Augausted

Yes, that is the correct spelling.  

August + exhausted= Augausted

May was coined several years ago as Mayhem, and we all understand why,  especially when you have kids in school. There are 10 end of year  ______ parties (fill in the blank with sports team, school club, social club, community activity, home school group, church bible study group) as well as teacher and coach gifts.

Remember, add to all this, the fact that you have to make peanut free, gluten free and sugar free (using no artificial sweeteners) treats for each of the these said parties. Did I mention the sports and academic awards banquets and oh, my kid needs to wear black dress pants for the end of the year band concert tomorrow night?!

As a church, we avoid scheduling anything for May. 

So, the world gets to take credit for Mayhem, but I’d like to introduce to the church community; Augausted!

The Definition of Augausted

If you are in any type of leadership position, whether you’re head honcho, team member or volunteer of any ministry at church, you know that August is kick-off and training season. 

Why August?

The rational is that everyone is back from their summer fun and ready to get back to a schedule and start churching. 

The problem is, it’s hard to plan for these events in the summer because everyone is out summering.

By the way, I do realize I am making up words, but, if you’ll accept Augausted,  I figured you’ll give me grace for churching and summering. 

Here we are closing out August and before we’ve had a chance to catch a week long nap, and after VBS, we’re running full steam ahead…we’ve launched into a potluck and prayer to send the kids to school, a training for our children’s volunteers (to remind them how awesome they are and slip in a few new policies), another training for the student ministry leaders, a small group leader training and a men’s and women’s kick-off night for fall studies.

Lest we forget, there’s the student kick-off night that you’ll need to bring those uber healthy treats for, the same ones you created for the end of the year part. Hope you froze some extras. 

If any of this sounds incredibly familiar, you and your key volunteers may be suffering from Augaustion.  A great gauge to test how much you might be suffering from this time of year is this: if the announcement page of your bulletin is longer than the Psalms and reads a bit like the book of Numbers you’ve come down with Augaustion. 

Still wondering if you’re experiencing this or not? You’ll also know by the 39 posters in the halls and 724 emails you’ve sent out reminding everyone of all the amazing things they should attend. 

Before you run screaming from your church building or pass out where you’re standing. I’m here to help–better yet, Jesus is here to help.

Ministry Survival Tips for the Augausted:

1. Do Something Different. Plan for next year and sleep a lot next July. Planning ahead is a great way to take lots off your plate next time. Take notes and figure out where you might make better choices for events next year. Include personal care to prepare for this crazy, busy time. Naps are a must. 
2. Design a Win Win. No one can be everywhere and do everything well. Prioritize what you actually must attend and bale out of the events that you don’t need to be at. Where you are, be all there. Win. Win.
3. Do Attend Events that Fill You Up. If you never get to be in worship because of work/volunteer duties, get coverage so you can worship. You can only pour out what God pours in first. 
4. Delegate Well. We all need help, even you. You are one person and you must make hard choices about your time and your energy. Don’t try to do it all alone. Give yourself and the volunteers on your team, grace and practice mercy when they don’t do things exactly the way you would. 
5. Do Practice Gratefulness. A thankful heart can only come from a grateful heart. Serving our creator, especially if you are paid staff, is an honor. Remind yourself that God is good and that He will give you the strength and energy you need. Above all else He is your audience. 

Augausted is real and while many of us are grateful to see September and fall rhythms, don’t allow August to steal your joy. Ministry work is the hardest job on the planet, but when we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us first, this job gets a whole lot easier–even when you’re Augausted.  Let God guide you and fill you with his purpose and energy to accomplish all that he has for you today and every day. 

The post A New Word for Ministry Leaders – Augausted appeared first on Joanne Kraft.

June 28th is the anniversary of the day our family arrived in the south. We spent our first night in Nashville after a scorching three-day cross country drive in a much-too-packed suburban full of kids, boxes and a whole lot of hope.

Leaving California wasn’t easy.

We left with only three of our four kids. Our oldest was a college grad who wanted to stay in Los Angeles. Boy howdy, that was tough.

We’d felt the nudges of moving for awhile, but Texas was where we thought we were supposed to be. Tennessee was a two year process of praying and planning.

I come from a long line of Californians who came to the west coast in the early 1900s. They left Europe for a better life, never to see their families again. Planting themselves in California, never to depart, not for anything, no matter what.

The last to leave everyone for a better opportunity was my great-grandma. A teenager of nineteen, she boarded a ship for America and never came home.  I wished from time to time I could ask her about what she’d felt like then.  A move like ours was unprecedented since she’d left Croatia.

