Radically Blessed » Hearts at Home

Friends and Hearts…

Tricia — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:42:29 +0000

Well, I had a fantastic weekend. I attended the Hearts at Home conference. It was a blast. There in nothing like getting together with girlfriends for a fun filled weekend of food, fellowship, prayer, worship and praising to our awesome Jesus! Hearts at Home puts on a great, reasonably priced conference. The thing I love most is that you get the opportunity to meet Christian authors and musicians. We always go up and chat with Jill Savage, the founder of Hearts at Home. She is so sweet and loves women in all stages of life. In the past we have met, Crimson Bridge, Go Fish, Julie Barnhill, Sandy Buake, Lysa TerKeurst, Mary Beth Whalen, and T. Susie Eller to name a few. We stay at the same hotel, I think this is our 3rd year there. Every year we have eaten dinner on the way home at good old Cracker Barrel, ah down home cooking, great traditions!

This year’s theme was “MOMS THE WORD” It was about the words we say to our children and how they impact them. Very deep, very real, spoke truth. The worship was awesome this year. Christy Nockels was the worship leader. First, she is adorable, second, when you watch her worship you can tell that it is totally between her and God. She was fun!

I took great classes but my favorite speaker was Susie Larson. Whoa, you talk about a passion for Christ. This gal has it. She was enthusiastic, fun, real and spoke TRUTH! I bought two of her books and had some time to chat with her. She shines for Jesus and is such a wonderful gal. Nicole Johnson was also there with her comedic take on motherhood and her insight on having a “Fresh Brewed Life.”

Needless to say we laughed, praised, laughed some more, cried and just has plain old good time fun! We go a long time not seeing Carol, she moved to Indiana. We communicate through emails or phone calls and when we get together it seems like we pick up where we left off. Blessed!! I am so thankful for the friends that I have and the realness of our relationships. We always come away growing deeper in love with Jesus and desiring to know Him more. I know that I am itching to look over my notes, dig into some of the books I bought and pray about things God spoke to my heart this weekend. Here are some pictures from the weekend. If you can plan to attend next year’s Hearts at Home conference, you’ll be glad you did!

Karla and Carol

Jennifer and Tricia

Jill Savage and Tricia

Christy Nockels and Tricia

Christy Nockels and Jennifer

L to R, Carol, Karla, Tricia and Jennifer

Carol, Tricia, Jill Savage, Karla and Jennifer

Susie Larson and Tricia

Gratefullness

Tricia — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:00:10 +0000

Today I’d like to welcome author and speaker Susie Larson. Susie’s new book Growing Grateful Kids has just released and I’ve invited her to share a little bit about this great resource.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.

My husband and I have been married 25 years and have three grown sons (all in their early twenties). Our oldest son Jake works on the business side of the Christian music industry. Our middle son Luke is married to his beautiful wife Kristen; he works full time at a bank and part time as a worship pastor. Our youngest son Jordan is studying to become a surgical nurse. My husband Kevin is a commercial construction manager by day and manages my ministry by night (and weekends). Bless his heart.  I am an author, speaker, and an on-call radio host for Christian talk radio. Together, Kevin and I serve as advocates for justice on behalf of modern day slaves and human trafficking victims.

Tell us about your new book, Growing Grateful Kids: Teaching Them to Appreciate an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Places.

Even when economic times are tight, our children enjoy an abundance of material possessions. Yet, amidst all this wealth, discontentment and competition seem to be on the rise. Instead of teaching children virtues such as gratefulness and patience, many parents are bending over backwards to get their children the latest and greatest item – or feeling guilty when they can’t. In spite of the currents of materialism and entitlement that flow so strong, it is possible to raise children who are simply grateful. Though teaching perspective and gratitude to our children is critical, it is not difficult.

Why did you want to write this book?

To be completely honest, I never wanted to write a book on parenting. I wanted to protect my kids’ privacy and give them time and space to become the men God wants them to be. But in the last few years, I have been especially burdened with the level of selfishness, entitlement and disrespect I see among children today. Furthermore, moms seem more stressed than ever. When I asked my sons their thoughts on writing this book, without pausing they all said, “Do it, mom; that book needs to be written!” I think I wrote a book that not only equips young moms to raise humble, grateful world-changers, but also one that nourishes the soul of the reader and encourages her personally.

Throughout the book you remind the reader that we cannot impart what we do not possess. Can you explain?

