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RESOURCES from 4word

4word Blog

When Christmas Changes

When it comes to Christmas, I challenge you to find a more diehard fan than myself. Growing up, I often "joked" (not really a joke) that I wanted to dedicate an entire room in my future house to year-round Christmas decorations. My parents gave each Mechling child a small… Read More

I Want My Baby Back

Any parent will tell you that from the moment that little baby lets out their first cry, life becomes a roller coaster of happiness and heartbreak, balance and bittersweetness, pride and patience. Parents will also tell you that the roller coasters have many different loops and turns, each… Read More

5 Lessons Learned Since Quitting My Job

Making decisions about your family and children is never easy. With so many options and possibilities, choosing the right one can seem overwhelming. For Sonya Crawford Bearson and her husband, the challenge wasn’t in making the choice for Sonya to stay home- it came after. Sonya shares her story… Read More

Success OR Significance: Can't Have Both?

Pam Parish knew about living a quiet, successful life with her small but happy family. Then, she listened to God’s call to work for a church where Pam began to learn about living a life of significance. As God worked in her and her family’s hearts, they began… Read More

Motherhood: Expect the Unexpected

Ladies, it’s time to shatter that perfect image you have of motherhood. If you’re already a mother, most likely that image has already been broken. How are you handling it? How will you handle it? Adapting to the challenges life brings might be one of the hardest tasks… Read More

Give Mommy Guilt A Time Out

If you’re a working mom like me, I can tell you a few things about yourself. First, you’re tired.  I know. Me too! In each stage of my kids’ lives, I’ve thought that this would get better, that somehow once they got “just a little older,” I would… Read More

Doing Less, Because You Care

How often do you find yourself taking on extra work just because “It’ll be quicker if I do this myself?” Or even worse, because “no one else will do it right?” I’ve seen women (and men for that matter) around me who do this every day both in… Read More

The Fatherhood Project

In honor of Fathers Day this Sunday, we bring you a special interview with one of Diane’s colleagues, Dan Dolsen. Several years ago, Dan founded The Fatherhood Project, with one mission in mind: building great dads. From left to right: John, David, Kristin, Dan and Michael Dolsen… Read More

Celebrating Moms

In honor of Mothers Day this coming weekend, Diane and the 4word team are sharing our moms with you! Diane & Sharon. My mom lived her life with total confidence in the Lord’s providence.   And that confidence freed her to live generously, and to love others without reservation. … Read More

Supporting Your Teenagers

Many times as mothers of teenagers, we worry about how to connect with our children. How do you encourage your teens to grow up as men and women of character when they’re in the middle of those “my mom is so uncool” years? One way to connect your… Read More

A New Year for Love

It’s “resolutions” time again!  Something about starting a new year makes everything seem possible. That’s why it’s a great time to reflect on your goals for the year. Plenty of people make offhanded New Year’s resolutions. This year I encourage you to act, scheduling a specific time to… Read More

Without God in Your Heart…

Today, we continue our series with Sandra Crawford Williamson. The last two weeks, Sandra shared about wrestling with infertility; read part one and part two if you missed them. Today, Sandra shares how legalism affected her life and faith. -------------------- 4word: Tell us about the church you were… Read More

Wrestling with Infertility, Part 2

Good afternoon, everyone. We’re back with part two of our first interview with Sandra Crawford Williamson. If you haven’t yet, we recommend that you read part one. Otherwise, read on! -------------------- 4word: What kind of support system did you have going through this? Sandra: That's an interesting question… Read More

Wrestling with Infertility, Part 1

Today begins our interview series with Sandra Crawford Williamson, Founder and CEO of Crawford Consulting and a woman of marvelous faith in the Lord. This week, Sandra is sharing a particularly painful part of her story with us: her struggle through two years of infertility and four miscarriages.… Read More

Prayer and Healing

It’s been a rough couple of months. My Dad passed away in June, and shortly thereafter my daughter Annie came down with a mysterious illness. She was traveling in France at the time, and we now know that she picked up a bacterial infection that went misdiagnosed for… Read More

Anxiety, Depression and Pregnancy

Last week, Diane blogged about anxiety. Today, psychiatrist Leslie Walker shares her expertise on dealing with anxiety and depression during major life transitions like having a baby. -------------------- 4word: You said you like to help people manage life transitions. What is it that draws you to this particular… Read More

Transitioning to Motherhood, Part 2

Our interview today is a continuation of the conversation we began last week with 4word women Courtney and Meghan about making the transition to motherhood. Courtney is currently a full-time mom to her six-month-old, Ethan, and Meghan’s first baby is due in early August. We recommend that you… Read More

A Loving Conversation About “Working” Moms

Why so much anger over “working” moms? A CNNpolitical strategist named Hilary Rosen made a comment about Mitt Romney’s wife Ann that touched off a firestorm of talk about work and motherhood. In short, Rosen claimed it was inappropriate for Mitt Romney to laud his wife as a… Read More