Nicole O’Dell is a youth culture expert who writes and speaks to preteens, teenagers, and parents about how to prepare for life’s tough choices. Over the years, Nicole has worked as a youth director, a Bible study leader for women and teens, and a counselor at a crisis pregnancy center. She is the founder of Choose NOW Ministries, which is dedicated to battling peer pressure and helping teens face tough issues while helping parents guide and encourage their teens' commitment to good decisions. Nicole and her husband, Wil, have six children, including toddler triplets, and reside in Illinois.

O’Dell is the author of ten YA novels, including the popular Scenarios for Girls interactive fiction series and the Diamond Estates series and the list is growing. Her non-fiction for teens includes Girl Talk, which she wrote with her two daughters based on their popular blog column by the same name, and hundreds of contributions to several devotional books.

Nicole’s desire to bridge the gap between parents and teens is evident in her parenting non-fiction like the Hot Buttons series aimed at helping parents handle tough issues with their tweens and teens before they pop up in real life. Watch for other Hot Buttons books on subjects like dating, internet activity, sexuality, prejudice, friendships, politics, and many more.

Also the host of Teen Talk Radio where “It's all about choices!” O’Dell dives in on topics like peer pressure, dating, purity, drugs, alcohol, modesty, popularity, decisions about the future, and many other things that might come up along the way.

You can find all of Nicole's books and all the fun social stuff at www.nicoleodell.com.

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Getting us started on Parent Talk this week is Jill Hart of CWAHM.com!

  Is it really possible to work from home? Does God care about things like business and success? I’ve worked from home for more than 10 years now and I look forward to sharing my experiences, successes, failures (yes – there are many of these!) and lessons learned. We’ll look at some practical topics like: What are some of the options available to work from home? How can we succeed at home? And some Biblical topics like: What does God say about success? Does God have anything to say about women working from home?

Jill Hart's entrepreneurial career began in her teens when she spent a summer working with her father who ran his own business. When he put her in charge of a Coke machine and allowed her to keep the profits, she saw the benefits of being her own boss. She is the founder of the popular Christian work-at-home website,CWAHM.com. Jill a contributing author in several books and co-author of So You Want To Be a Work-at-Home Mom. Jill also has articles published in In Touch Magazine, Focus on the Family’s Thriving Family Magazine and P31 Woman magazine, as well as across the web on sites like DrLaura.com. Tune in!

Next up, Neta Jackson

Grounded

Book #1 in the Windy City Neighbors series

By Neta Jackson and Dave Jackson

Grounded ... But hope may be just across the street

Grace Meredith is a beloved contemporary Christian recording artist whose career-and personal life—hits unexpected turbulence. She feels grounded—in more ways than one. Grace’s fiancé, bothered by her outspoken stance on purity and her near-constant travel, has broken off their relationship. Exhausted and unable to continue her current concert schedule, Grace returns to her Chicago home, where she is soon stranded in a major snowstorm. Facing new questions about her future and her faith, Grace finds herself connecting for the first time with the residents of her neighborhood. What she discovers in these unexpected relationships could change everything.

— Welcome to the Neighborhood —

The first in the Windy City Neighbors series, Grounded is an uplifting, contemporary story about ordinary people wrestling with the spiritual and practical issues of real life. The series employees the innovative storytelling technique of “parallel novels,” each with its own drama and story arc, but whose characters’ lives become intertwined and affect one another. Grounded welcomes you to Beecham Street—a typical, isolated American neighborhood that might just be a place of hope.

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Choose NOW Radio airs Fridays LIVE from 10-11 EST at www.toginet.com!

Or you can come back here for the podcast, or subscribe on iTunes for FREE to Parent Talk or Teen Talk.

This week on Parent Talk, Jennifer Maggio and Jocelyn Green.

Getting us started on Parent Talk this week is Jennifer Maggio. Along with being the On Single Parenting columnist here at Choose NOW Ministries, Jennifer Maggio i is the founder of The Life of a Single Mom Ministries, a global nonprofit that has helped thousands of single moms in 19 countries find a home in their local churches. She is also founder of Overwhelmed: The Single Moms Magazine. 

