Showing results by publisher "Thomas Nelson" in Parenting & Families

Life is chaotic. But we can choose to live it differently. It doesn’t always feel like it, but we do have the freedom to creatively change the everyday little things in our lives so that our path better aligns with our values and passions. The popular blogger and founder of the internationally recognized Simple Mom online community tells the story of her family’s ongoing quest to live more simply, fully, and intentionally. It’s a risky ride, but it’s worth it - living your life according to who you really are simply takes a little intention. It’s never too late.

This take on everything toddler—from throwing food to potty training to massive toddler fits—is filled with sanity-saving advice every mom wants to hear. Moms will be entertained and encouraged by the amusing anecdotes and godly advice of this comprehensive, topical approach to parenting one- and two-year-olds.

Anna Lind Thomas wants everyone to just calm down and give her a minute, okay? She's not ready for this! In fact, through her latest collection of laugh-out-loud essays, she'll prove she's never been ready for anything in her life. Adult decisions, marriage, parenting, crow's feet, large pores, skinny jeans--you name it, she ain't ready for it! Don't even get her started on that one time she appeared on national TV in a blazer two sizes too small because she thought she'd lose twenty pounds before the shoot. Good grief, she just wasn't ready!

Inheriting Clutter gives you practical, effective steps for liquidating and distributing your parents’ assets in a way that both honors them and promotes family harmony for generations to come.

All Janine Urbaniak Reid ever wanted was for everyone she loved to be okay so she might relax and maybe be happy. Her life strategy was simple: do everything right. This included trying to be the perfect mother to her three kids so they would never experience the kind of pain she pretended not to feel growing up. What she didn’t expect was the chaos of an out-of-control life that begins when her young son’s hand begins to shake.

That’s the real life story of country music star Jimmy Wayne. It’s a miracle that Jimmy survived being hungry and homeless, bouncing in and out of the foster care system, and sleeping in the streets. But he didn’t just overcome great adversity in his life; he now uses his country music platform to help children everywhere, especially teenagers in foster care who are about to age out of the system. Walk to Beautiful is the powerfully emotive account of Jimmy’s horrendous childhood and the love shown him by Russell and Bea Costner, the elderly couple who gave him a stable home and provided the chance to complete his education. Jimmy says of Bea, “She changed every cell in my body.”

When things go horribly wrong and the world seems to be unraveling, how do you believe in God's goodness? How do you cling to hope? Chad Veach directs listeners away from clichéd Sunday school answers that fail to offer real comfort or provide faith-building insights. Instead he draws from God's promises in the Bible and from the story of his own daughter's diagnosis of a devastating and debilitating disease to reveal simple, purposeful steps for dealing with pain.

After her only son was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Carol’s life took a permanent detour. She and her husband have been adjusting ever since, moving to Florida to be near the prison, starting a new ministry for prison inmates and their families, and sharing the faithfulness of God with anyone who will listen.

In Unsinkable, you will follow Abby into the depths through a gripping and evocative firsthand account that starts prior to her departure, travels through her daring (and sometimes near-death) encounters on the open sea, to her dramatic rescue in the remotest part of the Indian Ocean. Today, when the most productive thing a teenager may do is play videogames, Abby's courage and tenacity shows us all what can happen when we choose to challenge our own limits, embrace faith, and aim for what our critics say is impossible.

Listeners of Take Back Your Family were moved by Jefferson Bethke's eye-opening insights about the harm caused by idealizing the "nuclear family" in our culture. He challenged listeners to discover and live by God's original and better plan for families as described in the Bible. Now, in the accompanying Take Back Your Family Handbook, he provides inspirational exercises and interactive tools for families to put that biblical truth into real-life practice.

With All Due Respect is a handbook for parents navigating the difficulties of the tween and teen years. Roesner and Hitchcock help parents identify what successful relationships look like and give easy-to-follow lessons in enforcing rules, communicating lovingly, resetting relationships, overcoming fears and exhaustion, and handling rebellion. Each day features a story every mom can relate to, down-to-earth questions to think about, and a prayer to launch an action plan.

There are many jokes about the difficulties of raising a teenager, but beneath these jokes parents are hurting and feeling helpless while their teens are navigating extraordinary cultural challenges unlike anything faced by previous generations. Teens are feeling more isolated, anxious, and depressed. But how can we help them effectively navigate social challenges when we don't have the social skills to communicate authentically with dignity and compassion? How do we create safe spaces in a seemingly unsafe world?

"If you aim your children at anything less than greatness, you'll set them up to miss the whole point of their lives," says author Tim Kimmel. In Raising Kids for True Greatness, Kimmel turns the definition of success on its head and guides you in preparing your child for a life that will easily eclipse the goals of those who are merely successful.

Packed with 10 essential parenting strategies, Clinton and Sibcy help parents understand the strengths and weaknesses of parenting styles, and offer a proven method for raising healthy, happy, well-balanced kids.

The inspirational story of an American woman who moved mountains to secure medical treatments - and eventually a home - for a young Iraqi girl severely burned in a roadside terror attack. This is a story of the astonishing power of self-sacrificial love.

Kathy Izard was a graphic designer, wife, mother of four daughters, and volunteer at Charlotte’s Urban Ministry Center when an unlikely meeting with formerly homeless author Denver Moore changed the course of her life. Inspired by Denver’s challenge to do more than serve in this soup kitchen, Kathy quit her job to take on what seemed like an unimaginable task in her second half of life - to build housing for Charlotte’s homeless.

Until two years of age, Craig and Samantha’s son Connor was just like other kids - playful, verbal, and affectionate. Then everything changed. He stopped talking, displayed behavioral problems, and withdrew into his own world. The official diagnosis - autism. Faced with seemingly insurmountable odds, Craig and Samantha refused to believe a meaningful life for Connor was impossible. God confirmed their faith by revealing to Craig that Connor would one day touch the lives of thousands of people around the world.

Read by the author! Our children, spouses, parents, and friends may know we love them, but how often do they hear it from us? Through letters to his daughters that feel personal to all of us, John Sowers encourages us to release these unspoken words of love so there are no doubts in our relationships nor regrets in our lives.

Every young boy dreams about growing up to be his vision of a man, but what does that look like? What is manhood, really, and how do guys get there? For some boys their dreams are to be an astronaut, a fireman, or a professional athlete. When Lou Holtz told Tim Brown he might be the best football player he'd ever seen it started Tim on a fast track to the Heisman Trophy and playing sixteen seasons for the Los Angeles and Oakland Raiders. While Tim quickly achieved athletic success, he had to work harder off the field to live a life of honor and integrity—two essential cornerstones of manhood.

Popular writer and blogger Kara Lawler shows women how to embrace the sacred in mundane, ordinary life - and in the process, discover themselves. Life doesn't have to be lived on grand mountaintops for it to be meaningful. We can see God at work right where we are: in our ordinary and mundane routines, in the faces of our family and friends, and - especially - in nature. Kara Lawler speaks to the hearts of those who find themselves lost in the midst of their chaotic schedules and weary attempts to be all that is expected of them.