For the first part of our 2018 Don’t Mom Alone live event, Jim and Lynne Jackson, co-founders of Connected Families, joined me & my husband Bruce to answer listener questions about discipline and how to use their framework for biblically-based parenting.

We share lots of stories of how we have failed as parents and learned along the way.

But then I started to realize maybe my humility was my greatest currency for influence to help her learn the lessons and the values and the things that mattered most… Our kids need to know we’re not perfect. They need to know that we’ll come back to them and say, ‘Hey I blew it. I’m sorry. Would you forgive me?’ And get back to reconciliation in those relationships. — Jim Jackson.

So good!

Jim and Lynne talk us through the parenting framework they’ve developed and redefining how we view discipline with our kids. Ultimately, it comes down to connecting with their hearts and leading them to Jesus instead of trying to control their behavior.

We can help kids embrace the wisdom of the righteous. And that really prepares the way for the Lord to come in our family in a strong way. Because in today’s day and age with all the craziness that’s going on, these kids need a form of discipline that’s not just about punitive correction but that’s about a whole way of life that teaches our kids how to be followers of Jesus. — Lynne Jackson

And it’s not just vision for how we want to parent, the Jacksons also share some super practical tips and give us some ways to respond to our defiant, strong-willed or sensitive kids.

What we chat about:

• The basis for Jim and Lynn’s parenting framework
• How do you parent proactively instead of reactively when you feel like you’re just surviving minute
• What is our goal in parenting? Is it immediate obedience from our children or fostering their ability to make wise choices?
• Bringing God’s grace into our messy moments
• Why connecting with God is so essential to how we parent
• Go into a situation asking, “Lord, what is the opportunity here?”
• Helping our kids build wisdom instead of feeling the need to express our disappointment when they mess up
• Trusting that our kids really want to do better
• Separating behavior from identity in our kids
• Humility and apologizing well may be our greatest currency as a parent
• The idea of a parent do-over
• Tips for parents of younger kids and encouragement for parenting kids who bite or hit
• We tend to think of behavior as either all good or all bad
• When our goal is to control their behavior, it doesn’t build trust
• You don’t have to be mean to be strong as a parent
• Big, loud, and loving energy can make a big difference in the middle of conflict
• Luke 1:17- “And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
• Strong-willed kids and the importance of calling out their giftings and how God made them
• Sometimes it’s sensitive and intense children are labeled as strong-willed
• Psalm 73:21-24 “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.”

Links Mentioned:

• Previous Episodes with Jim & Lynne — Ep 80 , Ep 81, Ep 98, Ep 200, Bonus Sibling Conflict
• Connected Families Blog Post — It’s Not Defiance, It’s Science 
• Connected Families Blog post- Danger, Obedience, and Teaching Kids Traffic Safety

Tricia Goyer is an author, speaker and homeschooling mom of ten. She also knows what it’s like to parent children with chronic anger. If you’ve ever felt alone in how to calm your “angry kid(s),” Tricia has a lot of wisdom to share from parenting both biological and adopted children.

In true Don’t Mom Alone fashion, Tricia and I answer several listener questions about how to respond in love and help kids of all ages process their anger and emotions. We talk about how much harder it is for the current generation of moms who have to factor in busier schedules, social media and more as a part of their children’s environments

My oldest is 29 and my youngest is 8. It is so much harder now. I feel like I’m on the second generation of kids. Now there is social media. There is more television. There are more video games. The access that they have to all these things brings so much anxiety and tension. Not only do they have to go to school, but then they would come home and see on social media that people were talking about them. It’s just so much more involved now even than it was when I had my first generation of kids.

But it’s not impossible! Tricia shares so many great practical tips and suggestions for how to help our kids (and ourselves) work through anger in a healthy way. But beyond all the tips, it all comes down to leaning into God and praying for the Holy Spirit to fill them that will make the biggest difference.

It’s really the Holy Spirit in them and the fruit of the Spirit is God in them that’s going to change them. I could try all these activities. You know, we could do calming bags or coping skills. I mean we do all the things too. But really it is God in them. And the more they lean on God and the more they depend on him that they’ll truly change.