Maggio has been featured in hundreds of media venues, including The 700 Club, Focus on the Family, Daystar Television, Moody Radio,  Power Women, Solo Mom, and more. She is a columnist with Single Parents Town, Bizy Moms, and Crosswalk. For more information, visit http://www.jennifermaggio.com.

This week, Jennifer Maggio and Nicole O'Dell will be chatting about the kind of an impact a single parent can have on teens and pre-teens. And, also, we'll find out from Jennifer just how important it is that single parents have their kids in church on a regular basis. Tune in!

Next up, Jocelyn Green

For all who have suffered great loss of heart, home, health or family; true home and genuine lasting love can be found. When a horrific battle rips through Gettysburg, the farm of Union widow Liberty Holloway is disfigured into a Confederate field hospital, bringing her face to face with unspeakable suffering-and a Confederate scout who awakens her long dormant heart. While Liberty’s future crumbles as her home is destroyed, the past comes rushing back to Bella, a former slave and Liberty’s hired help, when she finds herself surrounded by Southern soldiers, one of whom knows the secret that would place Liberty in danger if revealed.

In the wake of shattered homes and bodies, Liberty and Bella struggle to pick up the pieces the battle has left behind. Will Liberty be defined by the tragedy in her life, or will she find a way to triumph over it?

Inspired by first-person accounts from women who lived in Gettysburg during the battle and its aftermath, Widow of Gettysburg is Book 2 in the Heroines Behind the Lines  series. Award-winning author Jocelyn Green inspires faith and courage in her readers through both fiction and nonfiction.

A former military wife herself, she offers encouragement and hope to military wives worldwide through her Faith Deployed ministry. Her novels, inspired by real heroines on America’s home front, are marked by their historical integrity and gritty inspiration.

Choose NOW Radio

Fridays LIVE from 9-10 CST at www.toginet.com!

Or you can come back here for the podcast,

or subscribe on iTunes for FREE to Parent Talk or Teen Talk.

Join me on Parent Talk! Opening with Valerie Comer on those annoying Jonses!

Your brother bought an Audi S8. Do you want one?

Your sister is moving into a 4,000-square-foot house. With a housekeeper and nanny. Maybe a cook, too. Jealous much?

Your neighbor buys a new laptop, tablet, and smart phone every time a new one comes out. Your computer is old, slow, and tethered to the wall. Your phone? Kind of dumb. 

That guy from the corner office takes his family on vacation to a new destination every year. He's too good for Caribbean cruises or Hawaii. He's all about the chateau in the south of France. Thinking of stowing away in his luggage?

The gal at the gym is renovating her kitchen and putting in cherry cabinets, granite counters, and those refrigerator drawers. We could get serious envy here.

Man, those Joneses are hard to keep up with! A family could work from dawn to dusk and still be way behind in the wealth display department.

Read more HERE and be sure to tune in to Parent Talk!! 

Next on Parent Talk: David Thomas on Intentional Parenting

Today’s parents are changing. These parents are honest. They’re more self-aware. And they want to learn what it means to be intentional parents, parenting with purpose and hope, not with fear and guilt.

“When we parent out of fear, our kids never get the best of us, because it’s a reactive form of parenting. We invite you into more proactive and active parenting which we call intentional parenting,” explains David Thomas. “It asks you to become a student of your own maturity and a student of your child. And the reflection, study, and investment pays off when you and your child are able to grow into the people God intended you to be.”

Using modern, real-life examples, Goff, Thomas and Trevathan address major concerns of parenting with practical hope and encouragement. The authors function as a virtual “parent coaching team” by sharing anecdotes from their practice, asking heart-penetrating questions, and offering age-appropriate suggestions for parenting proactively.

Choose NOW Radio airs Fridays LIVE from 10-11 EST at www.toginet.com!

Or you can ome back here for the podcast, or subscribe on iTunes for FREE to Parent Talk or Teen Talk.