If we never deal with our own fears, insecurities, and hang ups, but we try to teach our children to believe in their divine value, over time, our words will not ring true to them. First God wants to do His work in us before He does it through us. They say that lessons are more often caught than taught. If we parent from a place of conviction and real freedom, our children will be affected by what we teach them.

One of your chapters is titled, “Take Time to Play.” How does taking time to play teach our kids to be grateful?

To me, taking time to play says a lot about the level of faith we possess.

If our children hear us confess that we love and serve a BIG God and yet they see us striving and straining through life, they will come to believe that more is on our shoulders than on God’s. If we can trust God enough to step away from our busy-important lives, to make a fort in the basement, or play a game with our children – even in the most desperate of economic situations – we will give our children a sense of much needed security and that all is well in their world.

What do you want readers to take away from this book?

To answer this question (I hope you don’t mind), I would like to share an endorsement from one of my sample readers. She expressed my deepest desire for my reader:

“Growing Grateful Kids is such a great source of conviction, encouragement, and inspiration to spur me on to finishing this parenting race well and not sputter out along the way. This book compels me to submit my own character to the refining of the Holy Spirit that I may be equipped to impart those lessons onto my children. Thank you, Susie, for taking the time, for submitting in obedience, and writing this down for a generation in desperate need of this kind of parenting book!” –Gail Miller

This is a Hearts at Home book. What is Hearts at Home?

Hearts at Home is an organization that encourages, educates, and equips women in the profession of motherhood. Hearts at Home encourages moms through annual conferences, our extensive website (www.hearts-at-home.org), a free bi-weekly electronic newsletter, a radio program, and an entire line of books designed to meet the needs of moms all over the world!

Any closing thoughts?

I am very excited about the message in this book. It is my prayer that every one who reads it will be nourished, encouraged, and equipped to parent from a place of fullness, conviction, and confidence. Raising grateful, confident kids will be one of the most heroic, important things you do in your lifetime. God’s blessings to you!

Thank you Susie. Your passion is contagious. I can’t wait to get this book!

Less is more!

Tricia — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:00:38 +0000

Today I’d like to welcome Jill and Mark Savage. Jill and Mark’s newest book Living with Less so your Family has More just released and I’ve invited them to share a little bit about this great resource!

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your family.

We have been married for 27 years…17 of them happily. After finding ourselves in a marriage counselor’s office around year 8 or so, we realized that we really didn’t know how to be married. We worked hard to turn things around and now we like to share that hope with other couples.

We have five children ranging from 13 to 25. Our oldest three are married. Anne (25) and her husband, Matt, live in Zion, IL, and are expecting our first grandchild in April. (We are very excited!) Evan (22) and his wife, Julie, have been married a year and a half and they live just a few miles from us. Erica (19) married her husband Kendall last September. They live in Augusta, GA, and wherever else the Army takes them.

We have two teenagers still at home. Kolya just turned 16. He’s learning to drive and we’ve nearly worn a hole in the carpet on the floor in the passenger seat trying to find that non-existent brake pedal. Kolya is the newest member of the Savage family. We adopted him at the age of nine from Russia.

Austin is 13 and in the 8th grade. He wants us to make sure and tell the world that this “living with less” life is a real bummer because he’s the ONLY kid in 8th grade who doesn’t have a cell phone.

Tell us about your newest book Living With Less So Your Family Has More?

The world screams the message that bigger is always better, but we have found that is not often true. When it comes to raising a family, less materially can actually result in more relationally. Children don’t need the best houses, the best lessons, the best cars, or the best clothes. What they really need is the best home life and the best family relationships we can give them.

Why did you want to write this book?

We didn’t start out with the “less is more” mindset. We started as a double income family wanting to have the “best” of everything. Then Mark decided to pursue ministry. We went from the “high life” to the “frugal life” very quickly as we moved to another state for him to go to Bible College full-time.

That experience introduced us to the concept that less is more. We definitely had less money, but we had more time. We had less stress and more peace. We had less activities and more fun.

Since that experience, we’ve continued to live primarily on one income for the past twenty years. We’ve had to battle cultural peer pressure and make different decisions for our family than many other families in our neighborhood have made. But we’ve never felt that we were materially depriving ourselves or our kids…instead we’ve focused on what we’ve actually been able to provide for them emotionally and relationally.

What do you hope your readers will gain from this book?

We hope the reader is encouraged to evaluate how they are living their life, spending their money, and thinking about family matters. Our goal is to introduce families to the “less is more” concept and then equip them with the attitudes and actions to actually make that happen.

