Susan Merrill's Blog, page 40

The Queen Of In A Minute

My son is missing from this picture. His look was a lot more exasperated than the dogs. He had been waiting for me and waiting for me and waiting for me to go for a ride. And so were the dogs.

You see we don’t own this red Willy but we love him. And we were on borrowed time. So my son was rather anxious to make the most of our time before Willy had to go back to his owner.

But I am the queen of “I’ll be there in a minute!”

It is not a royal position. It does, however, make me a royal pain to my...

Shaunti Book Giveaway Winners!

Thanks to everyone who entered to win in the Shaunti Feldhan book giveaway!

Our two winners are Joey Santos from Florida and Brooke Nunns from Nebraska.

Please contact Madison@familyfirst.net so she can ship out your books. YAY Joey and Brooke!

All Aboard the Peace Train…

I have a friend, Carla – she’s from Birmingham… I tell you that so you can read her words with a Southern accent. One day I happened to call her right after she picked up her carpool, and she had a carful of kids. As I was chatting with her she interrupted our conversation to caution her children.

“Hey ya’ll, listen up! I am on the Peace Train today and you are fixin’ to make me get off track. If I have to get off the Train, you will regret it!”

I laughed and asked what in the world she was tal...

Shaunti Feldhahn Book Give Away

This is my friend Shaunti–I love her. And I just saw her last week at the Hearts At Home Conference. This woman has it going on in places that I can only dream of going. She gets men and she gets women and what’s more she gets how to explain them to each other. This is a RARE gift! Mark and I have read her books, used her books in our relationship and used her books with our kids. Another reason she is so unique is that she does so much research and thousands of interviews with men and women...

How to Ruthlessly Prioritize

Marissa Mayer, former CEO of Google and now the CEO of Yahoo, is making headlines. After giving birth in August, she spoke at Fortune Magazine’s “Most Power Women” dinner and shared the secret of her success: ruthless prioritization.

When it comes to herpriorities, the 37-year-old CEO says, “For me, it’s God, family, and Yahoo, in that order.”Yahoo’s stock has gone up 18 percent since Mayer took the helm, so perhaps her advice is worth heeding.

But how does one ruthlessly prioritize?

JOIN THE DELIVERY TEAM AND GET A FREE COPY OF MY NEW BOOK BEFORE IT’S RELEASED!

We are so excited about the delivery of our new baby,The Passionate Mom, Dare to Parent in Today’s World. The book was a daring journey for me–so much reflection about my own parenting and all that I have learned from reading and working with other moms at iMOM.com. I am deeply passionate about you and your desires as a mom and I am hoping and praying that this book will:

inspire moms to passionately become the best mom they can be
provide moms a plan on how to parent with confidence
encourage m...

3 Reasons to Delay Childhood Romance

It seemed innocent enough. Cute, even when 10 and 12 year olds want to be Valentines and even go on a date. But research is cautioning parents to think twice about encouraging childhood romances and there are several reasons why parents should try to delay dating.

Hearts At Home

Hearts at Home — I can’t wait!

There are lots of reasons I love this conference and this year more than ever.

First, the founder of the conference, Jill Savage, recently became one of our iMOM.com specialists. She is a prolific author and we love her content including her new bookNo More Perfect Moms. If you know me you will no why I love this book — imperfection is my middle name.

Second, it gives me immense pleasure to get away and spend time with moms. It totally energizes me and renews my p...

When You Can’t Live Without Friends

There are times in a mom’s life when she simply cannot live without friends. I have been through one of those times.

Years after I received my first pacemaker at seventeen, it gave out. I had three small children ages 5, 3 and 1. New doctors did new tests and gave me a new diagnosis. They felt that I probably didn’t need a pacemaker. They put me on steroids instead. I was not the same person. After a year, I had an appointment with my old doctor in Houston for a second opinion. We flew in for...

I Feel Better When I Cook

I have been resolutely cooking now for 6 weeks–not every night, just twice a week. I skipped one week because I was traveling. The results in my mind are clear–home cooking is good for the soul. Not only is it better for your health, it’s better for your family. You feel more connected.

Setting the table, the smell of simmering deliciousness, tripping over hungry, hovering peeps trying to get a taste–it’s all homeyness. And I really mean this–for a working, busy mom like me I couldn’t and woul...