Christ with others? divide ¸ my time with God? If the first three answers come up yes and the...
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Always Make a Nest
I’m feeling un-nested these days, or maybe up-nested. In the middle of Covid-19 we are moving to a new house. It is unnerving and uprooting in about a thousand ways. While I pack boxes and the world shouts “stay at home,” nature outside my door flourishes. An ex-robin’s nest dangles hanging threads of straw above the deck where we make our temporary home. We feel in limbo between the old house and the new. The apartment we are in...
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Parenting IS the Most Important Work
“So, what do you do all day?” Who knew that this one simple question could raise my blood pressure so quickly? My guard goes up, my impenetrable armor clinks into place, and my well-rehearsed (yet somehow still frazzled) response rises to my lips. I begin listing off all the other things that I do. The words that come tumbling out of my mouth at times sound forced, as if I’m trying to convince myself as well as my listener that I am doing...
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A Dozen Ways to Ruin Your Kids
A young punk was observed on the subway one morning. The teen wouldn’t give up his seat so an older lady could sit down. He was rude to the people around him. And then, because she wasn’t fast enough at exiting the train, he knocked a woman out of the way. My friend who’d witnessed the scene was floored by the young man’s actions, but unfortunately, things like that happen all the time—and often the blame goes back to...
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