Christian

Parenting Teens Isn’t For Wimps

Cindy Dawson

Do your kids have secrets they don’t share with you? Well, I don’t know about you, but I certainly didn’t tell my parents everything I did! And I was a “good” kid (well, at least until I went away to college).

In the day we live it is more important than ever to talk to your kids and build up trust so they will tell you about school and their friends. Your kids need to be unafraid of how you will respond. They need to be able to voice their concerns to someone they know loves them.

If they say something shocking, don’t overreact! Take a deep breath and try to keep the conversation calm so you can discuss what they said. (Kids have been known to try to shock their parents.)

Consider this snippet from a real conversation between a mother and her young married daughter, Jane. (Names have been changed.)

Mom: “Are you and Bob going to church?” (This isn’t the first time Mom has asked this question!)

Jane: “Not really.”

Mom: “You need to go to church! It’s really important. Blah, blah, blah”

Jane: “I don’t know if I even believe in God!”

Mom freaks out and starts yelling! “You’re not my daughter! I don’t have a daughter!”

Jane storms out of the house, and they don’t speak for over a year!

Now here’s the backstory: Jane was a Christian, but she was seriously questioning her belief in God. She accepted Jesus as a child, but she never had the support she needed to grow and mature in Christ. She needed someone to listen to her concerns.

Jesus didn’t abandon Jane. He watched over her for many years until she found her way back to Him. (He is the most faithful friend you could ever have.) Not many years later, Jane returned to church and eventually became involved in ministry.

So, if your child says something shocking that makes you want to scream, see it as an opportunity for them to think through what they said with someone who loves them.

“Be merciful to those who doubt” Jude 1:22 NIV

 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV

The demands on parents today can be overwhelming, especially on moms. I know what it’s like to lose my cool. We’ve all done it!

My advice is to prepare ahead of time for how you will respond to an outrageous remark from your teen, because it will probably happen eventually. When something comes at us out of the blue and we are caught off guard, our response may be less than stellar.

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,” 1 Peter 3:15 NIV

In His Love, Cindy

To learn more about Jesus, read Who Is Jesus? A message for the Skeptic

Did you know? The Lord appeared to Abram and said, … “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you…” Genesis 17:7 (emphasis mine)

Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash

RealChristianWomen.blog

Christian, Christians and Jews

Wisdom for Wednesday, 11/4/26

Cindy Dawson

From The Proverbs of Solomon

“Fools find no pleasure in understanding
but delight in airing their own opinions.” Proverbs 18:2 NIV

Love the TRUTH more than your own opinion. Then you’ll be wise! Always search for TRUTH. You will find it in God’s Word, the Bible.

In His Love, Cindy

To learn more about Jesus, read Who Is Jesus? A message for the Skeptic

The Lord appeared to Abram and said, … “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you…” Genesis 17:7 (emphasis mine)

Photo from Google Images

RealChristianWomen.blog

Christian, Christians and Jews

King David, a Man Who Loved God’s Word

Cindy Dawson

1-Minute Devotion for Tuesday, 11/3/26

“After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” Acts 13:22 NIV

I pray that God could say that about me. Don’t you?

Psalm 19 of David, a man after God’s own heart

“The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.

They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward.”

Psalm 19:7-11 NIV

In His Love, Cindy

To learn more about Jesus, read Who Is Jesus? A message for the Skeptic

Did you know? The Lord appeared to Abram and said, … “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you…” Genesis 17:7 (emphasis mine)

Photo by Simon Ray on Unsplash

RealChristianWomen.blog

Christian

What Is Your Message?

Cindy Dawson

Reflection for Monday, 11/2/26

“Sometimes ministries aren’t big or glamorous. Sometimes their earthly story ends in suffering. Their faithfulness, however, is never measured by the size of their gatherings, their assets, or their exposure. What matters is the message they proclaim.” Amir Tsarfati

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.” John 14:23 Read full chapter

Amir Tsarfati is a Bible Teacher & Author, Behold Israel

In His Love, Cindy

To learn more about Jesus, read Who Is Jesus? A message for the Skeptic

Did you know? The Lord appeared to Abram and said, … “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you…” Genesis 17:7 (emphasis mine)

RealChristianWomen.blog

Christian, Christians and Jews

Our Assumptions About God

Cindy Dawson

Meditation for Sunday, 11/1/26

“The Scriptures are where His character, His promises, and His ways confront our assumptions and reshape our desires.”   M. Wiley Wilson

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” Psalm 136:1 NIV. Read full chapter

In His Love, Cindy

To learn more about Jesus, read Who Is Jesus? A message for the Skeptic

Did you know? The Lord appeared to Abram and said, … “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you…” Genesis 17:7 (emphasis mine)

Photo by wisconsinpictures on Unsplash

RealChristianWomen.blog

Christian

Why Do Christians Drift Away?

Cindy Dawson

While at the beach one summer, my two sons insisted on renting a small boat. They were told to stay close, but eventually they began to drift. We started yelling at them and waving our arms, but they didn’t see us and kept drifting farther and farther away, unaware.

That’s the bad thing about drifting, you can end up far from where you started and unaware of how far you’ve drifted.

“… we must pay much closer attention than ever to the things that we have heard, so that we do not [in any way] drift away from truth.” Hebrews 2:1 AMP

Today we have the entire Bible to keep us on course, but do we neglect it? C.S. Lewis said,

“As a matter of fact, if you examined a hundred people who had lost their faith in Christianity, I wonder how many of them would turn out to have been reasoned out of it by honest argument? Do not most people simply drift away?”

