Dawn Benson Jones

Growing Deep Roots of Faith for an Enduring Legacy

Category: Teens

expectations

Do Hard Things: A Review with a Challenge

June 3, 2018 /

The Hard Truth about Do Hard Things

As soon as one of the girls from my small group sang the praises of Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations, I knew I had to read it. After all, how could I go wrong with something that inspired so much enthusiasm in a teen? However, once I started reading it, I ended up getting much more than I bargained for.

Though Do Hard Things was originally written by teens to teens, I was struck by how much parents can benefit from the wisdom and insight offered in the book. In fact, I have to admit that I was really convicted by much of what I read. In particular, the following quote pulled me right up out of my seat, placed me squarely in front of my mirror, and challenged me to take a long, hard look.

“For all of us, expectations are a self-fulfilling prophecy.”  –Do Hard Things: A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations, Pg.41

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Kids

What Your Kids Really Want

April 7, 2018 /

Do you ever feel like you work hard to give your kids everything they could ever want or need, but somehow they don’t seem to appreciate it?

If we’re honest, I would venture to guess that a majority of us have felt like this at one point or another. We sacrifice our time, our health, and sometimes even our families themselves, yet it never seems to be enough. We run ourselves ragged and come away with nothing to show for it. This leaves us frustrated and unfulfilled and also leads to discord in our families.

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Parenting Your Teen Through Chaos and Crisis Patty Scott Interview

Parenting Your Teen Through Chaos & Crisis: An Interview with Patty Scott

March 11, 2018 /

Introduction

I recently was blessed with the opportunity to interview my friend Patty Scott about her new book Parenting Your Teen Through Chaos & Crisis. Here Patty opens up about what propelled her to write on such an important topic, and she also shares some of her best parenting advice. Enjoy!

Q:  I know that you recently wrote the book Parenting Your Teen Through Chaos & Crisis. Would you mind providing a short synopsis of what the book is about?

A:  Yes, thank you.  The book grew out of a desire to bless moms of teens.  I realized, as a mother of my own teen, that we can fall into various patterns of thinking and reacting.  I wanted to help women release the guilt we sometimes feel as moms and to replace that with healthy ways of seeing ourselves and interacting with our family.  In the book I show parents how to move into a role of effective influence in their adolescent’s life.  I talk about how to allow and choose consequences that will make a difference.  The book also covers how to have a healthy relationship by remaining appropriately connected to your teenager while simultaneously letting them go so they can grow. I close the book by emphasizing the importance of having systems of support in our lives as moms and give examples of good places to find that support.  I share a number of simple and practical approaches throughout the book.  The book is written with a spirit of hope, encouraging moms that they can survive and even thrive through this stage of motherhood.  I wish I could sit face to face with each of the readers, hearing their story of motherhood.  Short of that, this book is my way of sitting down and sharing friend to friend.

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