Don't Mom Alone Podcast

You know people in your life who light up a room when they walk in? That’s my friend Melissa Jenkins.

After spending hours chatting with her in the Tae Kwon Do waiting room, I gained an even deeper appreciation for who God made her to be and the light she is shining for His glory.

And I can’t wait to share her with y’all!

Melissa is married to Kyle and they have FIVE boys (the oldest is 9!). Together they started a nonprofit called, Vickery Meadows Ministry, which you can read more about over on their site LovingAllPeoples.com 

In today’s podcast, Melissa shares her ministry story and so. much. more. Make sure you listen all the way to the end and don’t miss how they apply their ministry approach to parenting and discipling their children.

Anyone is qualified to talk to God.–Melissa Jenkins

Based on this interview, I’m going to give you a challenge.

  • Open your Bible (or the closest devotional) and read one verse.
  • Pray and asked God how He is leading you to apply what it says to your life.
  • Let me know at end of today how it went (can even use #applyTruth)

Were you able to mediate on the verse throughout the day? Did you get a chance to apply and obey what God had showed you?

Through obedience, God can change our hearts.–Melissa Jenkins

In this episode we also chat about:

  • Where Melissa & her husband Kyle decided to spend their first year of marriage.
  • How they became involved with a family from Afghanistan.
  • How watching a documentary moved their ministry to a new area of need.
  • How they love people on the fringes, who may not walk into a church building.
  • How Melissa entered a strip club by offering to wash the girls’ feet. . .and it worked (read one of their team members’ story here “so I went into 10 brothels last night“)
  • How a ministry can be derailed by spiritual warfare . . . learning to protect your family & marriage.
  • How they re-grouped and re-focused on the initial ministry purpose–> not a job but a call to care for others because of their love for Him.
  • How we can all struggle with content, even if we see those living with less.
  • How she uses their ministry approach–any one is qualified to talk to God–to help train her children how to connect with God.
  • How they have a creative time of worship. . .superhero costumes and all.
  • Lastly. . . you must hear what Kyle and Melissa carry around town to start conversations.

Connect with Melissa:

Blog :: Instagram :: Facebook 

Show Notes:

Direct download: GCM_Ep_30_Melissa_Jenkins.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am CDT

Ok. I won’t tell you how many minutes hours I scrolled through Facebook & Instagram yesterday reading about all the wonderful men in my friends’ lives.

But I came away from social media feeling all warm & cozy. Because I’m raising future fathers (hopefully a role for all four boys).

When I see the difference an honorable man makes in a family, I pay extra close attention. Noticing all the adjectives that mattered: encouraging, strong, caring, protective, loving, joyful, and amazing.

One friend posted that her dad had “grit”. This stood out from among the rest because it’s a word you don’t hear often enough. And because it was a topic fresh on my mind…

Today’s podcast guest, Laura Hale, defines “grit” as:

The courage to show up and do something that matters in your own way. To be OK with failing and trying again. Learning and growing.

Of course, I want this for my boys.

But I think moms show grit. We courageously keep showing up. Even when we feel like we failed, we jump back in and try again.

Laura has grit. She is launching a new line of toys for young boys, Generation Grit. Her desire is to offer an option for boys which allows for hours of reading and imaginative play.

Her solution is to create a line of boys’ action figures and accompanying story books based on fictitious characters from different historical eras (picture a boy’s version of “American Girl”). The first of these characters is Mac Mason, a 14-year-old boy living in California in 1943.

