Family Strong Project

Staycation vs Vacation: Making Memories at Home or Afar

blog Jul 29, 2023

Summertime is here! The hustle of the school year has gone away, the schedule is more or less out the window and the kids are spending more time playing outside.

So what are your plans before heading back to school? Does your family have a big beach trip coming up? Or maybe a week at Disney? Or what about a staycation?

My question to you is, does the destination even matter?

My short answer is, no! Summer is a chance for some real quality family time, no matter the place!

**The idea behind a “vacation” is being intentional with your time and who you spend your time with.**

Our family planned a staycation for Thanksgiving a few years ago and it is still one of my favorite memories. We let the kids pick the activities they wanted to do which involved a late night game of laser tag and dinner out as a family. Which doesn’t happen often!

Also, the couch we had ordered 11...

Do Technology Rules Apply on Vacation?

blog Jul 29, 2023

Does your family have rules about tech time? How much? How often? Where can it be used? I’d venture to guess that your family has some sort of rule structure for technology use in your home.

Now my next question is, do those rules apply on vacation?

As an adult, when I think about time away, I typically picture a beach, my kids playing in the sand and a book in my hand. But let’s be real, family vacations rarely look that picturesque! Relaxing, destressing, and forgetting about my To Do list are usually my priorities when I’m on vacation! And I can’t be the only one! But that can be hard to do when you have three kids. Sitting at the beach comes with the stress of making sure they aren’t out too far, they don’t drown, they don’t walk away, etc. etc! When we head back to the room, is usually when I find the most rest!

That becomes the time when I’m not...

Summer Screen Time: How to Find a Balance

blog Jun 19, 2023

Can we just be honest for a moment? It is really hard to go through summer without screens becoming the main event.

Recently, I have had the opportunity to work from home. And in my mind I thought, “this is going to be great. I will have the flexibility to pick my kids up from school, get them home so they can start doing their daily responsibilities, maybe throw a load of laundry in the washing machine every now and then, and be on top of dinner preparation.” You know, help my family run a little more smoothly, especially with two working parents.

Turns out, having your children home with you when you’re trying to work, is an actual disaster.

My daughter loves coming into my office anytime she hears me on a zoom call, both kids struggle to find things to do, they’re bickering with one another, and then need full-time supervision.

Sometimes, I totally give in and I turn them over to the digital babysitter a.k.a. any electronic...

What to do when your kids say, "I'm Bored."

blog May 31, 2023

When our kids say they are bored, our immediate response is: It's good to be bored!

Well, just keep scrolling, all the way to the bottom, because I have the perfect solution for you!

I know you know how it goes: Mom, I have nothing to do. Mom, I am bored. Mom, mom, mom!

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When my kids start this, I no longer get frustrated. I simply remind them, it's good to be bored. I assure them, they will find something to do. And sure enough, within a few minutes, they are busy making a shark out of cardboard, finding rocks in the dirt, playing basketball outside, or creating some other adventure.

Yes, there are times when they nag to the point where I want to scream inside. But I take a breath, and offer a couple of suggestions sometimes, but the overall message is that it is good for them to be bored. It's good for them to have to make their own fun, rather than expect me to entertain them. When it's up to them to find something to do, they exercise their brains, get creative...

3 Ways to Move From Lazy Love to Faithful Love in your Marriage

blog Oct 29, 2021

Do you ever feel like your spouse loves you, but it's a lazy love? Only showing love when his own love tank is full? Or he only does the bare minimum--just enough to keep things going, but you feel like you're mostly running the show solo? It's highly frustrating and feels unfair doesn't it?

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But before we gather up his things and send him off to couch-ville, I want us to really check in. Here are 3 ways we can move from Lazy Love to Faithful Love in our marriage.

#1 Are we loving our spouse without judgement?

It is totally in our nature to point the finger at someone else's flaws before we look at how we can grow ourselves.

Matthew 7: 3-5 says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You...

