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October, 2015
LizzyLife Newsletter

I'm Elizabeth—wife to Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome, mom to the four Thompson Crazies, writer of books and blog posts, grocery lists and lists of 13—and I look forward to sharing some of the wacky wonderfulness of family life together.

In this issue:

Fun LizzyLife news!
A free printable: "Scriptures to Help Our Family Get Along"
October posts you don't want to miss

LizzyLife is now on YouTube!

I’m excited to announce that the LizzyLife YouTube channel is up and running! I'm also excited to announce that our marriage and sanity survived the initial learning-curve process. I have to give a major shout-out to my husband, Kevin, the genius behind all things technical: lights, microphones, music, logos, scriptures scrolling across screens, even strategically placed coffee mugs. I hereby declare him Husband of the Year, and Slayer of Technological Demons.

So what’s the overall plan for the YouTube channel? As often as our marriage can stand it (probably 2–3 times a month), I’ll post brief 5- to 10-minute videos on a variety of topics, primarily about building family God’s way. We have begun a five-part series on essential foundations we need to establish in our kids’ hearts from an early age: love, obedience, respect, honesty, and responsibility.

If you want to be notified every time I post a new video, you can subscribe to the LizzyLife channel, and YouTube will send you an email.

Here are links to the first two videos in the series:

"First Comes Love": Cultivating a relationship of affection and expressiveness in our families.

"Establishing Obedience": What does obedience look like? What does it sound like? (Ahem. What does it NOT look and sound like?)

Thanks so much for watching!

October LizzyLife posts you don't want to miss:

13 Scriptures to Help Siblings Get Along:

Scroll down for a free printable version of these scriptures to hang on your refrigerator!

The sibling struggle is real, y'all. Close, caring sibling relationships don’t “just happen.” And it’s not just the “lucky families” who get to enjoy them. Any family can build close sibling relationships—any family! yours too!—if they are willing to put the work in. With God’s help and parents’ guidance, sibling relationships can develop into a lifelong source of joy and friendship. Here are 13 scriptures to help. Read the full article.

When Being a Grown-up Means You're Still Growing Up:

Begrudgingly, I sigh a little prayer: "I hear you, God. I don't like it, but I hear you." He's been trying to teach me something for a while now, and I've been fighting him, trying to find a way around it. But now, looking at my daughter's little apple trees, I let myself listen: Sometimes growing is like dying. Read the full article.

These Days of Small Things:

It’s a night for pumpkins and bonfires, sweatshirts and cider. It’s also a Saturday night, which means that the entire population of North Carolina has been inspired by our same not-so-brilliant idea: “Let’s spend two hundred dollars buying deep-fried candy bars wrapped in bacon, and then get on rides that simulate standing inside a blender, and try not to throw up!” Read the full article.

I'll see you on the blog soon, and in next month's newsletter!

Click here for a free printable: 13 Scriptures to Help Our Family Get Along

Click here for a free printable: "My Sermon Notes," a simple one-page sheet kids can use to take notes during church

Click here to download 13 CLEAN-UP GAMES TO KEEP HOUSEWORK FUN FOR KIDS

The Thirteenth Summer

Threats, love, and rock and roll . . . Crystal Waters never expected her 13th summer to go anything like this! Fancy hotels. Epic concerts. A decked-out tour bus. Old rock-and-roll guys who knew her when she wore diapers. The drummer’s son Luke, a.k.a. the cute surfer boy who makes Crystal’s heart skip beats. Dangerous secrets from her father's past. An obsessed stalker, making terrifying threats. Crystal’s thirteenth summer just got very complicated.

Buy The Thirteenth Summer

Who is Lizzy?

Elizabeth Laing Thompson works from home as a writer, editor, diaper changer, baby snuggler, laundry slayer, not-so-gourmet chef, floor mopper, kid chauffeur, dog groomer and tantrum tamer. She is always tired, but it's mostly the good kind.

October, 2015 LizzyLife Newsletter