Seven years ago, our silver Chevy Suburban drove in to Nashville on the hottest June 28^th in Tennessee history and I worried it was an omen of awful days to come. Thankfully, I was wrong.  I hesitate to sound like that “crazy Christian lady” who over spiritualizes everything, but to say anything else would be dishonest. God opened door after door and poured out blessing after blessing when we parked our car here.

Talking to family via Skype. Had to go to Starbucks for connections because our rental had no internet/wifi.

It Wasn’t Always Easy

Things weren’t always easy, like making new friends in my middle age, or watching my kids make new friends in junior high. Our family went through hard times in more ways than I can write,  but He was overwhelmingly, over-abundantly faithful.

We’ve had hundreds of friends and family stay with us over the years. (Yes, hundreds) We’ve shared over and over and over all the things the Lord has done for us since we’ve been in Tennessee. For those who don’t want to hear us talk about Jesus, we share the financial benefits; this seems to appease their appetite for information.

The truth is, faith has been the biggest factor and the greatest lesson for us and I pray for our kids.

Our move here opened up the idea of walking by faith one step at a time wherever God is pointing, trusting that He will catch us every step of the way. People talk about that all the time, but how many of us truly do it?

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22

Arriving in Tennessee

Our bank account was not bulging at the seams as some would want to believe. And, while I am NOT a “name it and claim it” kind of Christian, only after we packed up our home in California, drove for days and stepped into this state did the Lord bless us financially with work for my husband. We had no idea how that money was going to happen for us. We  rented when we arrived. But, that first year God provided financially in ways He never had before.

Money to pay the bills was a huge relief, but it wasn’t the greatest blessing.

Our time with family and friends who now come to visit for days at a time has been the sweetest thing.

The hurried lives we led back in California gave us no time to really spend together. A phone call or a passing birthday party where we had a few minutes here and there is not even close to the time we’ve been able to spend with aunts, uncles, cousins and friends since arriving here. It’s been the best part of leaving.

The more we know about what’s happening in our home state of California, the more we want to share Tennessee with everyone we love. But, the truth is, this is where the Lord brought us not them.  It may not be where He brings our loved ones.  You can’t blame me for wanting to collect everyone I love and bring them close.

Our move has been our best decision but it was God’s decision first. Paul and I reflect on days like this one, and all the work that went into getting here. We laugh about it now, that we didn’t listen to California friends who tried to warn us of the humidity, tell us, “Nothing is any different there.”,  or the naysayers who told us, “You’ll be back.”

What I’ve Learned So Far

My children are all grown up now. These are the lessons I learned from our cross-country leap of faith. The same ones I’d share with you if we were talking together over coffee:

• Faith in God grows when you don’t just read about faith but walk it out.

• You don’t have to live somewhere just because future generations chose to live there.

• Your family needs must come first, before coworkers and classmates, friends and relatives.

• Your kids will grow up, so take God’s hand and make your own way.

Teaching My Four to Say Yes to God

It’s not personal. I can’t be selfish.  My grown kids aren’t living next door. I want them to, but we taught them to go where God leads. My oldest lives with her husband eight hours away and my son and his wife live two hours away. My college aged girl is looking to move three hours away soon. This was not how my mom and dad raised me. We lived just minutes from their families. That wasn’t wrong, but it didn’t teach us to go where we can make our best life.

My grown kids are making their best life and I won’t stand in their way. The years my children benefit from our drive cross-country seven years ago will have a reach that will far outweigh my lifetime. Walking in faith has an eternal shelf life.  When Paul and I are long gone, I pray they get together on this day and remember all we loved and left behind to obey where God was pointing.

So, what about you? Where are you fearful to walk? When you fear taking risks in life that’s what you’ll teach your kids. Where is God pointing but you’re refusing to obey? As hard as it is to walk where you never have before, what you may lose in opportunity, and the sheer blessing of obedience might just be a whole lot harder to live with.

The post Our 7 Year Tenniversary appeared first on Joanne Kraft.

But, there is one thing even more tender to my heart than speaking engagements and that’s meeting women who are using The Mean Mom’s Guide as their study for a season.

Hundreds of you have gathered this year and if I just wish I could invite each of you over for a three-day coffee date at my house.

My heart swells thinking of you.

My Gift to YOU

So, since you don’t live next door and I can’t make you a cup of coffee or tea so we could sit on my couch all day, I wanted to love you and thank you with a gift.

Yes, small gifts are one of my love languages.

I love others the very same way, so —I designed this beautiful printable with YOU in mind.  

Thank you sweet mom, for joining groups this year and taking that leap of faith. I pray you discovered that being a “mean mom” is not a bad thing after all.

 THIS IS MY GIFT TO YOU!

Are you a single mom? Then, download THIS printable! You are loved mom. xo

The post My Gift to YOU Mom appeared first on Joanne Kraft.

Hey mom, how busy are you?

