Two books to help students adjust to college — and to help parents adjust to an empty nest

By Leigh DeLozier (Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest | Goodreads)

Graduating from high school and preparing for the next phase of life is an exciting time for students and parents, but it’s also a time of roller coaster emotions. Parents and students can find themselves thrilled and proud one minute, then stressed — and maybe even terrified — just a few minutes later.

Two newly published devotional books are full of answers and encouragement for families experiencing these transitions.

Stay the Course guides students as they prepare for and adjust to life at college. Soul Care When the Nest Is Empty encourages parents as they grapple with the emotions that come with a child leaving home.

I’ve read both books and can highly recommend them. Here are more details about each one, including links to my Goodreads reviews and purchasing info on Amazon.

Happy reading (or gifting)!

Stay the Course: A Devotional Handbook to Survive and Thrive in Your First Year of College (and Beyond)

By Dr. Katherine Pasour

About the book: Stay the Course prepares first-year college students for the challenges they will face while orienting their focus on God to help them when they feel overwhelmed mentally, emotionally, or spiritually.

The college experience can be wonderful yet terrifying — at the same time!

Stay the Course supports students in the transition from high school through their first year of college — the most critical time of adjustment. Students will benefit from practical advice and find inspiration and encouragement through relevant scripture and prayer. Daily devotions are short to allow opportunity for reading in their busy schedule, but each is applicable to the challenging, stressful, and sometimes terrifying college experience.

First-year students struggle adjusting to being away from home, adapting appropriately to increased independence, coping with campus life, and accepting the challenging requirements of university academics. While the book does not promise to make the college journey free from all trials and tribulations, this devotional handbook provides strategies for success and spiritual mentoring to help beginning (and continuing) students scale the challenging mountain of college.

From tasks in the summer to ease the transition, to giving inside information on dealing with difficult professors, a long-time university teacher and student mentor shares insight to help students not to be overwhelmed in their first year of college.

Leigh’s Goodreads review of Stay the Course: A Devotional Handbook to Survive and Thrive in Your First Year of College (and Beyond).

 

Soul Care When the Nest Is Empty

By Edie Melson

About the book: The Empty Nest experience varies widely from person to person and even child to child.

Some parents cry and others celebrate. You may face crazy emotions — good and bad, happy and sad, and everything in between. None of these emotions are wrong.

In Soul Care When the Nest Is Empty, Edie Melson shows you how to turn to God for help. He may not provide the answer to why, but he always walks through the valleys with you, and he orchestrates everything our kids need.

Reconnect with God using your tactile creativity.

Discover your Soul Care solutions using devotions and prayers and opportunities for creative expression.

Warning! This book may become dog-eared and stained. Draw in it. Experiment with your creative passions. Learn the healing power of play. Allow God’s power to flow through creativity. Soul Care When the Nest is Empty will become your heart treasure.

Leigh’s Goodreads review of Soul Care When the Nest Is Empty.

 

What’s your best bit of advice for students preparing for college or for parents preparing for an empty nest?

Leave a comment below and help encourage someone else!

These two new devotional books are full of answers & encouragement for students and parents preparing for the transition to college. @EdieMelson @KatherinePasour

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