In a world where devices, video games and screen-based entertainment dominate our time and space, we can choose to make our family culture different. It isn’t easy and it isn’t always fun, but there are huge benefits for us and our kids when we take time away from devices.

This week’s guest Andy Crouch is the author of “The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place”. He shares about our calling to be image bearers of God and how his family has seen a lot of growth by putting limitations on time with technology and building in Sabbath rest from devices.

Have moments as a family where you talk about what have been your best moments. What’s been the flourishing moments in our family? It’s very unlikely people will say, ‘Oh that time we made it to level 16 in whatever video game.’ Kids and parents will remember moments that had this kind of real authority and real vulnerability.

As we head into summer, I hope this episode encourages you to embrace the power of your kids being bored so they can tap into their God-given creativity, abilities and interests. Just hang in there through the first third of the time! Listen to see what I mean.

What we chat about:

• Image bearing as it relates to authority and vulnerability
• Video games and screened-based entertainment simulate authority and vulnerability
• Andy’s family’s Sabbath for screens and devices- one hour each day, one day each week and one week each year
• How to work toward unity on device- and technology-free time with your spouse
• Start small and do what’s stretching when it comes to taking time without devices
• Talk as a family about the best times you’ve experienced together and plan to have more of those moments
• The first third of the time is really hard, but in the second two-thirds you’ll see creativity and really good things for your family
• Changing your physical space to make the main thing we do together different
• Work and rest vs. Toil and leisure
• Not looking at your phone first thing in the morning till you’ve been outside
• Having a rhythm of disengagement with technology that reconnects us with real rest and with who we really are in God’s image.

Links Mentioned:

• “The Tech Wise Family: Putting Technology in its Proper Place” by Andy Crouch **
• “Strong and Weak” by Andy Crouch**

**Amazon affiliate link

Our children are growing up in a digital age with unparalleled access to technology. With these wonderful advances, comes a heavy responsibility we cannot ignore as parents. The access to pornography and sexual images and videos is everywhere and the age of children viewing them is going down.

But there is hope. My guest Ashley Januszewski is all about empowering parents to protect their children by talking candidly with them about God’s plan for their bodies and sex from an early age. We talk about everything from sexting and pornography to device control and screen time limits. She shares great resources for how to start these conversations with your children at any age.

It’s our job as parents, though this is the reality. Not to throw our hands in the air. It is our responsibility just like it is to buckle our children when we get in the car. So it’s our responsibility to virtually buckle up our children…. It’s everywhere. So it starts and ends with training the heart and equipping our kids. What to do when (not if) they are faced with this avalanche of filth. What do we do? We’ve got to talk about it.

What we chat about:

• The story behind Ashley’s pursuit of information on parenting children in the digital age
• Eleven is the average age for exposure to pornography in America.
• Fear and anxiety can be signs that a young child has been exposed to something sexually inappropriate.
• The coming of age experience today in 2018 looks radically different than what we experienced as kids.
• There aren’t the natural barriers that used to exist to pornography. Now it is anonymous, accessible and affordable to anyone.
• Our responsibility as parents to minimize exposure to pornographic material
• 40 percent of teenagers today in America say that sending sexual or naked photos or videos is part of everyday life for them.
• Make a plan for when and how you will introduce digital technology to your children
• A family mantra or mission statement can help you stay centered on the truth of God in a world that is dominated by opinions
• How screen time is affecting kids’ brains and hours spent on screens by tweens and teens
• Teaching young children about the dignity and value bodies which can lead to wider conversations
• Humanizing explicit images and an example of how to talk to your kids when you encounter them
• Avoiding shame or blame when it comes to sexual images to keep the lines of communication open
• Solutions for an Internet safer home- control the location of devices, control at the router and control on the devices
• Sexting and child pornography laws and the importance of reporting

Links Mentioned:

• Mary Flo Ridley “When to have the Talk”
• Grace-Based Discipline :: Karis Kimmel Murray [Ep 150] 
• Theology of the Body for Kids: 
• Pornography Jimmy and Josh Myers Ep 162
• Good Pictures Bad Pictures: Porn-Proofing Today’s Young Kids **
• Good Pictures Bad Pictures Jr.: A Simple Plan to Protect Young Minds **
• https://www.pcmag.com/roundup/342731/the-best-parental-control-apps-for-your-phone
• https://protectyoungeyes.com/
• Screens and Teens by Kathy Koch**

**Amazon affiliate link

*Earbud warning…may want to listen without innocent ears hearing as well. 😉

This episode is about having great SEX with your husband. Whether that gets you excited or brings up fear in you, please stay and listen to my chat with Nancy Houston. She is a licensed professional counselor and sex therapist who shares candidly about how to overcome barriers to intimacy in marriage.

