The Parent Help Center

When we first started helping parents we began in Jacksonville, FL over 13 years ago. The summer of 2010 saw The Parent Help Center / Empowered Parents move a branch to Central Florida. We are helping parents all over the state now. We have a newly redesigned website. For all the answers to your questions and contact info please visit us at:

www.theparenthelpcenter.com 

Success!

Here is another great success story from one of our parents, http://www.facebook.com/ParentHelpCenter

Per your direction, here is the report on how it went this weekend. Let me start by saying, it didn’t go good, it went GREAT. So great, I am still in a state of shock (In a Wonderful, Blessed Way). I felt from the moment I picked you up at the airport on 4 June, that our son needed to stay with you until he “Got it.” Well I can tell you from my heart, soul, and being….He’s GOT IT. Why does our son finally “Get IT?” It’s because “Changed Parents will see Changed Children.” He’s “Got IT,” because my wife and I finally “Get IT!” With Matt’s help, We are a team like NEVER Before. Our son senses and knows this now. He knows the ONLY way he won’t end up back with you, is, this time around he has to “Earn those Checks.” There will never again be any un-earned checks. If my wife and I would have “Got IT” the first time last summer, he probably wouldn’t be there with you now. Anyway, you had the children give their definition of 3 words on graduation day from the 30 day camp. The dictionary defines those words as follows:

Responsibility: Ability or authority to act or decide on one's own, without supervision
Trust: Reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something
Respect: An attitude of deference, admiration, or esteem; regard

I can state without hesitation that our son now personifies each one of those traits. Traits he’s learned and internalized from You, Mr. D, Randy, and Rick. With all of this being said, my vote is for our son to come home next Friday, and Stay. I can state without hesitation that our son proved he’s “Got it” with multiple “Tests” this weekend, “Tests” that he passed with flying colors each and every time. Of course, I am not naïve enough to think there won’t be the occasional “Slip Up.” Matt, mom and I came up with the idea (With your concurrence of course), that if our son needed a “Consequence” for poor choices, You can expect a “Volunteer” at the P-Farm if it is warranted and “Earned.” I hope and pray for your Vote for our son to come home and stay starting next Friday, 27 July 2012.

In conclusion, I wanted to end this report by stating “Why” our son is back on the road to Max’s Farm as I type. First and foremost it’s because our son, mom and I respect You, and the Parent Project, too much not have Your blessing in this decision. God’s Grace, Your hard work and relentless dedication have Saved my Family. our son and I have a “Clean Slate” with each other and a relationship we’ve never had before for two (2) main reasons…..God’s Grace and your guidance and direction. My son and I trust you. Our son talks about you with a Love and Respect that is impossible to be faked or made up. Again, proof he more than “Gets IT.” our son got in the car today, after being away from home for almost 8 weeks, with a smile on his face knowing he was trading the comforts of home for Max’s Farm. Eight weeks ago I had to fly you from Jacksonville for you to help me get him to the Farm. Today, he’s driving himself. If that is not the picture and definition of responsibility…..I don’t know what is. Thank You for taking the time to read this letter. God Bless You, Your Family, and the Parent Project. I look forward to discussing this letter with you at your earliest opportunity. Last thing….our son was very sick last night, he rallied, and is on the road right now.

Your Student Empowered Dad

July Update

Greetings Beloved,

We have some exciting news to share. God has provided us with a new house with less rent,  more space (including screened pool) to share with our Gospel Community and new neighbors. The house is in a neighborhood with a recreational area; pool, basketball, fitness. All great places to meet new people to share the gospel with. I admit when we first heard about this house up for rent from a couple that's part of the Round Lake Church family, I was already thinking that I didn't want to move, I like our current location and neighbors and didn't think for a moment what God might want. After finally looking at the house and talking with the owners we knew this was where God wanted us. We move July 28. Sunday July 29th we leave for Lake Aurora Christian Camp where we'll be the mission for the 5th-7th grade week. 

