I help teenagers, parents, and mentors live into their
calling and navigate the teen years with joy and purpose.
Are you a parent of young children who is dreading the teen years?
Are you a parent of a teenager who needs help navigating these crazy, stressful teen years?
Are you someone who works with teenagers who desires to have the greatest impact possible as you point them to Jesus?
Are you a teen who wants to follow Jesus but you need help knowing what that means and how to do it?
The teen years are packed with important decisions, a variety of temptations, and an abundance of voices trying fervently to lead students astray. In the midst of our rapidly declining moral culture, teens and young adults are discarding their parents’ faith and values in record numbers. Teenagers are looking for something (or Someone) to anchor them in the storm, and Christian parents are desperate to help their kids grow solid roots before they enter adulthood.
I’m here to help!
Meet Kelly
After working with teens for over thirty years and raising 4 teenagers with my husband, Jeff, I am passionate about helping teens flesh out what it means to follow Jesus and encouraging parents and mentors to make the most of the teen years. I write and speak about biblical faith, spiritual growth, and navigating the challenges that inevitably occur while trying to grow up/parent in a faith-hostile culture. I also love to guide and encourage people who work with teens to live into their calling with clarity, purpose, and joy. I’m glad you’re here!
Resources for Parents & Teens
Kelly loves talking to teens and parents about Jesus and how they can grow in their faith and strengthen their relationships. Check out the Resources section for helpful articles geared towards parents, teens, and young adults.
Workshops & Speaking
Do you need a speaker for your next event? Kelly has over 30 years experience as a Bible teacher and public speaker. She speaks to teens, parents, women, and student ministry leaders. Contact her for your next event or to host a “Cultivating a Circle of Influence” workshop.
Circle of Influence Book
Circle of Influence: Cultivating the Power of Mentorship in Your Teen’s Life helps parents purposefully surround their teens with adult mentors who will shape their teen’s faith and guide their decisions so they don’t have to navigate these crucial years alone.
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Circle of Influence: Cultivating the power of mentorship in your teen’s life
As our children approach the teen years, there is a natural separation that occurs in their attempt to become more independent. Unfortunately, the teen years are also packed with important decisions, temptations, and an abundance of voices trying fervently to lead them astray. In the midst of our rapidly declining moral culture, teens and young adults are discarding their parents’ faith and values in record numbers.
What if parents could more easily encourage their teen’s independence without fearing how it will affect their future? How do we help our teens get the support they need?
Circle of Influence: Cultivating the Power of Mentorship in Your Teen’s Life helps parents purposefully surround their teens with adult mentors who will shape their teen’s faith and guide their decisions so they don’t have to navigate these crucial years alone.
Recent Blog Posts:
Waiting for Hope
As I think back on the beginning of the Christmas story, I am reminded that God’s people had been waiting for what must have seemed like forever for the promised Messiah to appear. Hundreds of years had gone by since the prophets proclaimed God’s message of the One who was to come. Their land had been torn apart by savages, their government overthrown, their people scattered among the nations. So much time had gone by that the stories of old were just that… ancient stories, passed down through generations, of a time long before when God had favored their people.
But it was clear that God must have changed His mind and turned His back on them.
Their great-great-great-great (you get it) grandparents had let Him down one too many times, trading long-term loyalty for a fast-food faith, and they were left living the repercussions. Sure, even in the midst of their betrayal, the Father had promised the Messiah, the One who would change everything. How they longed for Him to come!
But that was a long time ago…
Perhaps they forgot what it was like to hope.
Active Expectation: 4 Steps to Ready Your Soul for Christ
I didn’t grow up celebrating Advent. I saw the word around Christmas time and assumed they were one and the same. I didn’t know that Christmas without Advent is like a gang of old friends showing up on your doorstep around seven thirty Monday morning. You love the old friends and want to welcome them with open arms; but the washer is spinning, the toast is burning, and your mind is whirling with the week’s to-do list.
Christmas isn’t Christmas without Advent, because we cannot celebrate Jesus, if we are not expecting His Presence…
Preparing Your Heart for Christmas
I love the holidays like the next girl, but I’m not going to lie- I can easily get overwhelmed with ALL THE THINGS.
Cookie swaps and class parties.
Teacher gifts and family gatherings.
Stockings and garland and Christmas lights. (Oh my!)
On top of all that, or maybe hidden underneath, is the meaning of what we’re celebrating. And if I’m honest, as much as I love baby Jesus, He often gets left in the manger while I’m busy trying to do everything else. So I’ve learned that when it comes to the holidays, preparing my heart is so important…