Darlene Brock

Darlene, President of The Grit and Grace Project, is crazy enough to jump in the deep end then realize she may not have a clue where she’s landed. She has spent her adult life juggling careers in the music business, been an author, a video producer, and also cared for her family ... some days drowning, other days believing she’s capable of synchronized swimming.

A moms four most devastating words

The Most Devastating Words You Can Say as Mom

I was listening to the radio a while back, and the three grown men who were hosting began a dialogue about punishments they were given as a child. The list was vast. They laughed through their comparisons of infractions they accomplished and the penalties they were awarded: grounding, car keys taken away, dad’s belt was among them. Then one of these gentlemen paused and said, “I’ll tell you the worst—it’s when my mom said, ‘I’m disappointed in you.’ That one was horrible.” The moaning and commiserating began. “That’s the truth; there’s nothing worse. It makes you feel awful,” one said. “Yeah, my mom said that and I remembered it for days. There is nothing worse than disappointing your mom,” replied another. Now, these […]

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Remarriage—5 Tips for How to Make it Work

Remarriage—5 Tips for How to Make it Work

In the words of Samuel Johnson, remarriage is, “The triumph of hope over experience.” Hope should remain that a healthy second marriage can be found. To do that, here are a few tips to ponder before taking that next, fateful step. 1. Don’t hang on to past emotions. Whether you are widowed or divorced, there are emotions you are left with that must be dealt with. A new marriage will have its own set of relationship challenges to work out, so the addition of old problems with the new ones will only make things more difficult. 2. Be honest with yourself. Whether widowed or divorced, you must be willing to look at your past relationship and assess your role. We all can improve

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So You Want to Be Your Own Boss? 4 Things You Should Know

So You Want to Be Your Own Boss? 4 Things You Should Know

You want to own your own business, become the boss with a goal of finding success and independence from another’s day-to-day expectations. From Shark Tank to house flipping, from launching your Etsy product line to joining a multi-level marketing company, there seem to be a million ways to gain that independence. I have heard the phrase often and excitedly stated: “I’m going to land a business.” Having owned several businesses, I can say there absolutely is a level of independence and control to be found in being your own boss. But if you think “the buck stops here” is merely a phrase of importance, you miss the reality that it is also one of responsibility. There is so much more to being

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Sneaky-Teen-Texting-Trends-You-Need-to-Know-About

Sneaky Teen Texting Trends You Need to Know About

If you are raising a teen or a soon to be teen, or if you simply have a human in your life who’s in the middle of those challenging years—a nephew, niece, or the child of a friend—there are some things you need to know. In the fast-moving culture in which we live, there are new minefields popping up that many of us are unaware of as we go about our daily life. This is one of those that, for me, I thought I knew a bit about. But the breadth of this data shook the foundation of what I thought I knew. In the wake of a recent study by Common Sense Media, it’s become the norm that teens prefer to text their

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conquering the im not enough syndrome

How to Conquer the “I’m Not Enough” Syndrome

Do you find these thoughts in your daily dialogue? “I’m not smart enough, thin enough, pretty enough, talented enough…” If you had a friend who said these things to you, you would quickly un-friend them in every area of your life. So, why do you to say these things to yourself? These lying, “not enough” phrases are nothing more than barriers that keep you from being all you were created to be. So, what do you do? Here are 6 steps to gaining a new perspective: 1. End the comparing! You were not created to be someone else; you are on this planet to accomplish something only you can do. 2. Stop striving. Perfection isn’t achievable nor is brilliance necessary. Many “C” students

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Raising Great Girls Available Now

Raising Great Girls, Help for Moms to raise confident, capable daughters

  Get your copy of Raising Great Girls by Darlene Brock now! A Few Words From Darlene: Hindsight: the ability to understand a situation only after it has happened. While this is true of all things, I have found it especially true when looking back at the season that I raised two daughters while working, traveling, and juggling life. That task was both the most incredible and challenging job of the many I held. The idea to write this book came from me reflecting on the years of my girls growing up and listening to other moms experience the same fears and frustrations today that I did back then. A new purpose was formed in my heart to offer moms some insight on

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5 Lessons Every Woman in the Workplace Should Learn

5 Lessons Every Woman in the Workplace Should Learn

There is an education needed for every woman in the workplace—one that has nothing to do with their chosen career. It rests heavily on real-life instruction and will help you to avoid becoming ensnared in those “Oh dear, what should I do now?” moments that happen in almost every workplace. Here are 5 lessons every working woman needs to learn: 1. The Side-Hug The key to successfully maneuvering the side hug (when you see the inappropriate full-frontal hugger heading your way) is to wait until he gets about five feet in front of you, then quickly pivot 90 degrees to your right. He will run into your shoulder or elbow, the most uncomfortable parts of a woman’s body. 2. Dodging the Gossip

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Relationship Truths Found in the Bachelorette

5 Bachelorette Truths That Will Make You Glad You Watch

Millions of us will tune in to watch as one man’s heart is broken and another wins the prize. The season finale of The Bachelorette is almost here. We find ourselves in emotionally charged conversations, pitting the merits of Californian outdoorsman, Garrett, against the athlete from Colorado, Blake, over our second cup of coffee. Bets placed in office pools and online forums lay odds on who will be the recipient of the final rose. When I think about it, I do get somewhat uncomfortable. Do I want to see a grown man crumble on prime time TV? Maybe not, but tune in I will. As I have watched this season, I have realized that there are real-life lessons to be learned from

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When Moving, This Is One Thing You Need to Leave Behind

When Moving, This Is One Thing You Need to Leave Behind

I have moved both my mother as well as my father-in-law recently and landed back on my doorstep declaring, “I am cleaning out my house!” If I haven’t touched it, worn it, or even dusted it in awhile, it’s going out the door! It’s not even that they had too much stuff; they just had a house of life. When that’s the case, you end up packing more boxes than you want to load on a truck. Just when you get one box filled, you realize there is another pile you haven’t even touched yet. This exercise leaves one with the desire to never have to do it again. These moves did make me ponder… As we relocate from one home to another, it’s

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take it easy on your friends

Take It Easy—On Your Friends

Do you ever butt heads with some of your favorite people in the world? Those friends who hold a special place in your heart—who’ve cried with you when you cried, laughed alongside you at the craziness of life, and even chided you when you needed that extra kick… Let’s talk about keeping a great friendship alive. It doesn’t take a lot, even though sometimes it may seem like it does. Here are 5 things to remember for every friendship you want to hold onto: 1. You’re not a perfect friend. When you feel like you’ve been let down or disappointed by someone who you thought would never fail you, remember that friendship is a relationship between two imperfect people—and you are one of them. You

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5 Ways to Handle Hard Circumstances with Grit and Grace

5 Ways to Handle Hard Circumstances with Grit and Grace

Life does not offer constancy. Whether it’s because of a decision we’ve made, the choices of others, or simply due to life circumstances, we will all face seasons of change. Some are positive, exciting, and looked forward to with anticipation. Others can be created by heartbreak, disappointment, or circumstances beyond our control. But whatever the cause—they will come. If you are at one of those impasses, those crossroads of life, here are a few things you will want to do: 1. Remember it’s temporary. There are exceptions, but there is very little in life that you are facing, have faced, or will face that is permanent. 2. Review the past. It doesn’t take much life experience to discover you can and have

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This Will Make You Question Why You Judge New Christians

This Will Make You Question Why You Judge New Christians

I have a question for all who share my faith, for my brothers and sisters in the family of God; something that has troubled me for a very long time. Why do we want to disprove someone’s faith? How often has a celebrity, convicted felon, politician, or person of notoriety made a statement of faith and our community feels the need to get involved? What are we trying to accomplish by diminishing another’s faith? We usually have one of two responses; the first is to make that individual the poster child of God’s followers. A pressure no one needs. The second, which has broken my heart many times, is that we explain—at great length, in every public forum available—why that person’s faith

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If Your Daughter Is Boy-Crazy, You Need to Read This

If Your Daughter Is Boy-Crazy, You Need to Read This

My daughters entered life as different creatures when it came to the opposite sex. To one, the attention of boys meant a lot. The other, well, not so much. I can’t say what created the difference; perhaps just their personalities because they came from the same gene pool. You may have one of those girls—maybe your daughter is boy-crazy, too! Since I was never one who was boy-crazy, I found it quite perplexing, feeling uncertain how to address this new frontier. My eldest daughter just liked the attention of boys. She wasn’t necessarily attached to them. In fact, we often said she discarded boys as one does a tissue in allergy season. I often felt sorry for those young men who showed

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How-to-Provide-Comfort-for-Your-Children-in-Uncertain-Times

How to Provide Comfort for Your Children in Uncertain Times

I can’t seem to stop thinking about the school shooting on Valentine’s Day. Several days have passed, yet it still lies in the back of my mind. The discussion will continue, how can we prevent this from ever happening again, how do we protect our schools, so we never lose another child? The conversation needs to take place. We need to protect our children as they head out each morning to be taught, to develop relationships, to gather the tools they will need to gain life’s opportunity. But that is not the immediate conversation most of us will have with our families. Thankfully, most mothers won’t have to experience this heartbreaking loss or the nightmares of the child who personally felt it’s

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Managing Your Money So It Doesn't Manage You

Managing Your Money So It Doesn’t Manage You

There are a few things that seem to drive us all crazy, for me some days there may be many. But one that definitely tops the list is the challenge of making ends meet—stretching the budget to pay the bills. It seems like we are always chasing that “I wish I could just get this figured out and keep it that way” illusive dream. So we jump into a new program, a budgeting system, or a great resolution that tomorrow will be different. The problem is we don’t give ourselves a break, instead we look at the challenge and then beat ourselves up when we realize we can’t change it in just a few days. Oftentimes this leads us to get discouraged

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Take It Easy—On Your Man

Take It Easy—On Your Man

Sometimes we can be a bit hard on the men in our lives, mostly because we don’t understand how they do life. The good news is that our genders are different. Understanding and appreciating those differences will help us relax. Whether it’s a boyfriend, boss, co-worker, son, or spouse, when we remember that they just think differently, it can simplify life and reduce conflict. So here are a few things to never forget when you are dealing with the opposite sex: 1. Men hear what we say, not what we mean. It’s movie night and you say you don’t care what you see, he believes you really don’t care—then immediately purchases tickets for the biggest action movie in the theater. 2. They want to

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The-House-Guest-Rules-You-Really-Mean

What “My Home Is Your Home” Really Means

With the holidays upon us, we’re bound to have a house guest or two. I have a theme I repeat to my guests that I sincerely mean, “My home is your home.” Since that is true, these are the house rules for all who walk through our door with luggage in hand: 1. If you’re hungry, fix it. The pantry and refrigerator can be found in the kitchen. 2. If you need something, find it. It may require the determination of an archeologist, but it is there for the digging. 3. If you break it, I don’t mind. Unless it’s part of your body…then legal liability protection for my relatives, my bank account, and I step in. 4. Duration of the stay will be determined by how

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