Is your calendar bulging at the seams?

Have you become your kids personal Uber driver, shuttling them from activity to activity?

If you answered yes to all of the above, then this podcast was taped for you!

Listen as author, Joanne Kraft, shares the ten reasons that opened her eyes to the cold hard fact: she was way too busy.

Learn the three things she does now before she says yes to anything.

Take this quick and fun busy-mom assessment.

Don’t forget your favorite mom this Mother’s Day!

Purchase Joanne’s books on Amazon – The Mean Mom’s Guide to Raising Great Kids and Just Too Busy-Taking Your Family on a Radical Sabbatical.    

The post Break Free From Busyness {Episode 08} appeared first on Joanne Kraft.

Mom guilt is that aching in the pit of our stomach. It comes on as soon as we hold our first child. That moment when we discover how much better we should be at motherhood. We torture ourselves with what we should’ve said or what we wish we shouldn’t have said or what we should’ve done but didn’t.

Mom guilt is emotional cancer. It eats away at thousands of good memories of motherhood, leaving a highlight reel of a dozen painful mistakes.  A highlight reel that plays over and over and over in our mind, year in and year out.

Mom guilt never grows smaller, it only grows bigger. Quite often though, we feel guilty about things we have no place feeling guilty about. God’s word explains just what guilt is and how to remedy this deep pain in a mom’s heart.

That’s why today, we’re tackling it once and for all--and before we’re done you’re going to finally know the cure.

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Looking for the printables Joanne mentioned in the podcast?

Sign up for her newsletter and she’ll send them out with her newsletter!

The post The Cure for Mom Guilt {Episode 07} appeared first on Joanne Kraft.

Are there any magic words a mom can use to truly encourage their child?

You’re going to find out today on the Mean Moms Podcast.

When my four were growing up I thought that telling them how great and wonderful they were was the right way to do it. If I only knew then what I know now.

I thought the right way was to say things  like, “Youre great.” or.”Youre so smart.”

Then I found out I was doing it all wrong.

Tune in to my newest episode. On the podcast today, you’re going to know the right and the wrong way to encourage your kids too…and my guess is you’re going to be as surprised as I was to discover how to do it well.

Help a mom out! Moms need to be encouraged. Shine a spotlight on The Mean Moms Podcast like this:

{Step One} Leave an iTunes Review here. 

{Step Two} Email TheMeanMomsPodcast@gmail.com to let us know you did it!

You’ll be included in a group coffee date  on February 28th with other moms like you!

AND, get this…you’ll be entered to win a solo Skype coffee date with Joanne later that same day.

Just the two of you–mom to mom.  Get to know the mom behind the book The Mean Mom’s Guide to Raising Great Kids.  

Pick her brain. Talk about mom-life together. Be encouraged.

The post Mean Moms Use Their Words {Episode 05} appeared first on Joanne Kraft.

Mom went to Heaven on April 27, 2001.

Her name was Mary Lou.

It’s not a very common name.

I didn’t realize the things I’d miss when mom passed, like hearing someone say her name.

I felt betrayed by the calendar when mom died. Days kept coming. Life kept moving.

How could the earth keep spinning when my world had stopped?

Yet, it did.

Life goes on when someone you love dies. The sun still comes up each morning and months and years come and go, whether you’re hurting or not.

That first year was especially hard – so many “firsts” to go through. I didn’t want my mom to be forgotten. That’s why special days of the year were hard for me, especially her birthday.

How do you celebrate someone in Heaven on their birthday?

Lots of people tried to comfort me with their constant reminders about Heaven. And, yes, their kind attempts did mean a lot to me, but their lives kept spinning and mine was shattered.

I tried to do things that first year that honored my mom’s memory. Even though she had a new heavenly address, I wanted her life to be honored here. So, her first birthday that rolled around, I decided to do something for someone else in her place.

Since I couldn’t do something for her here, I decided to do something for someone else.

I gathered my four children loaded them in the car and went to purchase a huge bouquet of flowers. Then, I drove to the nearest assisted living facility and walked up to the front counter with my kids in tow. I’d never been to this place, so I wasn’t sure of their policies.

Our little group gathered around the desk as I explained my mission.

“We’re here to deliver flowers to someone special.” I smiled.

“What is the person’s name?” the woman smiled back.

“I don’t know. I was hoping you’d give these to a person here who doesn’t get visitors.  Do you have someone living here who needs to know they’re loved today?”

The woman looked at me quizzically, apparently not the one to make decisions, she said, “Can you wait just a minute? I’ll call my manager. “

My kids buzzed around me, as I stood there second-guessing our little field trip, Maybe I should’ve done something else for mom today?

After a few minutes, a woman strode down the hall towards us. She smiled and explained that she’d love to bring flowers to someone here today.

