Healthy Teen FriendshipsAs part of my job, I speak a couple of times a month to parent groups. One of my most attended sessions is about helping your teenager navigate relationships.As you’ve probably seen in your own house, high school relationships are hard. The stakes are higher now. Your teenager is navigating friend break-ups, learning...Continue Reading
The artic blast this week gave our family one gift: time together. The day off was a nice moment to reconnect—and clean out our teenagers’ rooms. They were thrilled. Ha. Cleaning out closets is an archeological dig through their past goals and passions. Remember those years of softball? Tennis? Learning the guitar? Your Etsy era?...Continue Reading
The Answer is Not Gift Cards What are you getting your high schooler for Christmas? I’m buying gifts for my 4 teenagers and feeling cynical about what they really need. Their Christmas lists are a repeat of last year. Airpods. Make-up. Video games. Gift cards-ugh. But what would really help them? What would help all of...Continue Reading
October Newsletter Are You Valuable? Teenagers Ask This Question… I coach high school students. This means I sit across from them and listen carefully as they talk about their goals, struggles, and hopes for the future. My role is to ask great questions, pay attention to their reactions, and help them move forward. Here’s what...Continue Reading
We went to the woods… Last month, I chaperoned a freshmen retreat at our high school. For three days, 100 of us lived differently—in cabins, walking miles across the camp, eating meals together at long tables, challenging ourselves with archery, rock climbing, and epic games. The most significant challenge? No phones. Suddenly living with each...Continue Reading
Dear Lord…. Here we are, God. Year 2. Lord, You keep working Your perfect plan, and I continue to be grateful. Thank You for being with Catie through freshman year, God. You were right there with her—through the nights she stayed out with new friends and the days when she was homesick and weary. Through...Continue Reading
Thank you, sir, for this Summer of Ping Pong. The hundreds of games we played together (ping! pong! ping! pong!) set the summer tone. You are bouncing between full-teenager (your first phone & mission trip) and full-kid. This was a hard summer to be the baby of our family. You hate feeling left behind as...Continue Reading
Dear Elisabeth (on your first day of 10th grade)… Today, two of your teachers announced that theirs is the hardest class in high school. For the rest of us, this warning would worry us. But you love a challenge. Love it. Case in point, lifeguarding defined your summer. You heard the city pool needed guards, and the...Continue Reading
Before you book a VRBO or AirBnB, here are 5 lessons we’ve learned as owners. 1. Read the Reviews (Carefully) Everyone reads the reviews before they book. But the reviews on VRBO and AirBnB are complicated because not all of them are accurate. After you check out of a rental, the owners receive a survey...Continue Reading
This year, I’ve traveled over thousands of miles, all over the United States, to lead women’s retreats. Every place I go, I see the same need. Women are starving for real, face-to-face connection. Over and over, they share stories about feeling lonely and stuck–and they’re looking for answers. A women’s retreat is the answer. Here’s where women...Continue Reading
