Dawn Benson Jones

Growing Deep Roots of Faith for an Enduring Legacy

Tag: Community

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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toddler feature

5 Lessons My Toddler Teaches Me About God Every Single Day

February 10, 2018 /

Guest Post by Deanne Welsh

One of the greatest lessons God has taught me over the past several months is the  power of community. None of us have all of the solutions to the issues we face in our lives, nor do we possess all of the knowledge about topics that have the ability to change and enrich our lives, but when we work together in community, we can make great strides towards growing into the people God would have us to be. I am blessed to say that Deanne Welsh is an integral part of both my writing and parenting communities. She is a tremendous source of knowledge, wisdom, and inspiration. I want to personally thank her for sharing this powerful post. Enjoy!

I call it his dictator power.

He knows what he wants and declares it loudly and boldly. If he is met with opposition, he digs in and demands, cries and forces his way forward. He is an unstoppable force.

I do my best to stand strong, reminding myself that I am the mother and thus in charge. Reminding myself to be gentle, he is little even though his willpower is not.

At night I fall into bed, exhausted by the constant battery of demands having repeated the mantra in my mind, “stay strong, stay consistent” hundreds of times along with, “it’s not personal, take a deep breath.”

I hope my attempts at consistency are enough to raise my child.

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2018

Exciting News for 2018

January 6, 2018 /

I hope 2018 is off to a great start for you and your family!

God really began opening some doors for me at the end of 2017, and those opportunities have led to some incredible plans for 2018 that I would like to share with you.

First, my Dawn Benson Jones – Faith & Family website officially launched last month. 

Beginning Saturday, January 13th I will be sharing my new devotional series Last House Standing. Each weekend a new devotional in the series will be posted on the website. However, I would strongly suggest signing up to receive the devotionals delivered straight to your inbox each week so you don’t miss a thing. For your convenience, I have included a sign-up form below:

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