Terry Lynn Humphrey Coaching

12/16/2025

Teach us.

12/15/2025

For so many parents of adult children, Christmas isn’t just merry and bright…
it’s layered.

There’s joy — for the growth, the blessings, the new seasons your children are living in.
And there’s ache — for what feels different, distant, or not quite how you imagined.

You’re not doing it wrong.
This is simply what love looks like when our children become adults.

You can grieve the traditions that shifted and be grateful for the new ones forming.
You can long for deeper connection and celebrate who your child is becoming.
You can hold a little sadness and a whole lot of hope.

God meets you right in the tension of it all —
in the letting go,
the holding on,
and the believing that He is creating something good,
even in seasons that feel unfinished.

“The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me.” — Psalm 138:8

What is something new you’re doing this Christmas season?
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12/15/2025

As our children grow, Christmas naturally stretches across more than one home and more than one rhythm. This isn’t rejection — it’s adulthood. And choosing flexibility can become one of the greatest gifts you give your family.

Scripture reminder:
“Love is patient, love is kind… it does not insist on its own way.”
— 1 Corinthians 13:4–5

Parents who approach adult children with warmth plus flexibility experience stronger long-term connection. Pressure creates distance; flexiblity creates safety.

When you lower expectations, offer options, and make room for their growing family, your adult children feel respected, trusted, and loved.


It’s not always easy. But it’s deeply meaningful.

What’s one way you’re practicing flexibility or grace this Christmas?

12/14/2025

Hold true to who you are and what you believe

12/14/2025

Christmas is the story of God entering hard places — and many parents of adult children are carrying quiet hurt this time of year. When distance grows or communication feels uneven, it’s easy to assume you failed or that the story is over. But Scripture reminds us otherwise:

“As for me, I will always have hope.” — Psalm 71:14

Research shows that strained parent–adult child relationships often improve when just one person stays steady, warm, and emotionally regulated.
Hope isn’t passive — it’s a posture.

A few tools to help you stay steady this season:

• Stop rehearsing worst-case scenarios.
Your mind fills gaps with fear — replace fear with truth.
• Create healthy boundaries with your thoughts.
Not every feeling deserves a storyline.
• Cultivate a life outside your adult children.
Purpose, friendships, and joy create resilience.

God often begins His healing work beneath the surface — long before the fruit becomes visible.

Where do you sense God inviting you to trust Him more deeply this Christmas?

12/13/2025

12/13/2025

Long but worth it.

12/04/2025

7 Things to Refuse This Christmas

1. Refuse to miss out on enjoying your day. Play with your kids, snuggle on the sofa, drink eggnog if that’s your thing. I mean, it’s super gross, but to each his own. Watch cheesy Hallmark movies. Grab a dice game out of the closet. Beat your family in charades. Get your b***y out of the kitchen. Leave the dishes. Let the pots and pans wait. Soak them in Dawn, they’ll be fine, and soak in all the merry you can. Christmas doesn’t only belong to everyone else. It belongs to you too.

2. Refuse to feel guilty. Didn’t wrap all the presents? Didn’t hang all the lights? Didn’t cook all 27 side dishes? Don’t you dare feel guilty about it. Don’t you dare let it get you down. Don’t you dare let it steal your joy. Not for one second. Nobody even likes that weird green Jell-O stuff anyways. I promise, nobody will notice if it’s not there. You can’t do it all, so do what’s most important.

3. Refuse to let stress take center stage. There is SO STINKING MUCH to do on Christmas. And as women, we tend to put ourselves in charge of more than our fair share. Decorations, gifts, wrapping, cooking, cleaning, travel schedules, uncomfortable phone calls with mother-in-laws about whose year it is to host. It’s easy to let the anxiety of the season run away with your cheer. Hold onto peace like its the last sip of your vanilla latte from Starbucks. We want our kids, our families and our friends to remember happy holidays, not a frazzled momma. Christmas is a wonderful reason to give to those in need, to enjoy time with your family and a terrible time to drive yourself into a mental and physical exhaustion.

4. Refuse to say yes to everything. You’re a human. You’re allowed to have some limits. You’re allowed to have some boundaries. You’re allowed to politely decline now and then. Time is a limited resource. Time is a precious commodity. Treat your time like it matters, because it does.

5. Refuse to allow anyone else to tell you what your Christmas should be. You’re allowed to be sad this time of year. You’re allowed to miss your family if you’re celebrating somewhere far away. You’re allowed to grieve loved ones who have died. You’re allowed to spend Christmas on the beach if that’s what’s best for you. You’re allowed to spend Christmas at home with only your immediate family. You’re allowed to decorate with 10 bajillion Christmas lights and you’re allowed not to listen to a single Christmas song. You’re allowed to have pizza for Christmas dinner. You’re allowed to do something entirely new and untested. You’re in charge of your Christmas. You’re in charge of what your holidays will be. Make them holidays that bring you peace. And joy. And time to cry. And time to laugh. And time to be surrounded with loved ones. And time to be alone. And time to reflect.

6. Refuse to believe the only way to make Christmas memorable is to buy everything for everyone. The holidays aren’t about going into debt, or creating a financial burden that will follow you around for the next 12 months, or kids getting anything and everything they lay their eyes on. They may crave stuff now, but that stuff won’t mean anything to them down the road. They won’t remember the toys you bought, but they will remember the time you spent with them. They will remember hot chocolate with loads of marshmallows, cuddling on the couch watching cheesy Christmas movies, and laughing around the kitchen table playing games. They will remember cousins, making a mess decorating gingerbread houses, and dancing in the kitchen to “All I Want for Christmas is You.” They will remember waking up to watch the parade on tv, candlelit Christmas Eve service, and creating new family traditions. They will remember handing out homemade cookies to neighbors, giving to those in need, and making light of all the million little things that go wrong on Christmas Day. Memories matter so much more than any toy ever will. Presence matters so much more than any present ever will.

7. Refuse to forget that Jesus is the reason for everything. He is the heart of the season, and hopefully he is the heart of everything we do, everything we give, and everywhere we go. The angels and the wisemen and the shepherds all gathered around Him in that tiny stable so long ago. Gathering around Him is the only tradition we truly need to believe in this December.

Love,
Amy

08/28/2025

This season is not a loss of purpose—it’s a shift in how you lead.

You no longer parent from authority. Now, you parent from legacy.

Your greatest influence isn’t in what you say— It’s in how you live. How you respond. How you grow. How you trust God in the messy, real moments.

Because when your adult children see you changing, healing, and walking with God—they begin to believe healing is possible for them, too.

You are the legacy. Your life is still shaping theirs.

🛠 Tool: This week, model something you want to see in them—patience, humility, forgiveness, faith. Let your life be the message.

1 Peter 5:3 (NIV)
“Not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”
This verse beautifully echoes the shift from authority to legacy—leading by example, not control.

07/26/2025

".............. through judgment we separate. Through understanding we grow"