Moms and Daughters

My sister-in-law, Kris Grafton, and I worked on a project this past summer that has come to fruition. What started out to be a book on hormones for adolescence through menopause ended up being a book for mothers to help them know how to talk with their teenage daughters.

When we mentioned "the talk" or asked ladies what their mothers told them we were amazed at the lack of talk between mothers and their adolescent daughters. From generation to generation, mothers are failing to talk with their daughters. If we mothers don't talk with our daughters, where are they going to get their information? Their young, inexperienced, misinformed PEERS! That is not God's plan. He wants you to talk with your daughter.

We're excited to present this 200+ page book filled with practical knowledge about hormones, the physical changes that take place during adolescence, etc. But the book is so much more than that. Those "facts" can be found in many books. Talking to Our Daughters is different for several reasons. First, the foundation of all that is taught in the book is based on Scripture. One of the great problems with our society (actually the great problem) is that God is left out. He is our starting point! He is our foundation! Secondly, the book gives very pracitcal guidelines of when and how to talk with your daughter. Thirdly, the book addresses the emotional and spiritual issues that young people face.

One of my favorite chapters is the final chapter, a Bible study on the Naaman's maid who helped find healing from leprosy for her master. She was a teenage girl who possessed the same traits our young people have today. The Bible is such a practical book!

The book is available at http://www.graftonpublications.etsy.com/. I would encourage every mother of daughters who live at home to purchase this book and use it as a very practical guide to help you guide your daughter(s) into womanhood God's way. This is a book your daughter(s) want you to read!

Oh, by the way, we have not forgotten the original book we started. Next year we will publish a book on hormones from young adulthood through menopause!

Who's On My Side?

My sister-in-law, Kris, and I are in the process of writing a book entitled Things Your Mother May Not Have Told You...A Practical Guide for Moms and Their Adolescent Daughters. It has been a fun project that we've been told is very needed as so many moms are not talking their daughters through this traumatic time of their lives. Today I wrote the following in the book and thought it would be so helpful for anyone going through any type of struggle, that I decided to share it in my blog. As I read the forums on Etsy I see so many discouraged due to lack of sales, etc. What a great comfort to know that God is for me; He's not only on my side, He is all of the helps listed below! Enjoy!

(The picture is Kris' daughter, Ruth (l), and my daughter, Carissa (4) at Carrissa's 21st birthday party last year.

Encouragement from Psalm 18:3

Carefully study the following definitions of the words which define God in Psalm 18:3. They will be an encouragement to you and a source of comfort and hope as your realize how much God is on your side through the rockiest (no pun intended!) times of your life. God is there for you and your daughter and your family through the teen years! Notice the personalization of each of these words which are preceded by "my." We have a very personal God...a "very present help in time of need."
• "The Lord is my rock (God is my ‘refuge where we are safe from enemies; He is my security.’),
• and my fortress (God is my ‘strong, mountain castle for my defense; He is a net to capture the enemy.’),
• and my deliverer (God is my ‘escape from danger to bring to security.’);

• my God (He is ‘my Hero! It is very personal with the understood My God!’ WOW! He is my own personal Hero! I have my very own genuine Hero whose abilities and powers are so great they cannot even be compared to the counterfeit powers of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and all of the Hollywood super heroes combined. They are completely impotent weaklings compared to my very real and present God!),
• my strength (God is my ‘refuge and protection; my rock where I find refuge.’),
• in whom I trust (‘"Where I will flee to find refuge.’);
• my buckler (God is my ‘shield as a protector.’),
• and the horn (God is my ‘instrument of liberation, taken from the image of horned animals, which use their horns as a defense.’)
• of my salvation (God is my ‘safety.’),
• and my high tower (God is my ‘lofty place, a rock affording shelter and security, a retreat.’)"