Darlene Brock | The Grit and Grace Project

These Parenting Styles Will Make You Think (Or Cringe!)

Parenting the next generation has become a competitive sport. Teams assemble with their parental philosophies—doing what they think they need to do to ensure their offspring get a win, whatever that win may be. Our current culture encourages parents to be the one responsible for making sure that their little one has all he or she needs to become a pro athlete, a Rhodes scholar, or a star of stage and screen. This thinking has become tantamount to achieving the goals, and expectations parents have set for their children. I know that parenting is a challenge. We want our children to succeed in life, to be afforded life’s opportunities, and to grow up to be productive individuals. There is nothing wrong with […]

These Parenting Styles Will Make You Think (Or Cringe!) Read More »

7 Tips for Taking Life One Bite at a Time

By Darlene Brock / Purpose

I need to tell myself to get “back in the swing of things” about every two and a half months. I begin by being on target for what I need to do, goals created, focus established, all tools gathered, and I head off. Then, for some reason, I find myself off the rails… looking around, trying to figure out what I need to do, and how I got off track. When I get to this point, I know it’s time to gather the same “Here’s what I need to do” tasks that—when I do them (truth is, I don’t always)—work every time. Here’s what they are: 1. I stop and I shut down. Whether it’s a very long walk in the woods, a movie marathon day,

7 Tips for Taking Life One Bite at a Time Read More »

Why You Should Build a Powerful Diverse Team

By Darlene Brock / Work & Money

During my years in the music business, it became abundantly clear to me that to achieve what we wanted to accomplish, we had to have a diverse team to succeed. One would have thought the talent displayed in the musicians was all that was required. A great song easily found success, right? While it was true their abilities were the ones most evident to success, it was also the collection of all the team players that enabled us to flourish. When the individual talents were gathered and merged, it often reminded me of a big successful party. The end of the planning, execution, and delivery told all: either everyone had a good time, or if some part of the plan failed, the

Why You Should Build a Powerful Diverse Team Read More »

Do Strong Women Like Masculine Men?

By Darlene Brock / Life & Culture, Relationships

Each week, Monday night finds women and their girlfriends stuck to the television, watching The Bachelor to see who gets the rose. Whether we attend an event with a room full of girls and food or frantically join our group text with opinions, we all hope for romance. The thoughts we share with one another seem to reflect upon what we are looking for in a man. The list often goes like this: one who will be strong, steady, loving, kind, sensitive, and a go-getter that knows what he wants. We also still wouldn’t mind if our man let us cry on his shoulder now and then, and brandish his weapon of choice to help us defeat our foe, even if we

Do Strong Women Like Masculine Men? Read More »

Homelessness: Do We See the Person Behind the Problem?

By Darlene Brock / Life & Culture, Purpose

“Heart to God, hand to man” is a slogan first spoken by William Boothe, the founder of the Salvation Army. It was also the inspiration of a song written and recorded by one of the musicians I worked with, Geoff Moore. The concept captured his heart: an answer to the plight of humankind first introduced in the late 1800s for the homeless, the hurting, and those in need. Realizing that this same need had not changed, Moore wanted to reintroduce that passion to a new generation. Because of that, we partnered with the Salvation Army, and that relationship educated me in a way that I hadn’t expected. To understand what the Salvation Army did, we went to their facility in Nashville, Tennessee

Homelessness: Do We See the Person Behind the Problem? Read More »

Remarriage—5 Tips for How to Make it Work

By Darlene Brock / Relationships

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

Remarriage—5 Tips for How to Make it Work Read More »

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

By Darlene Brock / Work & Money

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

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

Sneaky Teen Texting Trends You Need to Know About

By Darlene Brock / Life & Culture

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

Sneaky Teen Texting Trends You Need to Know About Read More »

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

By Darlene Brock / Purpose

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

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

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

By Darlene Brock / Motherhood

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

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

5 Lessons Every Woman in the Workplace Should Learn

By Darlene Brock / Work & Money

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

5 Lessons Every Woman in the Workplace Should Learn Read More »

Relationship Truths Found in the Bachelorette

5 Bachelorette Truths That Will Make You Glad You Watch

By Darlene Brock / Life & Culture

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

5 Bachelorette Truths That Will Make You Glad You Watch Read More »

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

By Darlene Brock / Purpose

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

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

Take It Easy—On Your Friends

By Darlene Brock / Relationships

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

Take It Easy—On Your Friends Read More »

5 Ways to Handle Hard Circumstances with Grit and Grace

By Darlene Brock / Purpose

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

5 Ways to Handle Hard Circumstances with Grit and Grace Read More »

This Will Make You Question Why You Judge New Christians

By Darlene Brock / Best Of, Faith

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

This Will Make You Question Why You Judge New Christians Read More »

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

By Darlene Brock / Motherhood

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

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