At Generation Grit, we model characters who struggle. People are wired to struggle. It’s how a baby learns to walk, and it’s how a child learns to read. As a mom, one of the most heartbreaking things I see is when a child chooses to stay on the sidelines because they are afraid to risk failure. In our stories, Generation Grit is committed to celebrating the willingness to face hard things, to fail sometimes, and to get back up. -Laura Hale

During the podcast we chatted about:

  • How we went to the same church at the same time and didn’t know it
  • What motivated her to create a new toy product for boys
  • How Laura demonstrated grit in pursuing toy maker connections
  • How boys in the 8-12 age range don’t have a lot of “non-screen” toy options
  • How quickly children grow from 8 years to mid-teens.
  • How we can support Laura to accomplishing her dream, through Kickstarter

Side notes:

*My boys watched the Kickstarter video and asked if we could get a Mac action figure. Seemed like a no-brainer to me and a perfect Christmas present option. 

**AND saw this article yesterday with fabulous book options for helping shape our kids “moral imagination”, not to be confused with “moralism”. Must read.

***Speaking of boy toys. . . don’t forget to enter to win subscriptions to Pley or a Lego set! I added a new way to enter, by following God Centered Mom posts via email.

Connect with Laura:

Show Notes:

Direct download: GCM_Ep_29_Laura_Hale.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am CDT

Relationships are tricky (major understatement).

I think today’s podcast with my pastor’s wife, Vela Tomba, will give us words & imagery to help alleviate some of the trickiness.

Vela has been married to Neil for 30 years, is the mom to three grown girls and grandmother to one adorable granddaughter. She served with Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) before staying home full-time.

Last summer Vela guest posted a 3-part series on the concept of “Hula Hoop-o-logy” (read the series here)

Honestly? Her thoughts on this topic have helped all (absolutely all) my relationships.

In this episode we discuss:

  • What it means to stay in your “hula hoop”
  • Why we need to stay out of others’ hoops
  • How to transition our children from our hoop (birth) to their own (jr. high-college)
  • Physical hoop issues vs emotional hoop issues
  • Whether or not it is a mom’s job to make her kids happy
  • Interacting with husband in light of “hula hoop-o-logy”–reflective listening
  • Handling a variety of relationships with this mindset–>adult children & their spouses; grandchildren; extended family
  • Difference between hula-hoops and “Boundaries”
  • A Christian’s responsibility to non-believers in relation to hoops

Show Notes:

Do you struggle with staying out of others’ hoops? Which relationship challenges you the most?

Direct download: GCM_ep_28_Vela_Tomba.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am CDT

Movies.

I really like them.

And according to the billions of dollars Hollywood spends each year to make movies, I’m guessing a lot of you like movies, too.

In fact, if you are a mom reading,  you may even look forward to the gathering of your little ones each week for “family movie night”.

But do you struggle, like I do to find movies everyone wants to watch? Or even a movie that will help you think more than lose brain cells?

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could relax, enjoy a movie with your family AND teach your children more about God’s great big story?

Well, my good friend, Amanda White (OhAmanda.com)…who also likes movies and loves Jesus…and I want to help your family do just that.

In today’s episode entitled, “Family Movie Moms” we share a lot of our theories/philosophies about movies and… a new vision.

Our goal is to 1)write frequent family movie discussion guides 2) broadcast a regular feature on the GCM podcast, called “Family Movie Moms”. Each show will include current movies reviews and ideas/questions to help teach your kiddos how to see truth and gain discernment as they view entertainment.

In today’s episode we chat about (quite a few things):

  • personal family screen time limits
  • the effects of video games on our kids
  • how much t.v. we watched when we were kids
  • recording movies on our VCR & renting Beta tapes
  • why we write family movie discussion guides
  • thoughts on “The Lego Movie” & “Disney’s Pirate Fairy”
  • being counter-cultural and yet engaging culture
  • teaching our children discretion when watching shows (not to emulate everything they watch).
  • thoughts on “How to Train your Dragon 2” & “Frozen”
  • difference between watching a movie once & meditating on a movie
  • this quote:

Connect with Amanda:

Twitter :: Instagram :: Facebook :: Blog

Show Notes:

Help out the “family movie moms” by letting us know what movies would you like us to review?

Direct download: GCM_ep_27_Family_Movie_Moms_OhAmanda.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 12:30am CDT

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