This past weekend we were in Jacksonville teaching an Empowered Parent Conference with 7 parents. We visited the "Farm," the location for the 30 day camp and boys home. That was my first time seeing some of the children of parents attending our conferences. After our visit there and after hearing testimonies of some "Empowered Parents" that dropped by this weekend it makes me realize even more the importance of getting the word out about how life changing "The Parent Project" is. There are so many parents that have been through the conference, the camp, and support groups that say they wish they attended this when their kids were younger. But now they have peace in their homes and have found hope. Our goal for the conferences is to give parents hope; there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Our prayer is that they may have hope in Jesus and hear the gospel spoken at Camp Consequence and the Sunday morning service we all attend after the conferences.

Thank you so much for your continued support and prayers. Please pray that doors will open for a support group to start in Central Florida and EPC's will grow to the greater Central Florida area so we can help parents. "Changed Parents will see changed kids."

Grace and Peace, 

Hope Kegg

Control

One of the mistakes that parents make with strong-willed children is trying to control them. "Look at me when I am talking to you." "Don't walk away from me, get over here." Strong-willed people (children and teens) in general don't want to be controlled. They fight it. If we as parents truly had control then our kids would do everything we ask them to do. They would never lie to us, sneak out of the house, fail school, get drunk, get pregnant. Smart parents know this and give up the notion of trying to control the strong-willed child.

But we can control everything that doesn't breath. That's right parents can control all the stuff that strong-willed children/teens like. Computers, food, car, cell-phones, clothes, etc. Smart parents know how to properly influence their children to make the right choices. Here's the rub. It's really hard work. Yeah, being a parent is tough. That's where Empowered Parents helps. We show you and coach you how to properly change those unwanted behaviors in your strong-willed child.

Photos

Here are some recent photos of things we have done this past month. It has been a busy month for us and we are thankful. Looking forward to helping more parents this summer.

 Family Fun Fest in Leesburg.

 Child Protection Services, made a lot of contacts.

 Hope teaching EPC, we had 7 parents.

Jesse teaching, we had a great weekend.

From Hope...

Wanted to fill you in on what's been going on from my point of view. First off, thank you for your continued prayers. We desperately need them!

We have had some trying times these past few months due to not having any parents sign up for our EPC's (Empowered Parent Conference) but God has been gracious and faithful and keeps providing for us. Although we haven't been busy with EPC's we have been busy working with our church family, Round Lake Christian Church, mainly with our Gospel Community Group and discipling. If you are not sure what this is, please take a look at Jesse's blogs, Twitter, Facebook posts. We have so many opportunities to speak the Gospel into people's lives. Jesse has been living this through his part time job at Pizzamore, building relationships and now being able to share "The Story of God" with a young man. He's spending time with some young married men showing them/sharing with them what it means to be a husband/father/employee on mission. He also meets with a core group of men that speak the gospel into his life and encourage him, give him wisdom. I too have been able to spend time with young ladies/mom's/grandma's and speak the gospel into their lives. Lately I have been able to help our neighbor with caring for her 9 month old granddaughter so she could go to work and comfort her through some hard times and was also able to go to Seattle to be with my family after losing a precious loved one and love on them and share in this tragic time.

Our kids are also learning what it means to disciple others through what they see their parents doing. Justus is 13 now and spends time with his dad while he's spending time with some guys, whether it's playing music, biking, running or just playing some games. Elli 11 now, is learning to disciple by spending time with little children and also time spent with me and the young mom's. It is definitely a family affair.

We don't know why God has put a yellow light on the Empowered Parent ministry but know to continue to serve Him by serving and discipling others. We know God has great plans for our Empowered Parent ministry, we're just waiting for Him in His time. Jesse can fill in more detail of what the future holds for our ministry but I just wanted to share from my heart.

Thanks again and please continue to keep us in your prayers

Grace and Peace, 
Hope Kegg

Love what we do.

Thoughts from a parent.

You have such a important message, program and a handbook for parents. People say they wish kids came with instructions, well that is not possible because each one is so different. But this book gives you the instructions on how to handle most of the issues that come up while parenting.

Testimony

Thank you so much for the eye opening weekend at the Empowered Parent Conference. We are anxiously awaiting Camp Consequence to be able to see how the program works in action and start using it right away. My wife and I both feel a huge weight has been lifted off of our shoulders, because for the first time ever we have a concrete, proven plan to implement. Both of us will be on the same page, a united front for our kids to contend with. Many of the ideas presented we have tried but not the right way or we didn’t follow through with the idea. We love the fact that it is all laid out in a book. This type of program is long overdue and should be mandated when you have children. I have been often said that parenting would be so much easier with the luxury of a manual. Well, the Parent Project has listened and made that type of resource available.