I shared, “It’s actually my mom’s birthday today and we wanted to do something in her place, something I know she’d love. Kind of a way for us to turn our missing her into a good thing for someone else.”

She listened and smiled. “I can definitely help you do that.”

“Oh, I almost forgot, my name is Joanne.” I reached out my hand to shake hers.

“My name is Mary Lou.” She smiled back.

Confirmation to me that we were exactly where we needed to be.

10 Ways to Honor a Loved One in Heaven

Are you struggling with the loss of someone you love? Here are some ways to honor their memory on special days and or just any day:

• Messages to Heaven: Write letters and attach them to helium balloons. Go to a special place and let them go. Watch your words make their way to Heaven.
• Make a Meal: Make their favorite dinner and cake on their birthday.  Or, eat out at their favorite restaurant. Celebrate their birthday with your closest family and share one thing you love most about them, then take turns each year blowing out their birthday candles.
• Watch a Movie: What was their favorite movie? Make their birthday the day you watch it together. Don’t forget to make popcorn!
• Memory Box: Create a memory box. Decorate with stickers, paint or images that remind you of your loved one. Put your favorite things from that person inside, photos, a handwritten note, a pen they always used, that sort of thing. Open on days you need to feel their love.
• Music: Create a playlist of their favorite songs, or songs that remind you of him/her. Play on special days. Those songs that once brought tears, now after many years, bring much joy when I blast it for my kids and we sing along.
• Memory Jar: Decorate your very own memory jar. Write notes filled with funny sayings they said, stories, ways they loved you well. Tuck a memory inside your jar each time one comes to mind.
• Ornaments: Don’t know what to do with your loved ones clothes? Make a memory ornament.  Cut one of their favorite shirts into strips and put them inside a clear ornament. Hang on the tree.  Scan a note with their handwriting and place it as a tag on the outside.
• Tickets: Did they have a favorite baseball or football team? Purchase a ticket and watch a game in their place. Being close to the things your loved one favored can make that person feel closer.
• Love Someone: Drop off an anonymous gift, note, homemade cookies or bouquet to someone on your loved one’s birthday, anniversary, or holiday. Pain is a constant companion when you’re grieving. It’s how love expresses itself when you lose someone. But, giving away some of the love you have inside of you can ease that pain.

Loving someone in Heaven is a forever thing. Love never dies. Instead of nursing your pain today, spend a little of that love on someone else–just for them this year.

The post Celebrating Your Loved One in Heaven appeared first on Joanne Kraft.

Are you running on fumes and spending more time in your car than in your home?

Then it’s time for a Radical Sabbatical.

You need a break.

You need some rest.

And you need to know how to start…

If you love your girlfriends, grab your copies here and drag them along for the ride. 

Family Life Today shared my words of wisdom to busy moms all over the world in a two part series: JUST TOO BUSY.-Breaking Free from Busyness.

Are you in captivity to their activity? Do you want to break free from the bondage of busyness?

Tune in here and hit play…then close your eyes and be encouraged.

If you’re driving, please keep your eyes open.

The post Hey Busy Mom, It’s Time for a Radical Sabbatical appeared first on Joanne Kraft.

Would you like to enjoy a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner?

Then, teach your child good manners.

A dry turkey and burnt stuffing is not the end of the world. if you bomb at cooking your meal this year it really has nothing to do with how good your holiday will be.

The truth test of a successful family gathering is how well your kids behave around the table.

Discover simple manners every child should know, then hear what Joanne says about mom-manners that can be lacking and just what you need to do to be invited back over for Thanksgiving next year!

FREE PRINTABLE

Take the Cold Turkey Cell Phone Challenge and download printables to tame your cell phone habit.

Help other moms find The Mean Moms Podcast. Make sure to subscribe, share on your social media and leave an iTunes review! 

The post Must-Have Manners For a Great Thanksgiving Dinner {Episode 04} appeared first on Joanne Kraft.

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Do you shout at your kids?

Join the club.

Today on The Mean Moms Podcast we’re talking about yelling. It’s the universal language of motherhood and the part of raising my kids that I regret the most. But, today, I’m sharing what I’ve learned over the years and all the things I wish I’d known a lot sooner.

• Learn how to make your home a shout-free zone.
• Be inspired to do this one thing to make yelling at your kids a distant memory.
• Discover my “serial killer” technique.

FREE PRINTABLE

Need a little refresher course in parenting with a quite voice? Download 7 Ways to Quit Yelling at Your Kids and make your home a shout-free zone!

Help other moms find The Mean Moms Podcast. Make sure to subscribe, share and leave an iTunes review! 

The post How to Quit Yelling at Your Kids {Episode 03} appeared first on Joanne Kraft.