I jumped the gun… once again…
YES!!! I jumped the gun again…
So back in the dark ages when I was a human resources manager, a friend who worked for me lovingly said, “So you know you have a “ready-fire-aim” approach to um…like everything…? right?”
Um… NO. I didn’t know that.
I tend to think of it a little differently, like I’m “enthusiastically following Jesus!”
So maybe I “jumped the gun” – again.
Or maybe I WAS following Him. I probably won’t know.
Here’s what happened:  Yesterday, when I was bursting with excitement over the release of our new book, (one you should know I collect absolutely NOTHING for $0.00 🙂 all for Him! – so don’t fuss at me about this being “salesy” because that’s not happening – it’s MINISTRY – and to have the largest Christian book publisher do not one, but TWO of our books when we’re not even trained authors and that’s NOT even really what we even DO is 100% God – so don’t get upset with me… I’m feelin’ led and following 🙂 okay… now what was I saying??) and I was lovingly reminded by my co-author, Debbie Hitchcock, who actually pays more attention to details… that the broadcasts are TODAY. 🙂 So if you were paying attention, you got a sneak peek at the interviews – all three of them. if not, then here’s the first one – scroll down for the linky.
We have been told each of them is like a whole book – and it’s a nice compliment to With All Due Respect.
Debbie & I are on FamilyLife Today! radio for three days this week with pastors Dennis Rainey and Bob Lepine. We are thrilled that our trip in March led to this outcome – especially God’s timing! Yesterday was the day our book, With All Due Respect: 40 days to a more fulfilling relationship with your teens & tweens launched around the continent.
You may be familiar with FamilyLife – they are the Weekend to Remember folks, an awesome conference for married people. Jim & have been a number of times, and consider it a “tune up” for our marriage. I highly recommend it. If you are interested in learning more and finding a city near you, check this!
For Dads & Husbands:
Just two more things – I get asked a lot by people who take Daughters of Sarah (usually the husbands, “I’m so inspired by what God’s done in my wife, I want to grow myself and be a better man for her and my family,” is what I hear) “What can I do?” And I answer with “Stepping Up: a Call to Courageous Manhood,” it’s a book and course by Dennis Rainey – I hope you will encourage the men in your lives to check it out. Bob & Dennis wrote a book together called The Christian Husband. It’s also seriously worth a read.
Today’s Episode:
At any rate, here’s the first of three episodes, where Dennis and Debbie talk in depth about prodigals – and how to cope with some of the most painful parenting experiences out there. Please share this with those you know who are hurting.
When you are done listening, I’d love to know what you thought, or interact over struggles you have, and be able to lift you up in prayer today, right here on the blog. And remember to sign up for the FREE marriage and parenting tips and downloads in the sidebar. 🙂
Love to you,
Nina
With All Due Respect: Parenting as  a Child of the King –  episode 1 of 3 on FamilyLife Today!
“. . . .– and to have the largest Christian book publisher do not one, but TWO of our books when we’re not even trained authors and that’s NOT even really what we even DO is 100% God – so don’t get upset with me…” . . . . ha, ha, ha, ha. . . . ―wonderful, that is awesome!!! That is just so like God.
“. . . . I’m feelin’ led and following okay… now what was I saying??)”. . . . . ha, ha, ha, ha. . .you were being proactive and preemptive with “objections”
Okay, so the interview: “ . . . . child turned 16—switch flipped. All of a sudden, this child had no interest in listening to anything that my husband and I had to say. It was a situation where they had arrived / they were an adult in their mind. . . . . the counselors—we had three of them that had been involved in the process—those three counselors got together, and looked at us and said, “We really think you need to remove this child from your home.” My husband and I were devastated. . . . We found a boarding school that had a therapist there, and we just—we had the child removed” . . . . .I guess growing up is really all about falling down, —hard in this case. . . . When you’re a teen, often, all you want to do is be somewhere else. . . . Maybe no adolescent ever wants to be understood, which is why they complain about being misunderstood all the time. One of the main tasks of adolescence is to achieve an identity—not necessarily a knowledge of who we are, that takes relational Christian psychoanalysis and comes later. —Ha, ha, ha, ha. First you have to survive adolescence; then all your levels of education. Finally, yourself. —Thank you Lord God for not giving up on us!!! My counselor does psychoanalysis and that has at its bottom no other goal than to create a space within oneself in which God’s voice can clearly be heard and that requires getting all the other junk out of there. . . .Until we make the unconscious conscious, it will direct our lives and we will just keep calling it fate. Most people will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their our own souls. The most terrifying thing is to accept ourselves completely. But there’s no coming to consciousness without serious pain. . . .And most of the time, religion is a defense against a REAL experience of Christ.
Rebecca –
Growing up IS about falling down.
Scuse me while I try to stand up. Again. 🙂
And yes – if we daily “create space” into which God can actually speak, then maybe MAYBE we will hear, listen, and then obey – and in THAT, our lives are forever changed. Glad you are here, beautiful!
Love to you,
Nina