When I was looking for a program online to help my son’s out of control behavior, the decision was an easy one. I spent seven hours looking for a solid program, which not only sounded good, but received good reviews and had solid backing. Most programs I came across had something that I didn’t like about them until I came across The Empowered Parent. The testimonials that I found were 100% positive, but the thing that sold me on Empowered Parent organization was you. If you watch the videos online you can see the passion that you have for helping families regain their happiness. The videos only show half of the passion you see when you talk to you in person, which is awesome. I also loved the fact that there are measures to keep me accountable for getting it right and working the program. I need to be accountable; I realize that my wife and I need to improve our parenting as much as our son needs to improve his behavior. The fact that you target the parents first and foremost was important, I wanted a program where our family can grow and get it right together. That is exactly what is happening.

With the unbelievable content of the Empowered Parent Conference this past weekend and the intensity of the message that you send, my wife and I couldn’t wait to get home. That is yet another thing that blew me away, how close the families that go through the program become. There is so much strength in numbers and in the support you receive, I don’t know how we can go wrong. I am ready to put in the hard work and get things right. This is the total opposite of the way we have been feeling for some time when it comes to our kids. We have hope again and can’t wait to restore happiness in our home so we can enjoy our children and one another again. Thank you so much Glenn for everything. We are looking forward to working with you and everyone in the Empowered Parent family.

I could go on and on, when really I could say all this in two words. Thank you.

Sincerely-

One of our Empowered Parents (written by the Father)

The Kegg's, where Jesus is always on tap!

Hope and I would like to share an update on our ministry and work with parents. There are three areas I would like to cover that we have been doing for the past 8 months. Two are parent and family related and one is church/ministry related.

First, we are so excited to be back at Round Lake Christian Church. One of the things that Hope and I have always done is share our lives with others in order to make disciples. Now is not the time to explain all of what takes places, but as “the church” we live in Gospel-Communities on Mission.  Think of the church in groups of 8-12 scattered throughout the city, on mission for Jesus, to serve, bless, and share our lives with others. Making disciples that can make disciples. We then gather as “the church” on Sundays to celebrate what God has been doing in our lives through the week.

Since Hope and I have been back, we have seen three GC’s planted, people coming to Christ and baptized, and we are about to be sent out to plant a GC in our home and neighborhood. We already have two families joining us that we will send out to plant new GC’s. Since there are about 50,000 people in the tri-cty area (Mt. Dora, Eustis, Tavares) we hope and pray to plant 50 GC’s, 1 per every 1000 people and then 300 for the 300,000 people that call Lake County home. This is a huge goal that only God can accomplish and we need prayer and funding to make this happen.

Secondly, we are still working on helping parents through our weekend conferences. So far we have co-taught three Empowered Parent Confernces with the founder Glenn Ellison; on our own, lead three EPC’s, been to four Camp Consequences, helped over 20 parents & 22 children on our own and over 60 parents/children with Glenn.

The biggest issue that we are facing is marketing. The last two months, February and March, we haven’t had any parents sign up.  While we have had a great start, I needed to get a part-time job to bring in some finances. This has really cut into my “hitting the streets” marketing. We are discouraged but keeping our heads up. Glenn Ellison has a life-changing program for families and we are thankful to be apart of it. Hope and I feeling strongly about this ministry and are trusting God is going to provide, which brings me to my last area. 

We have been working on a 3-4 hour, Gospel-Centered Parenting class. I traveled to Denver for a men’s conference in January and also taught an hour class on parenting. This gave us the idea of doing this in local churches and give parents a taste of what we do. We hope this would help get the word out and feed our EPC’s where parents can get more training. We are also looking at doing some free, one hour, classes at local libraries and community centers. I have a couple of conventions that we would like to attend to promote and market what we do for churches. 

Thank you so much for your finance support and prayers. We need more of both!

Grace and peace,

Jesse, Hope, Justus, & Elli Kegg.

