Carol Kuykendall - Give Them Wings: Preparing for the Time Your Teen Leaves Home

As I find myself navigating this new season of life with my oldest child finishing high school, I am deeply grateful that Carol and Krista have updated this must-read book. They have done an outstanding job addressing the issues that everyone in the family will go through before, during, and after this inevitable, scary, beautiful, awesome transition. Be prepared for both smiles and tears as you read! This book is what every parent needs to help our teenagers soar out of the nest and into the next season of life with confidence.

SHAUNTI FELDHAHN

Social researcher and best-selling author of For Women Only and For Parents Only

What a beautiful and helpful book! Give Them Wings offers practical ideas to prepare your adolescents for their eventual launch from your home. Carol and Krista are honest, vulnerable, and wise mentors who help us to live intentionally as we navigate the high-school and college years. Give Them Wings will help you face this transitional time with empathy and courage, and encourage you to surrender your children to the One who loves them best. Carol captures so tenderly those heart-wrenching moments of grief that accompany our kids leaving home. By following the wisdom in this book, you can face that moment knowing you have set them up for this transition, and have paved the way for fulfilling relationships with your adult children.

LISA THOMAS AND GARY THOMAS

Author of Sacred Marriage and Sacred Parenting

I just sent this text to my husband: Parenting is hard. Wasnt it just yesterday I was reading Carol Kuykendalls book Five-Star Families and getting insight for the golden years of child-rearing? Now Im closing in on sending my oldest son to college, and I can feel the rules of our relationship changing. Give Them Wings is a gift to me in this season. I know Im supposed to pivot somehow, but Im just not sure what that should look like. This book continues the mentoring relationship Carol has established with so many moms over the years and casts a beautiful vision for how we might help our kids leave home.

SARA GROVES

Singer/songwriter

Inspired, warm, personal, insightful, and instructive are just a few of the words I would use to describe this wonderful book. The young adult years can be so mysterious. But this book will guide you through your journey with your teens as though the authors are walking with you as personal friends. Theyll help you find strength and wisdom to launch your children well. You will love Give Them Wings.

SALLY CLARKSON

Author of The Lifegiving Home and The Lifegiving Parent , blogger, podcaster, and ministry leader

Ive known Carol Kuykendall since just after she wrote Give Them Wings the first time around. Weve written books together, led at MOPS International together, and done life together, and I can honestly say that I dont know anyone better to write on the topics of raising and releasing children. Give Them Wings was a classic go-to book when it was first released. Its even better in this updated and revised version. Sit down and open up a conversation with one of the wisest mothering mentors Ive ever known.

ELISA MORGAN

Speaker; author, The Beauty of Broken and The Prayer Coin; cohost, Discover the Word; president emerita, MOPS International

Since motherhood is a sisterhood, I need and crave! the guidance of wise big sisters. And thats why Im grateful for this treasure from Carol Kuykendall and Krista Gilbert, two experienced and highly credible moms who have walked before me and navigated the teenage years with the grace, humility, and godly mind-set I aspire to. Packed with encouragement, Give Them Wings is an uplifting resource that can help moms launch great kids and build relationships that last. Most importantly, the authors write from a foundation of faith, reminding us that good parenting is ultimately about surrender to God and glorifying Him in every season. Do yourself a favor and get this book!

KARI KAMPAKIS

Mom of four girls and author of Liked and 10 Ultimate Truths Girls Should Know

When I welcomed my first child into my arms, I had no idea how hard it would be to one day let him go. My heart only had room for dreams and plans, the kind of imaginings that were filled with memory-making and mama-loving. But then he grew up. And my once full house started to feel quite empty. Ive now made it through three high-school graduations, with three yet to go. This time, however, Ill have Carol Kuykendalls Give Them Wings handy to help this mamas heart and her children soar through this next season.

MICHELE CUSHATT

Author of Undone: A Story of Making Peace with an Unexpected Life

As parents of six children (five are teens), this book is like music to our ears and salve for our souls. Its a must-read for any parent entering this unfamiliar season of changing roles. Carol does a phenomenal job helping us keep this tender and sometimes painful season in perspective, and she continually reminds us that during each step, we can rely on our sovereign and all-sufficient God.

BARBARA GELINAS AND ROBERT GELINAS

Pastor, Colorado Community Church, Aurora, Colorado

With gratitude from a tenderhearted mama currently in this life season, I say to Carol Kuykendall and Krista Gilbert: Thank you, and this book is right on time. Give Them Wings is a lifesaver in maneuvering the launch of our kids out into this world a go-to resource for every parent who longs to let go with grace but wasnt given a manual at birth on how to do it.

LISA WHITTLE

Author of Put Your Warrior Boots On and 5-Word Prayers, speaker, and podcast host of 5 Word Prayers Daily

Give Them Wings offers practical ways parents can equip their kids and launch them from the nest well, capitalizing on the days they still have together. Im personally grateful to Carol and Krista for this excellent resource, and will refer back to it often as I prepare my own kids to fly.

JESSIE MINASSIAN

Author of Family: How to Love Yours (and Help Them Like You Back)

Though Give Them Wings is written with mothers in mind, its also valuable for fathers who have to face the reality of releasing their grown children into the world. The book informs both the mind and the heart of those preparing for this critical developmental milestone in the normal progress of the family life cycle. The chapter on marriage readjustments provides valuable strategies for navigating the potentially turbulent waters of the empty-nest season. Give Them Wings normalizes the stress of this chapter of life and provides hope for those approaching or engaged in this God-given process.

DOUGLAS M. JONES

Director of Marriage and Family Therapy Center, Whitworth College

Give Them Wings: Preparing for the Time Your Teen Leaves Home

1994, 2018 by Carol Kuykendall. All rights reserved.

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