This week on Parent Talk (10:00), Cara Putman and Nicole O'Dell on Being Supermom

Cara Putman is the Choose NOW Ministries columnist on the issue of Doing it All. Why do we do this to ourselves as parents? Whose standards are we trying to live up to? Will we ever feel like we've met the expectations society has for us? Is there a better way? Hear from the Do-It-All Mom herself, Cara Putman. Cara is an attorney, author, professor, work-at-home-mom, homeschooler, laundress, cook, shopper, etc. She definitely does…it…all! Cara and I will look at those things and more as we dive into this issue headfirst. You ready? I know I am! (Spoken like a true supermom!)

And, Nicole O'Dell on dealing with Tragedy

In the second segment of Parent Talk this week, I'll be looking at what we need to do as parents to help our teens and tweens deal with tragedy and the fear it can cause. Events like the Newtown shootings, the Boston Marathon bombings, the attacks on the World Trade Center...they are real, and increasingly common events, and without the right context, they can elicit feelings of fear and unrest. We have comfort in the Gospel, and we know how the story ends. But it's hard to convey that to a confused teenager. Tune in as Nicole O'Dell offers five specific things you can do to help your kids with this issue.  

This week on Teen Talk (10:30), Gina Conroy and Nicole O'Dell on Dreaming Big

What are your wildest dreams? Does a dream equate to a calling from God? How can you tell the difference, and how can you make it happen? What is a dream detour and how can we cope with them?

Gina Conroy focuses on dreaming big and she’ll help you chase hard after those deep, heart desires that burn within you. And for those of you who haven’t quite figured out what your passions are just yet, Gina will help you do just that. Is okay to dream big–but it’s even better to put one foot in front of the other in hot pursuit of those dreams!

Then, Nicole O'Dell on dealing with Tragedy

In the second segment, I'm going to talk about tragedy. What you, as teens, can do about those tough things that happen in life. Death. Destruction. Terrorism. Loss. So many things that cause heartache and confusion. But there are answers! Tune in to find out what they are!

Choose NOW Radio airs Fridays LIVE from 10-11 EST at www.toginet.com!

Or you ccan ome back here for the podcast, or subscribe on iTunes for FREE to Parent Talk or Teen Talk.

This week on Parent Talk, John Robinson, the last days

John Robinson is going to tell us when Jesus is coming back for the church! Okay, not quite. But maybe he'll get close.

Tune in to find out.

This would be a great opportunity to get ready for the tough questions your kids are going to ask you about this subject! It may just change the way you look at the world, and the final seconds we're in.

The Bible makes it clear no one knows the day or the hour of Christ's return. But it doesn't say we won't know the month. Or the week. When every Christian simultaneously receives a message that Christ will return sometime in the next seven days, the world is thrown into stark panic. Two old friends, hardened combat veterans from the closing days of the Vietnam War, set out on a suspenseful quest to redeem that time. What they can't know is they and their entire church have been targeted for satanic annihilation.

Bestselling author Robert Liparulo, author of the Dreamhouse Kings Series, said, "Forget everything you think you know about apocalyptic thrillers. This one will enthrall you and force you to rethink what it means to be brave, to BELIEVE."

Award winning author Nancy Mehl, author of the Ivy Towers Mystery Series, said, "Robinson delivers one of the most powerful 'end of days' novels ever written. Highly recommended!" And Eric Wiggin, author of Blood Moon Rising, said, "Heading Home is the flip side of Left Behind--on steroids."  

And on Teen Talk, Laura L. Smith, on True Beauty

Laura L. Smith, author of the On True Beauty column here at Choose NOW Ministries is my guest. We'll be talking about true beauty, positive self-talk, and what it means to have a beauty playlist. Laura's got some great insights into learning how to see yourself as your heavenly Father sees you...and why that's enough.

She'll share info with you about her new releases from PlaylistFiction.com and, as a special thank you just for you lovelies here at Choose NOW Ministries, if you click the image below and use the promo code YV95F by April 26th to get book one, It's Complicated, for $3.99, on any e-reader device. Then, be sure to pick up  new release, It's Over!

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Choose NOW Radio airs Fridays LIVE from 10-11 EST at www.toginet.com!

Or you ccan ome back here for the podcast, or subscribe on iTunes for FREE to Parent Talk or Teen Talk.