For families that are already committed to less is more, we hope to bolster their resolve and help them stay focused on the long-term goal of providing relationally for their kids.

In today’s economy, there are many families being forced to live with less. We want to help them see the opportunity they have with this unexpected downsizing they’ve been forced to do.

And for those who have just been a little discontent with their life and saying things like, “I’m tired of the rat race of life,” or “Is there more to life than drive-thru meals for dinner?” we hope to help them see other choices they have and how they can lead their family in a different direction.

What unique elements will the reader find in Living With Less So Your Family Has More?

For couples who want to read the book together, we’ve included discussion questions at the end of every chapter. This helps move the readers to discussion and eventually actions. Even a single parent can use the discussion questions for personal evaluation.

Readers will find this book a practical guide to changing your attitude and your actions to live a successful “less is more” life. They’ll find our writing style to be a warm, casual, honest discussion where we not only share our victories but our mistakes along the way. We are an average couple living successfully on an average income who want to help others to see the possibilities before them.

This is a Hearts at Home book. What is Hearts at Home?

Hearts at Home is an organization that encourages, educates, and equips women in the profession of motherhood. Hearts at Home encourages moms through annual conferences, our extensive website (www.hearts-at-home.org), a free electronic newsletter, a radio program, and an entire line of books designed to meet the needs of moms all over the world!

Any closing thoughts?

It’s healthy for parents to occasionally pause and evaluate their vision for their family and the choices they are making. We hope this resource will help them do that together and that it will lead them to live a life of little regret.

Thank you to Mark and Jill! I have had the privilege of meeting Jill and she has a passion for women in all stages of life to know Jesus. Check out her blog.

Have a blessed weekend,

It’s begining to look a lot like….

Tricia — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:22:52 +0000

Can you believe we are not even through Halloween and stores are all decked out for Christmas. Yes, I typed Christmas. I believe in Christmas and that is what I am standing firm on. December 25 is a day to celebrate Christ’s birth. I think of the holiday season as the whole month of December but the 25th is His birthday, Christmas. No political correctness here!

I thought it would be fun to share how we celebrate the Christmas season. How do you keep it stress free (can we do that)? What cookies do you make? What is your favorite Christmas song? Do you have a favorite memory of a toy or game? These are some things I am going to be blogging about in the coming weeks. First, I want to share some tips I have collected over the years. I attend the Hearts at Home conferences and have heard fantastic speakers. Karen Ehman is so much fun, practical and humorous. She has several books out. She has a class about having a Blessed not Stressed holiday. Here is what she suggests:

S: Don’t seek to have the perfect Christmas season. Have a memorable one. Don’t worry if your home is perfect, the food is perfect or you are holding to tradition. This will cause stress!

T: Try not to do it all. You don’t have to do all the Christmas traditions in one year. If you have many spread them out. Pick the ones that will work for you and your family in this season of life.

R: Don’t REPEAT mistakes of the past. Figure out what stresses you out and avoid it. If it is baking cookies from scratch, don’t. Make some that are semi-homemade. If it is getting all your shopping done in one weekend, spread out your time. Enjoy life! We only get one!

E: Evaluate your Christmas season by not comparing yourself to others. Look God in your own celebration. All families are different. Take the ideas from your friends and family and pick ones that work for you. Don’t feel guilty about this. Your family is it’s own unique identity!

S: Set no agenda according to your kids. The Christmas season doesn’t revolve around them. The holidays are to expose them to those who are less fortunate. Take this opportunity to plant some seeds of compassion, kindness, and giving.

S: Start off the season with a plan. Without a plan you will fail. Your holidays will go by in a blurr and you will be stressed out! Plan out your holiday budget!! This is so important. Don’t allow your family to become stressed out due to overspending. It is so easy to do! Sit down with your calender and plan out shopping days, a few nights to write out Christmas cards while watching a fun Christmas movie, plan your menu and start picking things up here and there at the store (this will help your budget), plan a weekend to put up your Christmas tree and lights. Plan fun time, go see Christmas lights, go to a local church for a Christmas play, have fun in the snow, bake cookies, read the Christmas story (Luke 2).

These tips and ideas have helped me through the years to have a less stressed Christmas. I tended to think that I had to be doing everything that my friends families where doing. It left me so overwhelmed. I went to this class with Karen Ehman and a light bulb went off. I was free from all the “have to’s” My Christmas’ are so much more enjoyable now.

Next we will talk about how to bless…I hope you join me!! I truly believe we can learn from one another.