Give Away with Susanne Scheppmann

*Give Away has Ended*

Well everyone..it is time for another Spring Has Sprung Give Away. This one is with my friend and fellow Proverbs 31 speaker Susanne Scheppmann. I knew the moment I met Susanne that she is the real deal. Her face and life just radiate Jesus in an authentic and contagious way. Now, this week, you can meet her too!

Susanne is an author and speaker with Proverbs 31 Ministries.  She believes in Heart-Print faith—faith that is fun, fearless and fulfilled.  She has resides in Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband, Mark.  They have three grown children and three very adorable grandchildren.  She loves to travel, read and fish.  Her “babies” at home are two little Shih Tzus, Jasmine and Taffy.

Susanne’s books include, Divine Prayers for Despairing Parents:  What to Pray When You Don’t Know What to Say, a devotional for parents of wayward children.  She has written two Bible studies, Birds in My Mustard Tree: How to Grow Your Faith and Perplexing Proverbs. Susanne’s book Embraced by the Father: Finding Grace in the Arms of God will release March of 2010.

Here is our interview:

Susanne, tell us what life is like at your house these days.

Oh goodness, it’s like a daycare center! Honestly, I went from three teens—to empty nest—to three grandchildren all under the age of three.  So, my house is baby-proofed for safety.  My “home accessories” include diapers, wipes, high-chair, crib–am sure you get the picture.  And I love every moment of it!

You have recently written a book on prayer for parents. What is it about and what lead you to write it?

Karen, I was a rebellious teen.  I know that my step-mother prayed for me and those prayers brought me back to faith.  I raised three teens and had to rely on the Lord for wisdom and guidance every day.   At times, especially if you have a wayward child, you become discouraged.  I wrote Divine Prayers for Despairing Parents after meeting a girlfriend for five years to pray for our children.  The stories are anecdotal, (to protect the innocent and the guilty), but the originated out of our true parental struggles.  When my prayer partner and I began to pray Scripture over our children, our spirits lifted and we were able to release our concerns to the Father.

What do you find hardest about raising children today?

Our children are exposed to adult information early in life.  Things that I didn’t learn about until I was in my late teens are now discussed in commercials, sitcoms, and music.  Protecting our children from this exposure is almost an impossible task.  We need to be as vigilant as possible and concentrate on open communication with our children to what is God’s truth.

 What verse or verses have become meaningful to you in your parenting years?

 One of my favorite practical verses is Proverbs 15:1, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”  After many times of blowing up at my children, I found a more effective was to use a gentle answer.  It diffused a potential argument, better than my yelling and threatening.”   Plus, I didn’t have to ask my children’s’ forgiveness, quite as much.

Karen, parenting wasn’t always easy for me.  In addition, we were a blended family which added complications.  There were certainly days when I wanted to shut-up, throw-up and give- up.  Psalms 27 is my “life” passage.   But verses 13-14, especially helped when all I could see was piles of loads of laundry, sniping siblings, and ungrateful urchins.  It gave me hope with these words, “I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”

Any advice for those moms who feel like throwing in the towel and giving up?

Find a girlfriend to pray with once or twice a month.  Attempt to commit to an hour of prayer together.  Stay on task, don’t chitchat, but pray in for earnest each of your children. Honor you children, by not sharing too much, but share enough information that you both can pray specifically for the needs of each individual child.

If you have younger children join some type of Moms group.  It will help you not to feel so isolated.  The relationships with these other moms will be invaluable on those days when you feel that no one can understand what you are going through every day.  Also, check out the D6 Conference that is being held in Dallas this September.  It is a special ministry designed to reconnect parents with kids.  Check it out at   http://www.d6conference.com

You are offering giveaways to the readers this week, what is it?

One copy of my book devotional book, Divine Prayers for Despairing Parents: What to Pray When You Don’t Know What to Say. Also, one copy of Birds in My Mustard Tree: How to Grow Your Faith.  It’s a six week Bible study written for individual or group study.  

Thanks so much, Susanne, for visiting with us!!

Here is how you can have a chance to win one of Susanne’s books. Leave a comment sharing your greatest parenting challenge or current desperate prayer for your child. Or, if time is short, just type “I’m in!” You can also tell us which book you’d prefer to win. The winners will be announced mid-week.

Well…I’m off to work on making and freezing food for Mackenzie’s graduation open house which is coming up in eleven short days!!!! Have a great week and I’ll be back  Wednesday or Thursday—after I’ve baked 300 cookies and browned a ton of ground beef for sloppy joes. YIKES!!!!

Sweet Blessings,