Parents instill appetites in their children. We know it’s generally true with foods. I didn’t grow up eating: Russian goulash Thai peanut chicken over a bed of sprouts & star fruit for dessert Ethiopian injera I did grow up eating: pancakes tacos spaghetti Even as an adult, while I might occasionally try something new, or discover…
Category: Grow as Mom
5 Ways You Need To Be Honest With Yourself
It’s New Year’s Eve– the time for self-evaluation, promises, and resolutions. The problem? Most of those goals go unmet & forgotten. 25% of New Year’s resolutions are abandoned within a WEEK. I’m convinced that a large part of that “failure” rate is that we aren’t honest with ourselves about our real life limitations BEFORE we set…
Most Popular Articles of 2014: Year In Review
2014 was my first year of writing at JessConnell.com. Since we’ve nearly reached the year’s end, I thought I’d do a quick “year in review,” to give you the opportunity to read any articles of interest that you may have missed. In January, I released my first book, One Thing: Top Tip (From a Mom of 6). It’s…
A Willing, Yielded Heart
One of the surprising things, to me, about the Christmas story, is the way Joseph & Mary’s hearts yield themselves to God. Mary submits… despite her age despite her singleness despite the challenges it would mean for her despite the judgment of her community Joseph submits… despite the way things would look despite the “cost”…
Convictions & Choices, part 2: What to Do When We Hold Opposite Perspectives?
In this series about convictions, we’ve talked about: Not doing something to prove people wrong, and Not doing something because other people do it. And in that last article, we left off at that pesky place where we come to a different conviction than someone else in the Body of Christ. So what do we…
Convictions & Choices, part 1: Don’t Do It Because “They” Do
We recently talked about not doing something “just to prove them wrong.” Today I want to talk about the flip side: Don’t embrace a conviction just because others do. Just as the world often goes along with lifestyle decisions because of the people around them, Christians sometimes take on the convictions of others around us without…
Don’t Do It To Prove Them Wrong
Over the years, I’ve heard something offered occasionally that I think is a terrible motivation for living life and making choices for yourself or your family, and it is this: “You get out there and show ’em. Do it well and prove them wrong.” It can play out in a wide variety of ways in our…
Are You Ignoring Your Mommy Radar?
Over the years, in myself and others, I’ve observed a tendency toward laziness as moms. I’m not talking about laziness in how we clean, decorate, dress our children, or save money for our family. No, in those ways we can be quite purposeful and diligent. What I mean is this: many of us tend to lazily overlook the…
“The (On-Going) Talk” (Talking With Your Kids About Sex, From Ages 2 to 5)
This is my third article in a series about talking with your kids about sex. Here are the others: Is It Biblical to Teach Our Kids About Sex? The (On-Going) Talk (Talking With Your Kids About Sex, From Birth to Age 2) The reason this series is “The (On-Going) Talk” is because I believe this is not meant…
I Am Just a White Mom
I am just a white mom. This is what goes through my head as I think about the recent race-centered wounds in our country. I am just a white mom. I’m scared to even write about this. I feel inadequate and not strong enough. What can I do? I don’t have the soul strength to “lift” the…