We talk about how to work through sexual pasts, sex after having kids, the impact of porn and sexual addiction on marriage. And how getting healing from your past experiences can draw you closer to your husband.

There’s a big learning curve to all of this. And you know too many times we treat sex as something that should be automatic and if we love each other this should just work. And that’s just not true. I mean statistically 60 percent of couples are having some sort of sexual problem right this minute. 

What we chat about:

• Why the Christian community needs to open up more about sex and healthy intimacy
• How sex drive changes for women after they’ve had kids
• The importance of foreplay for women especially
• God gave us sex as a way to bond us together with our husband
• Statistically, 60 percent of couples are having some sort of sexual problems at any given minute
• A woman’s largest sex organ is her brain
• The need for healing when you’ve experienced sexual abuse
• How Nancy processed and found healing from the sexual trauma she experienced
• Porn vs sexual addiction and the need for therapy
• God made us for intimacy
• Letting go of the negative aspects you may have built up around the idea of sex
• Raising our kids to have a healthy view of sexuality
• 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 and how it references sex in marriage
• Having your hormones checked, exercise and eating healthy can help your body be prepared for sex
• Having healthy conversations about sex with your husband (not during sex!)
• Sex isn’t meant to be a performance, it’s meant to be a way for you and your husband to connect
• Invite God into the sexual part of your marriage

Links Mentioned:

• The Power of Sex in Marriage :: Francie Winslow, Ep 61 
• The Ripple Effect of Healthy Sexual Connection :: Francie Winslow, Ep 138 
• Love & Sex A Christian Guide to Healthy Intimacy **
• https://www.affairrecovery.com/
• Intended for Pleasure: Sex Technique and Sexual Fulfillment in Christian Marriage **
• Birds & Bees with Mary Flo Ridley, “When to Have the Talk” 
• Birds & Bees–Continuing the Conversation, Ep 153 

• Celebration of Sex, by Doug Rosenau**
• Sex Facts for the Family, by Clifford and Joyce Penner**
• The Gift of Sex, by Clifford and Joyce Penner**
• Coping with Erectile Dysfunction, by Michael Metz and Barry McCarthy**
• Coping with Premature Ejaculation, by Michael Metz and Barry McCarthy**
• Rekindling Desire, Barry and Emily McCarthy**
• The Conquer Series for men struggling with sexual issues, a video series which can be purchased at Pure Desire Ministries
• Pure Desire, by Dr. Ted Roberts**

**Amazon affiliate link

There is a lot of pressure placed on moms to nurture and care for our families. Add the responsibilities of a full-time job on top of that and it easy to see why being a mom is called the hardest job in the world.

My friends Causha Jolly and Stacey McCabe share about life as working moms and the difficult balance they maintain everyday. I love how they share their hearts about being obedient to God’s assignment for them to work outside the home even in the difficult season of mothering little ones.

As a community of God-centered moms, we’re called to cheer on our sisters. It’s my hope that this episode will encourage you to bless and support other moms as they obey God.

Remember who you are in Christ, remember that you are called, remember that you are a daughter of the most high and never doubt that. 

(STAY TUNED. . .later this week I’ll release a blog post with more practical ideas on work/life balance from Causha)

What we chat about:

• Causha and Stacy’s motherhood stories and why they chose to work outside the home
• Why it’s harder for moms to travel and not worry about your kids vs. husbands traveling
• How to respond when we fear we aren’t enough and struggle under the weight of expectations placed on moms
• The difficulty of finding care for your kids while you work
• The false internal judgement of good mom to bad mom scale
• Feeling a divine assignment from God to be in a certain job
• How it’s necessary to say, “No” to a lot when you have limited family time
• The need to show grace for yourself so that you can have grace with your kids
• Moms can’t be there every moment of every day, but Jesus will always be there
• Teaching our kids to turn to Jesus to meet every one of their needs
• Dealing with moments of insecurity as a working mom
• When we judge a mom for her choices then we miss out on the blessing of supporting her in her obedience

Links Mentioned:

• Kat Armstrong –Motherhood, Career and Identity [episode 171] 
• Courtney Smallbone–The Day Fear Died 
• Pine Cove Family Camp
• Freakonomics by Steven Levitt**
• Whisper by Mark Batterson**
• Experiencing God by Blackaby**
• Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer**