by Connie Albers | May 25, 2015
Tragedies birth resilience in your life.
In an instant a perfectly beautiful day can turn into an “inferno” you must survive.
The day was beautiful. One of those typical bright sunny Florida days. I sat watching the wake from the boat propellers as we headed back to shore. At eight years old I didn’t have a care in the world.
We were returning from a fun day of deep sea fishing. My brother was putting away all the fishing gear, mom was down in the galley cleaning up, Jay Jay (my dog) was sleeping on the seat pad covering one of the outboard engines, and dad was on the fly bridge steering us back to the marina.
Then suddenly there was the sound of an explosion coming from behind me. I spun around to witness fire and smoke billowing from the engines.
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by Connie Albers | Feb 4, 2015
Teach your children well. This statement is something a parent hears many times. I sure did. When you are in the middle of raising children, building a family and managing a busy life it is hard to know if what you are focused on is really going to matter. Or if you are doing it well.
For years, we trained our children important life skills, to know and love God, and to rely on family. We encourage them to learn God’s Word and to be encouraged by His faithfulness. We were discouraged when we saw little or no fruit. But, we continued on and waited.
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by Connie Albers | Sep 16, 2014
5 Secrets to Homeschooling with Success
School is in full swing! For some of you bad attitudes, resistance and discouragement have already derailed your well thought out schedule. It’s okay. Those days do happen. Especially when you begin the new school year. By focusing on the five secrets that helped me cross the finish line with all five of my children you can get back on track more quickly.
Homeschooling for 21 years has given me a unique perspective. I have experienced the first-time fears and doubts associated with starting something new, worked my way through the high school years, managed five children on different levels, navigated the college admissions process and sent all five off to college.
I want to encourage you as you begin your new year to keep your eye on the end goal. Don’t be short-sighted. Be mindful of the values, character qualities, and academic pursuits you have in mind.
These are five points I intentionally focused on as I began each year:
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by Connie Albers | Jul 8, 2014
Do Teens Really Have it Easy?
Statistics show parents tend to think their teens have life so easy. I can see why some would; teens are often given cars, cell phones, computers, and a host of gadgets that connect these relationally driven young people to the world. Even though they may have more technology most parents just don’t understand the struggles teens face every single day. I recognize their struggles may not be as complex as what adults have to work through… but to our teen, it’s just as difficult.
Teens are bombarded with information on a continual basis. Yet having the ability to fully process all that comes their way is more than they are usually able to handle. In some ways, it is like giving a 12 year old the keys to the car when they haven’t learned the rules of the road and can’t see over the dashboard. They may think they can drive, but I doubt many parents would agree.
Teens don’t have the processing capabilities that their parents have. While they want to have more and more freedom, they simply might not be ready for it.
So what’s a parent to do? I encourage you to try and understand how you can help them!
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by Connie Albers | Jul 1, 2014
Raising An Artist
by Jeannie Albers
Many of you know the struggle, the struggle with Raising an Artist. You have a child whom you’re concerned will struggle in school, they may have trouble focusing on lessons because they can’t help but stare out the window and daydream, and they’re always managing to turn every blank space in your home into an art canvas or musical instrument. I was that child, and I’m here to give you a few tips on helping yours!
1) Don’t Over-Test/Analyze Them: While every child is different, I can tell you what worked/didn’t work for me growing up. My Momma lovingly homeschooled me all 12 years of school, and what a great advantage I had there. And trust me, in as much as you may spend your time fretting and wondering what possible career paths your child can have a future in, the artsy child (if anything like me) spends just as much time wondering the same thing. Mom put me in every kind of test she could to try to help me hone in on what I am good at, and what I found out was probably more discouraging than helpful at the time. I recall one of the results I was given was a florist. A florist! I’m pretty sure most kids don’t aspire to use their creative gifts to arrange flowers. I had different hopes. My point is not to say that strength/personality test-taking is bad, it’s just to say use caution, you don’t need to put your child on a career path in grade school, nor do you want to unintentionally put them in a box. Rather, help invest in their gifting and allow them to explore their interests. For me it took years of trial and error for the puzzle pieces to start to make sense.
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by Connie Albers | Jun 26, 2014
How to Talk With Your Teens & Not At Them
Ever notice how we seem to talk at our teens, instead of with them? I know I’m guilty of it, and I’ve definitely seen this happen with other families too: a parent talking to their teen as they just stand there with their arms crossed and a blank stare on their face. You can tell those kids aren’t listening; they are tolerating.
Parents, that’s not a conversation… and I know that’s it’s probably not the communication you strive for. My desire, like yours, is for something much deeper. I want a relationship, a conversation that freely flows both ways. And I’m not referring to the yelling kind.
If we long for this kind of relationship then why do we do this to our teens?
I understand how frustrating this stage of parenting can be. But, if you really want to cultivate a conversation then you might consider changing your approach.
That’s where we, as parents, get to make our daily interactions different. Here are three practical ways that we actually used with all five of our teens.
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