by Shannon Popkin | Jun 25, 2013 | Anxiety, Beauty, Discipline, Food, Parenting, Teens, Wisdom
Dear Seventeen-Year-Old Me,Let’s talk about the mirror. Sometimes when you look in it, you’re disgusted. You think you’re fat or ugly or covered in pimples. You’ve already started to experiment with your eating habits and your hair and makeup. You spend hours in your...
by Shannon Popkin | Jun 17, 2013 | Kids' Perspective, Leadership, Parenting, Teens, Wisdom
Dear 17-year-old Me,Let’s talk about your Dad. If you listed out your relationships by order of priority, I’m confident your dad wouldn’t land in the place he deserves—which is somewhere at the top of the list. When you have a dad like yours—one who faithfully...
by Shannon Popkin | Jun 4, 2013 | Change, Father, Kids' Perspective, Media, Parenting, Sin
Some years ago I bought a bunch of perennial flower bulbs, planted them, and waited to see what would happen. I had no idea what colors might pop out of those clenched green fists, and I could hardly keep myself from prying the blooms open! I would study them every...
by Shannon Popkin | Jun 4, 2013 | Change, Kids' Perspective, seasons
So it’s the last week of school. The last week! You’d think our house would be buzzing with cheerful enthusiasm and playful banter.But, no. We are dragging ourselves to the finish line. While I did wake-ups this morning, one of the kids whined,...
by Shannon Popkin | May 31, 2013 | God, Media, Parenting
When I read a blog title, “My Daughter Wants to Download Raunchy Music”, this morning, I thought, “Yeah, how am I going to handle it when that happens?” So I read on.Her eight-year-old asked, for the first time, to download some songs. And...
by Shannon Popkin | May 25, 2013 | Communication, Leadership, Parenting
Ken and I stopped to get a sandwich the other day, and were waiting in line to order when I noticed a man with his daughter. The girl looked to be about 14 or 15, and had just returned to her dad’s table after filling her drink.The man smiled kindly and said,...