We can so easily drift away from God and toward the ways of the world: thinking like the world, acting like the world, even speaking like the world. How? Compromise, open-mindedness, tolerance for what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, the desire to fit in.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2 NIV

Thinking back on my past, I can see how drifting away from God was a result of drifting farther and farther away from God’s Word. Drifting happens so easily, not because of anything we do, as much as what we don’t do. We neglect Bible study, neglect church fellowship, neglect worship, neglect prayer.

My boys finally saw us waving wildly and came back in, but others have not been so lucky.

In his article, 9 Fortunate Souls Who Survived Being Lost at Sea, Avery Thompson said this,

“The sea is like a wet desert. There’s no food. There’s no shelter. Nothing to drink. In every direction, the view is the same: nothing. Plus, dangerous predators lurk just beneath the depths.  A shipwreck out on the open ocean can be a death sentence. If rescue doesn’t come in the first 48 hours, it probably never will.”

We can compare this to drifting spiritually. No spiritual food to eat, no living water to drink, demons lurking just beneath …

That’s why the writer of Hebrews says, “we must pay much closer attention than ever to the things that we have heard“. We must be reading our Bible and renewing our minds. These words are as true today as they were when first written.

The worse thing about being a drifter is that you probably won’t even notice what you’ve become or how far you have drifted. So in this time, as in the first century, Christians “must pay much closer attention than ever.”

In His Love, Cindy

To learn more about Jesus, read Who Is Jesus? A message for the Skeptic

Did you know? The Lord appeared to Abram and said, … “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you…” Genesis 17:7 (emphasis mine)

RealChristianWomen.blog

Christian

Is Our Culture Feeding the Church?

Cindy Dawson

Quote of the Week for Friday, 10/30/26

“Ignorance of the truth is widespread, and deception is rampant. Too many people are like baby birds, secure in their worldly nests: eyes closed, mouths open, and eating whatever the culture feeds them. It doesn’t take much research to discover the truth, but it takes effort.”

Grant P. Ferguson https://writingforeternity.com/

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2 NIV

In His Love, Cindy

To learn more about Jesus, read Who Is Jesus? A message for the Skeptic

Did you know? The Lord appeared to Abram and said, … “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you…” Genesis 17:7 (emphasis mine)

Photo by Dong on Unsplash

RealChristianWomen.blog

Christian, Christians and Jews

How To Polish Your Writing

Cindy Dawson

2-Minute Read for Thursday, 10/29/26

Do you want more people to read your blog? Before you click Publish, ask these 5 questions:

#1 Do I have a catchy title? Would the title attract your attention? Would you want to read more? As I scroll through the Reader List on WordPress, I look at the titles, click on what interests me, and pass over the rest. Don’t you?

#2 Does the first sentence make you want to read more? Sure, you aren’t trying to write a best-selling novel, but that first sentence must grab your reader’s attention and make them want to keep reading.

#3 Can I say it with fewer words? Look for ways to make sentences shorter. First, reduce the number of words and then try to improve the quality of the words that remain. (Cheney, 2005)

#4 Can I turn any nouns into verbs? For example, instead of saying “She made a suggestion”, say “She suggested”. Instead of saying, “He made an offer”, say “He offered”. Sounds easy, but it’s more complicated than you think. This one is the hardest for me to master, and probably the most important.

#5 Did I focus on my message? Or did I ramble on and on about this and that? Make sure every sentence contributes to your message. If not, you’re making your post longer than it needs to be. (Rambling is for journals!)

I don’t claim to be a writing expert, but I have a bookshelf packed with books about writing. Yesterday, I pulled one from the shelf and read the highlighted sections. Because writing is a skill, these tips can make a huge difference in the quality of your writing. Apply the above questions to your post one at a time. Watch how quickly your writing improves!

Whether we’re writing to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ or to tell others about Jesus, when we improve our writing skills we will attract more people to God’s Truth.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.” Colossians 3:23a NIV

Recommended:

How to Write for a General Audience, Kathleen A. Kendall-Tackett, PhD

In His Love, Cindy

To learn more about Jesus, read Who Is Jesus? A message for the Skeptic

Did you know? The Lord appeared to Abram and said, … “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you…” Genesis 17:7 (emphasis mine)

RealChristianWomen.blog

Christian, Christians and Jews

Wisdom for Wednesday, 10/28/26

Cindy Dawson

From the Proverbs of Solomon

“A truly wise person uses few words;
a person with understanding is even-tempered.

Even fools are thought wise when they keep silent;
with their mouths shut, they seem intelligent.” Proverbs 17:27-28 NLT

In His Love, Cindy

To learn more about Jesus, read Who Is Jesus? A message for the Skeptic

Did you know? The Lord appeared to Abram and said, … “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you…” Genesis 17:7 (emphasis mine)

RealChristianWomen.blog

Christian, Christians and Jews

The Person Who Truly Fears God

Cindy Dawson

Meditation for Tuesday, 10/27/26

“Who is the man who fears the Lord [with awe-inspired reverence and worships Him with submissive wonder]?
He will teach him [through His word] in the way he should choose.

His soul will dwell in prosperity and goodness,
And his descendants will inherit the land.

The secret [of the wise counsel] of the Lord is for those who fear Him,
And He will let them know His covenant and reveal to them [through His word] its [deep, inner] meaning.” Psalm 25:12-14 AMP

“Reverential fear of the Lord arises from an understanding of His holiness. The person who truly fears God will carefully heed His instructions and conform his or her life to what God teaches, avoiding life’s snare or dangers.”

David Jeremiah Study Bible Notes

In His Love, Cindy

To learn more about Jesus, read Who Is Jesus? A message for the Skeptic

Did you know? The Lord appeared to Abram and said, … “I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you…” Genesis 17:7 (emphasis mine)

Photo by Igor Rodrigues on Unsplash

RealChristianWomen.blog