Digital Binky

blog Oct 07, 2021

How many of us use our devices to avoid things we need to address or take action on? The stress in life can be so intense that we just self-soothe with a few hours of scrolling. But what that does subconsciously is actually more damaging, ultimately releasing more cortisol (stress hormones) and creating inner storms we don't even realize we are creating. This leads to inflammation, headaches, body pain, anxiety, and more stress.

They even have a name for it - doom scrolling.

For some, attachment to phones isn't the issue. There are lots of unhealthy coping strategies out there, but for now let's focus on the issue of turning to our devices to self-soothe, rather than turning to God about our deepest desires.

And as you think about attachment to phones, think about those closest to you as well. Like what about your spouse? Are you noticing your spouse's need to check the social media statuses instead of dealing with something in the home...

Living the Dream

blog Sep 27, 2021

How long have you been married? When did you meet? Were you highschool sweethearts?

I met my husband in Kindergarten and I just loved him!

My love continued to grow and within two years I told my 2nd grade teacher, "I am going to marry Joel Zehnder."

Our friendship continued to grow and in the 6th grade we finally made it official when Joel asked me to be his girlfriend! I was over the moon! Convinced we would never break up and would for sure grow old together…

We dated for one year and one month until he broke up with me because it was summer and he didn't need my help with homework anymore! (He will deny this, but it's true! Ha!)

I never cried so hard.

Luckily, we were able to mend our friendship and remain best friends, giving each other girlfriend/boyfriend advice all through high school and into the early days of college.

Then one night as we were hanging out, and I was totally at peace that we...

Parenting in a Pandemic

blog Sep 16, 2021

As we re-enter this school year, does anyone else feel the unrelenting black cloud of you know what?! Yep, we are going to talk about it. Covid.

I didn’t want to bring it up here, because I'm sure you are TIRED of seeing it everywhere, but after having a personal experience with it in our home, I need to put this out there.

First and foremost, I want to acknowledge the bravery of educators, medical professionals, first responders and everyone who is faced with increased exposure everyday. We need you, our children need you, and if you haven’t heard it lately, we are beyond grateful to you. I continue to pray for your safety, as well as the safety of all of us.

We are a family of five. As I write this, three out of the five of us are Covid positive. One of us is high risk and is still negative, so we are doing our best to distance and wear masks - as we’ve been advised to do.

It has become VERY apparent to me...

Raising Daughters

blog Jul 27, 2021

“I am a daughter of the RISEN King, who is not moved by the world.” - unknown

This phrase is on a plaque in my daughter's room, right above her bed. I ask her often, “do you remember what that says?” (She can’t read yet.)

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To which she replies with incredible confidence, in the sweetest voice, "YEP! I AM THE DAUGHTER OF THE RISEN KING, WHO IS NOT MOVED BY THIS WORLD.”

I pray that she holds this dear to her heart ALWAYS! Because little does she know how much the world will try to shake her and remove her from God’s love for her.

I want her to know that she does not have to rely on herself alone, that there is someone stronger who has risen above it all. That she can cling to that statement, that very spirit--the Holy Spirit--is inside of her, and that’s where she pulls strength from.

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Women of the world today are so strong, and yet on the verge of self-destruction because...

Raising Sons

blog Jun 28, 2021

My mother-in-law raised 4 boys…. FOUR. I have TWO. My husband and I often look at each other and say, "Could you imagine having FOUR?!" HAHA!

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One of my favorite stories is how my mother-in-law came from a family of four girls and how much of a change of pace it was with all those BOYS! I love and adore her so much; do you know why? Because not only was she not afraid to be tough, but she let the boys be BOYS! While I say that, let me not mislead you into thinking she did not have her home under control. She just knew when to put those boys in their place. She recalls my father-in-law saying to her, “Honey, these are a bunch of German boys. Don’t try to reason with them. Be tough, or they’re gonna run you out of town.” And so she did - she led with love but she got tough.

She allowed them time to release energy after school and shoot some basketball hoops before holding them accountable to daily responsibilities like doing their...

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