North American Christian Convention

Every year at the North American Christian Convention, NACC, thousands of people and hundreds of churches from all over the country, gather for a 3 day conference. http://www.gotonacc.org/2012-convention/

This would be a wonderful opportunity for Hope and I to share with all those attending about Empowered Parents. We are looking to get an exhibit booth at this year convention, as it is in Orlando, and get the word out right here in Central Florida and state wide.

We need to raise $1000, $600 for the booth and $400 for banners and print material. Would you consider this? You can donate here and all donations are tax-deductible. Click here to donate. Please put NACC in the memo.

Timeouts

Have you ever placed your child in a timeout? What about your teen? We have hundreds of parents that put their teenagers in timeouts. One minute per year, so a 13 year old would spend 13 minutes in timeout. And here is the good part, they work!

One of the reason that parents fail is that they are not consistant with disciple. "I not going to put my child/teen in a timeout, they are to old for that." Let me ask you this, so what are you doing? and how is that working for you?

In order to change unwanted behaviors in your child/teen you have to be consistant. Most teens do two things, disrespect adults/parents and blow up in anger. When the child/teen disrespects the parent or yells in anger, parents react in the same way. And so we teach our children to yell and scream. One reason for the timeout works is they help the child/teen to calm down and the parent. Then you can have a calm conversation with your child.

Also a timeout fits the way a child thinks, here and now not a week from now. Children/Teens live for today. A 13 minute timeout is more doable than a weekend restriction. It also teaches them to respect you as the parent. We teach this powerful method at our Empowered Parent Conferences. We have parents that almost never place their children on a weekend or weeklong restriction because they have mastered timeouts, even with 17 years old!

To Denver and back.

This past weekend I took a trip out to Greeley, Colorado just north of Denver. For a Florida boy it was cold!

I had the opportunity to speak at Journey Christian Church's Men's Conference and lead a class on parenting with dads. "How to give kids the right attitude."

One thing that is common across the country is that kids are way different than when I grew up. They are different even after being out of youth ministry for 7 years. Our kids have changed in so many ways but there are some things that are the same.

1. We have to tell our kids that we love them everyday.
2. As a parent YOU NEED A PARENTING PLAN.
3. Parenting is hard work, period.

Even though most of what Hope and I teach is geared toward parents of strong-willed children, the parenting skills that we share are good for compliant children too. We help give parents a plan and hope!

Camp Pictures

Just got back from a weekend at camp with families. Camp is an option for parents to help give both parents & kids a wake up call. At camp we show the parents how to work the Parent Project plan.

Our new setup.

We have 15 acres now.

Getting ready to work.

Training & Coaching parents.

National Cemetery

Helping clear 3800 Christmas wreaths.

Both parents & teens working.

Thankful for those who served.

Only One.

Wednesday night we started parent support. In support we coach parents after they attended a weekend conference. This past weekend we had 9 parents come. Some were out of town and others were local. Weekly support is a huge deal because this is where the real work begins. This is where parents get hope. This is where behaviors are changed.  This is where they become Empowered Parents.

So, Wednesday night began with one parent. 

One parent who loves her son. One parent that is ready to do whatever it takes. One parent who knows she's not alone anymore. One parent who makes our job worth having and doing!

That's why our motto at Empowered Parents is...Changing families, one parent at a time.

Children need Love & Affection

"Simply loving children is not enough. Parents' love for their children must be expressed." page 3 Parent Project.

One of the key elements to being an effective parent is love and affection, telling your children that you love them. In order to have better communication and discipline in your home parents need to display love and affection. To often we don't tell our kids how we feel about them. It is vital we do this. The Parent Project says this:

"Children are now centered. They seldom think of the future and do not hold on to parental messages from one day to the next. For these reasons, most experts agree parents' love for their children should be communicated daily."


Parent, you can do this. Tell your child, your teenage, that you love them. Give them hug before they go to school. Write them a note and leave it in their room. Tell them you love them before they go to bed.  Most of the parents we work with start to regularly tell their strong-willed child that they love them and see changes in behavior immediately.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Wanting to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

We couldn't have done what we did this year with out your support.
2012 is going to be a great year for Empowered Parents of Central Florida.

3 things you can do for us still this year.

