Q: I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on how [Titus 2] plays out practically? I’m in my mid-30’s and Titus 2 mentoring is on my heart, but as a homeschool mom my days are busy, and time is the most difficult hurdle. Also, how would you structure your time together with a younger woman? Do… […]
idolatry – Jess Connell
You are a theologian. And I am too. We may each be a good one, a subpar one, or a heretic, but we can’t get away from *having* a theology and bringing it to the table with each day of mothering. Who matters most in our theology? For many moms, the person who matters…
Avoid Emphasizing the Wrong Things to Your Kids – Jess Connell
In parenting, not everything can be in bold print. We can’t emphasize EVERYTHING and have our children “get it” all. We just can’t. IF YOU’VE EVER SEEN SOMEONE WHO TYPES EVERY MESSAGE ON FACEBOOK IN ALL CAPS, you know it’s true. After a few sentences, your eyes glaze over. It’s too much to take in. It’s […]
parenting – Jess Connell
Q: how differently should boys be parented vs how girls are? Examples would be, I know that boys don’t like to sit still. They need to be physical, to run and climb and use up all of their excess energy. What tips could you give a new boy mom as to how to deal with… […]
Video: Motherhood is Noisy – Jess Connell
Here’s a 3-minute video I made, smack-dab in the middle of my real life, to talk about the noise and chaos of real-life motherhood. IN THE COMMENTS, PLEASE SHARE: Has motherhood been more, or less, noisy and chaotic, than you expected?
Video: Floor Play Ideas With Your Preschooler – Jess Connell
Here’s a 4-minute video I made with my 3- and 5-year-olds to share some ideas of specific ways to get down in the floor and play with your preschoolers. IN THE COMMENTS, SHARE: Do you do wrestling play like this with your little people? Any other ideas along these lines that you’d like to share?
tired – Jess Connell
Is this you, Mama? Weary? In desperate need of a nap, a soul-warming beverage, and a few hours of silence? I can relate! For over 14 years now, I’ve faced the continual foe of pregnant, nursing, and mothering women: mommy exhaustion. Through 10 pregnancies, 3 miscarriages, 7 postpartum seasons, and moving more than a dozen times, God has taught me much about…
marriage – Jess Connell
You’ve already given your best to the kids. all. stinkin. day. long. So what’s left for your husband– this man you pledged your life and love to? Scraps. Can I ask you a personal question? You don’t have to answer me… just answer in your heart: how long has your husband been surviving… […]
make love – Jess Connell
I’m convinced that this one skill can make all the difference in a couple’s sexual relationship. Though it may not come naturally, it’s a game changer when we can learn to do this openly, with a receptive heart, and without shame. Here it is: TALK HONESTLY ABOUT SEX WITHOUT SHAME OR DISCOURAGEMENT. As a wife, it can make…
long-range parenting – Jess Connell – Page 2
Five-month-old Luke is crawling now… or at least scooting very purposefully. And with every scoot, we get inches closer to a collision with two-year-old Theo’s self-orientation. Theo, our funny, introverted, snuggly, more-than-a-little-bit-opinionated boy has had two and a half years’ “reign” on the throne. By that I mean, more often than not, things go his way. Or he… […]
Q&A: Getting Kids to Stay in Their Beds? – Jess Connell
Q: How do you get your kids to stay in their beds? Mine are continuously coming out until 10:00 some (a lot of) nights. So the time between 8:30 (when they go to bed) and 10:00 (when they finally fall asleep) is spent herding them back to bed, getting them drinks, laying down with them, etc. […]
baby – Jess Connell
When it comes to having another baby, people will talk about the potential for additional financial costs, marital strain, or having to go through labor again. But very few people talk about this. This was something I noticed about having another baby, 5 weeks after having our 8th baby– Here are our current set of “bookends” (oldest– Ethan–… […]
writing non-fiction – Jess Connell
Living something brings a keen awareness of how others view it. Until you are a stay-home mom, you may not realize how others demean that work by using words like “only” or “just” to describe it. Until my husband became a pastor, I didn’t realize the walls that sometimes are built in people’s hearts (as evidenced on their face) the… […]
spiritual abuse – Jess Connell
Last fall, I unexpectedly encountered someone I haven’t seen in decades. Mercifully, it was in a crowded setting where we did not have to interact, and I don’t think he ever saw me. I didn’t even recognize him at first. But when I was young and impressionable, that person-across-the-way deeply impacted my life through manipulative… […]