Amber Koehn | The Grit and Grace Project

Why You Need to Let Your Teenager Go

My daughter’s middle school recently held a parent meeting for students interested in its biennial trip to Washington, D.C., and surrounding areas. This excited me and also terrified me for a couple of reasons. It doesn’t seem possible that I have a child old enough to go on the same trip I went on, but then again, it doesn’t seem likely that it’s been 25 years since I went on that trip. The adventure consists of several days on the east coast touring monuments and museums in D.C., Pennsylvania, and Virginia. It is held every other year for students who have completed eighth grade, and it is a phenomenal learning experience. The teacher who hosted the meeting has been the primary sponsor […]

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3 Marks of a Matriarch: Love, Understanding, and Grace

By Amber Koehn / Faith, Motherhood

“Grace, then, is grace—that is to say, it is sovereign, it is free, it is sure, it is unconditional, and it is everlasting.” – Alexander Whyte. I have always wanted a large family. My mom came from a smaller family. She only had one brother, and he never married. When my mom and dad married, they just had my brother and me, so we were the only children on that side of the family. It had its perks (we never had to share our grandparents!), but it also had its drawbacks, because whenever we got together with everyone, my brother and I only had each other to play with. If you can imagine, it wasn’t a whole lot of fun, especially as

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This Is How to Face the Homework Battle

By Amber Koehn / Motherhood

If you are a mother, chances are you’ve had to deal with your fair share of homework battles. Some instances have probably been minor, like your child forgetting to bring their homework back to school or not getting the required signatures on a form. But some cases have probably been a little more extreme (think full-blown temper tantrum–and I’m not talking about your child). I remember one such occasion with my oldest. It was four years ago when she was in the third grade. I was going about my afternoon, getting ready to start dinner, when I was interrupted by an extremely upset 9-year-old. Like, epic upset. She had been working on her math homework for all of five minutes and deemed

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All the Feels from This First-Time Mom of a Teenager

By Amber Koehn / Motherhood

At the end of July, I will become the mom of a teenager. I am having a difficult time swallowing that thought: mom of a teenager. It was just yesterday that this sweet, shy two-year-old with spiral ringlets was playing with her Playskool Busy Ball Popper and reading Where Is Baby’s Belly Button? This girl who, at a very young age, fell in love with classic musicals like State Fair, The King and I, and The Sound of Music has now moved on to The Hunger Games and Harry Potter. How can she be 13? I swear I just gave birth to her. She was this tiny preemie (born four weeks early), but she was ready to take on our big, scary world.

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5 Ways to Reduce Your Risk of Breast Cancer

What is the Difference Between Being Cured and Healed?

By Amber Koehn / Faith

Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD) is an extremely rare autoimmune disease. In fact, it is so rare that no one knows what causes it, and there is no cure. It is a combination of four separate autoimmune diseases that manifest in many different ways with many different symptoms. In a nutshell, if you have MCTD, your body slowly kills itself. My mom was diagnosed with MCTD in 2003, even though she had started showing symptoms as far back as 1997. At the time, her doctors only gave her about five-seven years to live. They really had no idea what to expect or how to treat her, so she became a living case study. Experimental treatment after experimental treatment only seemed to delay

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When Is Enough Enough For Your Competitive Athlete?

By Amber Koehn / Motherhood

I am going to take a leap of faith and assume that every parent reading this wants the best for their children. Whether it’s in academia, music, sports, or other activities, we hope our children succeed, and we as parents will do whatever it takes to support them on their journey. Sometimes, that support involves a steep financial obligation or giving up family weekends to be at the ball fields. Other times, support is found in making difficult decisions involving our children’s physical and emotional well-being. My story involves the latter. It’s a story that centers around coaches of competitive youth sports. Now, for the most part, people who coach competitive sports are wonderful, encouraging folks. They understand the commitment the athletes (and

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