-Donate, we are a 501c3 non-profit.  Helps us scholarship lots of parents.
-Promote this blog, share & like us on facebook.
-Tell parents you know there is help for them: www.theparenthelpcenter.com

Blessing to you and yours this Christmas,
Jesse, Hope, Justus, & Elli Kegg

November's EP Conference

What a great weekend we had November 11-13.  There were 10 parents that came out to our 4th Empowered Parent Conference.  Hope and I were able to get to know and serve these parents.  What strikes me over and over is that these are good parents.  They just have strong-willed children and don't have the tools to parent them effectively.  Now they do.  Now they have a plan.  Now they have hope.  That's what we do.

What's next is that we will plug these parents into weekly support group, were we can continue to coach them and encourage them to be Empowered Parents.  Until then they have homework that they need to do.  1. Tell their kids they love them everyday.  2. Give them a positive stroke.  3. Refuse to argue with them.

On Friday night one parent went home and told their strong-willed teen they love them.  The teen told them, "get out of my room."  The next morning before the conference they told their teen, "We love you."  The teen responded "I love yo.... hey leave me alone!"  In our world that is a small miracle and we'll take it.

Can't wait until December to help more hurting parents.

How to talk with your children about behavior.

Here are some great tips to think about when talking with your children about problematic behavior, page 20 of the Parent Project book. Remember it takes work to be a parent.


1. Timing. Am I calm enough to talk with my child? Remember never confront your children in anger, anger breeds hostility and will only serve to divide a parent and child. First address your own anger, calm yourself then go speak to your child.

2. Develop a plan or an outline. Do you know what you are going to say when you speak with your children? Write down your thoughts. Remember kids are smart and will try to change the subject. Tell your children how you feel, but remember don't be sarcastic or use put downs to get your point across.

3. Pick a private, neutral location and..
4. Minimize interruptions. Turn of the cell phone, tv, radio, be present with your child.  Both of these tips show how important your child is to you and that you love and care for them.

5. Prepare for the worst. You never know what your child might say. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. How you react when they share things with you will determine if they ever share something with you again.


Most parents don't have a plan and are not calm enough to speak with their children. If you want to help change your children's behavior you need to change yours first.

We need partners.

Starting November 1st we will have been in Lake County for four months. What God has achieved in those four months is nothing short of a miracle. God has been very gracious to us and opened up huge doors. Hope and I are convinced that we have been sent back to Lake County/Central Florida to help families.

Here is an update of what has happened so far:
Held two Empowered Parent Conferences and 1 Camp Consequence. Have a huge network that are sharing info about Empowered Parents. Every principal in Lake County schools has our information to share with parents, Lake County Sheriff's Office has our cards to give to families, working with local churches to host EPC's. Done a couple of press releases and had interviews with local TV, newspapers, and magazines. Using social media (facebook and twitter) to reach more families, and speaking to a number of local clubs (Rotary, Kiwanis, etc.).

All of this is wonderful but we are still lacking one thing, word of mouth, parents that have gone through our EPC and Camp. As we continue to build, we need those hurting families to see and experience the change we have offer.

How can you partner with us? Here are 3 ways you can help.

1. Pray. Pray for parents to find out about us. Pray for parents to come. Pray for us to have the right connections in our community. Pray for local churches and schools to reach out to the help we offer. Become a prayer partner. Email us at jesse@theparenthelpcenter.com and I can update you weekly on our prayer concerns.

2. Give. Yes we need your money. We need to make a living and by doing so we can help more families. We also use these funds to help sponsor families to come to an EPC. We are a non-profit tax-deductible organization. You can sponsor us with $30 a month or give a one time gift. Donate here.

3. Advocate. Help us get the word out. Tell your friends, your church leaders, follow us on our Facebook page and Twitter, share our posts with others. Get me in front of your local club, church, school to share our vision and what we do.

We are so blessed to serve in this way and look forward to sharing with you what is coming down the road.

Changed parents will see changed kids.

Jesse & Hope Kegg
www.theparenthelpcenter.com
www.forlakecountyfl.com
jesse@theparenthelpcenter.com
904-669-7722

Article in Local Magazine.

Lake Magazine is did an article on us. We have been featured in the October issue. They did a great job and we are blessed to partner with people who care about our community. Huge thanks to the Walkers, Blair, Missy, Michael, and Glenn.