Come On Home

Family doesn’t have to be perfect to be strong.

We all have our own ideas of what a “strong family” is―but too often, the picture in our minds seems desperately far from our real lives. We long to build a home that our children want to come back to, a healthy environment where they can make mistakes and try again. We long for a place of unconditional love, a foundation to launch them into this crazy world without feeling lost or untethered.

But how? And what if you feel like it’s too late?

Beloved author of Memory Making Mom Jessica Smartt is right there with you in the trenches of parenting and family life. She has great news: a strong family culture has nothing to do with flawless behavior, a Pinterest-perfect home, or continual harmony. In Come on Home, Jessica will equip parents to create the family they long for, with the people in their actual homes. It’s never too late to build a strong family.

Based on statistics, jam-packed with concrete examples, and infused with Jessica’s trademark down-to-earth humor, Come on Home will help you discover:

thirteen foundational characteristics like prayer, friendship, and loyalty for a close-knit family, or what a family needs to grow strong interviews with different kinds of strong families from all backgrounds and circumstances new patterns of discipline that hold boundaries without sacrificing connection practical, doable ideas to build strong relationships between family members, raising siblings who look out for one another, are good friends, and create lasting bonds principles for moving beyond unhealthy familial cycles to give your kids a new legacy While building a family will feel hard at times, it will be worth it. It’s never too late to give our children a soft place to land, a foundation of faithfulness and grace.

1. Opening Credits
2. Dedication
3. A Note From Jessica
4. Introduction: Legacy: How Moms Can Change the World
5. Part 1: Cultivating the Soil: What a Strong Family Needs
6. Chapter 1: Honesty: Admit Where You Are to Build What You Want
7. Chapter 2: Perspective: On Digging Holes and Eating Pie
8. Chapter 3: Authority: Leading Your Little Pack with Love
9. Chapter 4: Partnership: Leaning on Help for the Journey
10. Chapter 5: Prayer: Because Parenting Makes You Desperate
11. Part 2: Planting the Seeds: How a Strong Family Grows
12. Chapter 6: Time: On Sports, Phones, and Family Dinner
13. Chapter 7: Connection: The Love Language of Syrup (and Other Ways to Stay Close in a Noisy World)
14. Chapter 8: Memories: How to Celebrate the Sacred, the Seasonal, and the Special (Without Collapsing from Exhaustion)
15. Chapter 9: Nest: Making Home a Place Your Family Loves
16. Chapter 10: Roots: Recipes, Relics, Relatives, and Other Things That Keep Kids Grounded
17. Chapter 11: Loyalty: Growing a Family That’s In It for the Long Haul
18. Chapter 12: Friendship: Turning Fighters and Foes into Forever Friends
19. Chapter 13: Grace: Help and Hope for the Hard Days
20. Closing Credits