Parenting with Compassion & Leaving a Legacy with Kim Fredrickson

Today’s episode is extra special to me. I got to know Kim Fredrickson many years ago. Kim is one of the licensed therapists who taught a marriage class at our church in northern California. Steve and I were newly married at the time and learned so much from her. She was a real hero to me all those years ago. More recently, Kim and I reconnected through our literary agency’s Facebook group.

Kim’s new book, Give Your Kids a Break, has an interesting backstory. Most people write books to share with an unknown audience. Kim began writing this intentionally for her children and for her future grandchildren. It is the outpouring of all her 30+ years as a marriage and family therapist and her own parenting experiences — all written to pass on her wisdom and passion for building family unity when she is no longer around to do so herself.

We all know our time on this earth is limited, however, Kim has an even greater sense of urgency after being diagnosed with a terminal lung disease. I’ll let her share more of that story on the show.

This is a powerful episode! We’re going to talk about parenting and leaving a legacy. We’re going to laugh and cry. Please don’t miss this one. In fact, I ask that you share this episode with as many other families as you can. I also want to ask you to pray for a miracle for Kim! There is power in prayer. God is a God who can heal…even the impossible.

So, what would you do if you were told you only had a few years to live? What kind of legacy would you try to leave behind for your family? Listen in and hear Kim’s perspective. I know that you are going to be so blessed by her words of wisdom.!

Highlights from This Show…

Kim shares how her new book, Give Your Kids a Break, came to be — and we both got pretty choked up chatting about it.
Kim’s gets very real about her struggle with getting her diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis immediately after battling breast cancer.
It was sweet to hear that Kim’s kids were open to her turning her parenting advice that she’d been compiling for them into a book to share with others.
Due to the time that traditional publishing typically takes, Kim decided to self-publish Give Your Kids a Break in order to ensure she was able to promote it while she still had the strength to do so.
Kim’s new book is truly one of the best parenting books I’ve ever read! She cram-packing this book with the most incredible advice and practical application possible!
One of the key components of Kim’s book is teaching parents to be compassionate with themselves. Kim talks more about why we tend to be so hard on ourselves.
She shares about where the motivation for her first book, Give Yourself a Break, came from.
Kim points out how our critical nature affects our relationship with the Lord.
It was fun to hear a story of forgiveness that isn’t in the book. It’s like being able to get the inside scoop.
Since I had a professional therapist on the podcast, I decided to glean all I could! I asked her about how to balance forgiveness and consequences.
We occasionally have family meetings with our kids. However, I think we might need to start having more regular “family meetings” after hearing from Kim about the importance of them.
There were TOO many amazing things for Kim and me to cover from her book, but one big thing that I wanted to make sure we discussed was how to build emotional closeness with your kids.
In a culture when so many of us have our eyes on devices (both parents and kids), Kim shared about why eye contact with our kids is so important.
More parenting advice gold — Tips on how to get our kids to listen. What?!! Yes!! She has some great advice…and then MORE great advice on it in the guest post she wrote for me: HERE!
I mentioned how much Kim’s story makes me think about Nichole Nordeman’s song,Legacy. {Nichole was a guest on the podcast, too. You can listen to episode #40 to hear from her.}
With a diagnosis of a terminal illness can make a person think about a clicking clock. Kim and I talked about how vital it is to treasure every moment we’ve been given by the Lord. Life is a gift.

We love our children. We want to do a good job. —Kim Fredrickson (CLICK TO TWEET)

We’re not taught to love ourselves. —Kim Fredrickson (CLICK TO TWEET)

Being connected at a heart level is more important than anything. —Kim Fredrickson (CLICK TO TWEET)

Please Note…

Be sure to grab your FREE copy of my book, Sanity Savers for Moms, by joining our Simply Joyful community. It’s a great way to keep in touch…and get subscriber only freebies like my book. Click HERE to get the book and join!

Connect with Kim Fredrickson…

Kim Fredrickson is a licensed marriage and family therapist of thirty-plus years. She loves to teach others about the power of self-compassion from a faith perspective. She is the author of Give Yourself a Break: Turning Your Inner Critic into a Compassionate Friend and Give Your Kids a Break: Parenting with Compassion for You and Your Children. She recently retired from her counseling practice when diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a terminal lung disease that developed as a rare complication from the chemotherapy and radiation she received for breast cancer.

After being diagnosed with a terminal illness, she decided to write this book as a way to have a positive influence in the lives of her adult children and their future grandchildren. Kim wanted to help them with the challenges of parenting, when the time came. She knew she wouldn’t be around to hold her grandbabies, and help her children raise them in person. Originally it was only going to be for them. As Kim wrote, she thought others might benefit as well, so decided to self-publish it.

Kim has been married to her husband, Dave for thirty-nine years and they have two grown children. Learn more and read her blog at www.kimfredrickson.com She also writes a weekly patient column for Pulmonary Fibrosis News, Just Breathe…Compassionate Help for the PF Journey. Thousands of patients and their loved ones read her column all over the world.

You can check out Kim’s books HERE on Amazon! Be sure to visit her site as well at www.kimfredrickson.com.

(This podcast is by Kristi Clover. Discovered by Christian Podcast Central and our community — copyright is owned by the publisher, not Christian Podcast Central, and audio is streamed directly from their servers.)