Over the last month, we have been talking about preparing for productivity in the summer. Schedules change, kids take over, and your desire is to make memories — not to-do lists! But one thing we haven't talked about yet is “assisting” your school age children in making sure their summer is productive too…instead of ending up with a three-month Netflix binge-fest! Of course, we desire freedom and relaxation for our kids, but we also want them to function as human beings - not tweenage/teenage zombies who wake up at 1pm and spend the day raiding the refrigerator.  So, here are my top five tips for helping those precious children of yours be more productive… without creating rifts in your relationship.   #1: No sleeping the day away. I think having your kids out of bed between 8-9am is ideal. Here’s why: We need routine - ALL of us. So enforcing a wake time allows them to start their day with a routine. Sometimes, we try to make bedtime the rule and what happens is they go to bed and toss and turn for two hours because we let them sleep until noon. Plain and simple: the earlier they get [...]

Your business will stop growing when you do. Plain and simple. If you want your business to grow, you must also keep growing. Because personal growth is a passion point for me, I’d love to give you the top five habits (Yes, that means actions that are done repeatedly, not once!) that will keep you growing. Let’s dig in: Pray specifically. My prayers used to be pretty general: “Thank you, God, for everything You’ve given me. God, use me. God, help me pursue You in all things. God, be with my family.” While those aren’t bad prayers, I’ve found praying specifically has helped me increase intimacy with the Lord as I speak with Him like my trusted Father. For example, just this morning, I was praying for my oldest, Noah. Instead of just asking God to protect him and guide him, here is part of my prayer from my journal: “God, thank you so much for the responsibility of being Noah’s mom. Help me be the kind of earthly parent that continuously points him to You. God, I pray that He will accept Jesus Christ as His Savior at a young age and walk closely with You always. Help [...]