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    My Dissertation on The Meaning of Life😅 As I wrot My Dissertation on The Meaning of Life😅

As I wrote this, I kept thinking, “Nobody will read all this!” but I did it anyway because the beauty of your 50s is that you learn to do things for yourself again. You think harder about what you want your kids (and future grandkids) to know. 

Life can change in a snap, and nobody is guaranteed tomorrow. Thankful to celebrate this next trip around the sun—and for everyone who encourages me in that journey🤍 May we all see the value in our lives and take time to reflect on those blessings that shape us!
    Woke up this morning thinking about all the girls Woke up this morning thinking about all the girls starting Sorority Rush this weekend. Here are some Bible verses to encourage your daughter. 

Praying for all the girls to know that God walks before them and with them, and no matter where they land, there’s a bigger plan at play. Their identity is secure in Christ, not Greek letters. The joys of this world will come and go, but God is forever. The hope of Jesus is the ultimate anchor for your soul ⚓️ (Hebrews 6:19)

I have these slides as printables on my Substack too. The article is temporarily free, comment below and I’ll send you the link :)
    You’ll never meet an adult who says the middle sch You’ll never meet an adult who says the middle school years were the best years of their life. If they do, something is wrong!😅

As I said in my book “10 Ultimate Truths Girls Should Know,” you don’t want to peak in middle school (or high school or college for that matter).

In my opinion, middle school is a launching pad. It’s where kids start to make choices that determine their life trajectory. From choosing friends to class schedules, it all takes thought, intention, and wise guidance.

Many adults want to skip over the middle school years. But the truth is, this an amazing age to connect with their heart and influence our kids because they are still deeply impressionable. They’re on the verge of being more and more influenced by their peers.

Here are a few thoughts for parents of middle schoolers. Hope they are helpful and make you feel a little more confident🤍
 
* Comment DEVO and I’ll message you the link for my devotional for teen & college aged girls. It’s available wherever books are sold.
    We moved our Bama girl into the KD house for her s We moved our Bama girl into the KD house for her senior year. Feels like yesterday that we were moving her into Tutwiler as a freshman😢 We love you, Sophie and Olivia, and are so excited for all the fun you’re going to have as college seniors. Roll Tide!!

@sophie_kampakis @olivia.farmerr @kappadeltaua @univofalabama
    Ball of Roses for our Sophie🌹Thank you for the pho Ball of Roses for our Sophie🌹Thank you for the photos, Dee Moore!
    One of my favorite parts of church is watching the One of my favorite parts of church is watching the young parents.
 
For starters, I want to hold their babies. My daughters laugh because they know when I’m itching to take someone’s child and hug them like my own.
 
If you’re a mom over the age of 50, then maybe you understand. Being this far past the baby years makes those angels hard to resist.
 
Now that my girls are older, going to church isn’t a fight. They know the drill. But when they were little, just getting out the door was exhausting.
 
On many Sundays, I wanted to quit.
But what often rang in my head was my mom telling me:
 
“We had you kids in church every Sunday. Now, we may have been in the cry room, but we were there.”
 
It’s okay if things aren’t pretty or perfect.

It’s okay to end up in the cry room. 

Most kids can’t sit still in a pew without a book, a plastic toy, or something to engage them, but what we’re doing when we take them to church is setting a habit for Sunday morning.
 
The article on my Substack was written 10+ years ago, and I still believe it’s true. Share it with a young mom who needs the encouragement.

Comment below and I’ll message you the link🤍
    Want a deeper connection with your college child? Want a deeper connection with your college child? I’ve shared my best tips in a new Substack article for paid subscribers. Comment below and I’ll message it to you🧡

“When my first child left for college, I was determined to find new ways to connect.
 
So, when we got invited to join an Auburn tailgate, we said yes.
 
Keep in mind that Harry and I are huge Alabama fans. We live for game day. We don’t even do an Alabama tailgate, yet here we were, signing up at Auburn in hopes of spending time with our college-bound child.
 
Oh, the things we do for love!
 
In hindsight, it was comical, especially the vision I had of us tailgating with Ella for hours before every home game.
 
The reality, however, was that game days looked totally different than I expected.
 
While we enjoyed this tailgate and getting to see friends, we were lucky if we saw Ella for 5 or 10 minutes after the game.
 
We didn’t realize that she’d go to games with a date or with friends—and in both cases, they’d be a fraternity house, not a tailgate, beforehand.
 
After a few game days with quick interactions (Hello! I love you! I’ll call you later!), Harry and I decided this wasn’t the place to get quality time with our girl.
 
This tailgate would be for us—a place to socialize and enjoy other adults—and if we saw Ella, it’d be a bonus. We’d be thrilled with any time we got.
 
Because the truth was, this was her turf. We’d invited ourselves into her world, and rather than insist on connecting on our terms, we had to work around her schedule. We wanted our meet-ups to feel fun and natural, not stressful and hard.
 
If we were Auburn fans, continuing this tailgate might have made sense, but for us, there was a better strategy.
 
A strategy that allowed us to enjoy game days in Tuscaloosa and visit Auburn at other times.
 
Because the #1 Rule in connecting with your college child is this:
 
You’ve got to be flexible. That means being creative and willing to pivot your plans to spend quality time together.
 
Here are 5 ways to do that.”
 
    The phenomenal growth of young people converting t The phenomenal growth of young people converting to Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy in recent years has thrilled my husband and me because these are our churches. 

For 1,000 years, they were the same church, and Pope John Paul II dreamed of them uniting again one day and worked to heal the split that caused The Great Schism in the first place. 

Only a God of miracles could make it happen, and while it may not occur in our lifetime, Harry and I know the similarities firsthand and have grown to love both churches through our 30 years together. 

We get a lot of questions from people interested in Catholicism and Orthodoxy—and also from couples getting married from different faith backgrounds. We’ve created a podcast that shares our story. 

Comment below, and I’ll send you the link - or find it in my IG bio. 

Also, kudos to Harry for agreeing to do this podcast—his first one ever! He’s usually editing/producing the Girl Mom podcast, and he did a great on the other side of the microphone 👏🏻 More of HK to come, let me know what topics you’d like to hear us cover!
    As I prepare to move 2 girls back to college, I’m As I prepare to move 2 girls back to college, I’m remembering this move-in to KD Corner at Alabama from 2 summers ago. It was a hot yet also fun day!

I try to be intentional in finding items my girls can use in college - and many years beyond. 

I’m scrolling my own links to fill in last-minute gaps, and if you’re in this season too, my Amazon storefront + ShopMy storefront links are in my bio 👆🏻 

Comment below and I’ll message you my ShopMy link🤍
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