What we chat about:

• Tricia’s family, career and unique calling as an adoptive parent
• Her new book, Calming Angry Kids
• Determining if your child is struggling with how to process anger in a healthy way
• Giving our kids time, attention and praise is a powerful antidote to anger
• Everyone gets mad, what we do with the anger makes the difference
• When they are in the middle of the emotions, it’s not the time to discipline them
• Kids learn to apologize when we model it for them
• Anger is often a secondary emotion from a deeper wounding like shame or feeling unloved or anxiety
• Family schedules are busier than ever before and it heightens anxiety in kids and parents
• Take time to process emotions with your kids and say “No” to more activities or events if they need a break
• Tricia shares both how we can process our own anger and how to help our angry kids
• The idea of an anger log to help track anger over time
• Calming bags and items you can include in them
• Give your kids time and space to calm down
• Specific tips for pre-teens and teens and helping them with anger and hormones

Links Mentioned:

• Calming Angry Kids: Help and Hope for Parents in the Whirlwind **
• Prayer Journals
  • Big Kids **
  • Little Kids **
• An Interview with Tricia Goyer {GCM Podcast Ep. 7}
• How to Discern God’s Will Stick With It :: Tricia Goyer [Ep 179]

**Amazon affiliate link. A small portion of your purchase will help produce this podcast.

We’ve all been there. Your kid throws a fit in public and you feel the sting of embarrassment and the subtle lie that you aren’t a good enough mom. You fear what others will say and feel like the entire day is ruined in this one encounter.

My guest Elyse Fitzpatrick has lived in this place of fear and presents another way to view your worth as a mother — resting in the righteousness of Jesus. She shares about the very common and subversive idols of motherhood to slip in when we try to control our children’s performance.

But see that’s absolutely soul destroying because you either end up in fear and despair or pride and despair. That’s where you always end up when you’re living for your own righteousness. So in the days that I can lay down and in bed at night and say, ‘Yeah nailed it,’ then I am in pride.

If you’ve struggled to feel “OK” in your own power or have found your personal joy tethered to your kids’ behavior, this episode is for you. Elyse gives us the simple reminder that we have the power through Jesus to topple the idols in our life.

I began to understand this is really idolatry and I’m driving my kids insane trying to prove that I’m really an OK person. That I’m OK when they’re good and I’m a complete train wreck and bad and a loser when they’re not. But, when Jesus becomes who he should be in our lives, then idols lose their power to entice us.

What we chat about:

• Elyse’s blended family structure and her son’s adoption
• The balance of the disciplinarian and the more fun parent
• Insecurity about our own faith and the lie of trying to control our kids
• The danger of looking for identity in the way our kids behave
• Looking for the places in our lives where we feel afraid, angry or worried as a barometer for where we aren’t believing God
• Identifying idols in our lives and what they can look like
• How our children make us look or feel in front of others can bring up anger in us
• Elyse’s relationship with her mother and the background of her perceived need for control
• When Jesus becomes who he should be in our lives, our idols lose their power
• Not letting our joy be tethered to our kids’ behavior, or even our behavior
• Our self-centered struggle to feel “OK” in our own power
• How living for our own self righteousness leads to a soul destroying cycle of pride and despair
• Resting in the righteousness of Christ and remembering we are forgiven

Links Mentioned:

• Front Porch with the Fitzes Podcast
• Give Them Grace: Dazzling Your Kids with the Love of Jesus by Elyse M. Fitzpatrick **
• The Expulsive Power of a New Affection by Thomas Chalmers**
• No Other Gods Bible Study Book by Kelly Minter**

**Amazon affiliate link. A small portion of your purchase will help produce this podcast.

In the thick of parenting it is easy to get our perspective skewed or react to our children from a place of emotion or our own sin. My guest Dr. Paul David Tripp gives a course-correcting pep talk reminding parents of their deep calling from God and how to look at discipline as an opportunity to connect our kids with God’s goodness.

“You’re never just dealing with behavior. You’re always dealing with what controls the child’s behavior and that’s his heart. And if God consciousness doesn’t rule my heart, self orientation will. That’s what has to change. No I can’t create that change, but I can I can give God’s Spirit an opportunity again and again to work in the heart of my child”

Tripp  is a pastor, international event speaker, and best-selling author. As a father of four grown children, he shares candidly from his own experience. This encouraging episode is packed with a lot of truth! Share with your spouse and friends!

What we chat about:

• The deeper calling of on our lives as parents
• We cannot rely on our kids to give us hope for parenting them.
• How opening our children’s eyes to see God everywhere pulls them away from a self centered existence.
• God created the world so that it’s very physical nature reveals him.
• Root the rules that you have for your children in God’s goodness and his love and His grace.
• Every opportunity we have to discipline or correct is not an opportunity first to threaten  with punishment but to talk about how good God is.
• Ask the question, “What is God wanting to do in the heart of this child?”
• Behavior is really about a child’s heart orientation
• God way of parenting isn’t efficient, but it is transformational  .
• The values of the world push against our calling as parents. We have to consider where we are placing our treasure and hope.
• A God perspective for how to respond when your children sin
• God is exposing something in my child so I can be part of his help and rescue.
• Parenting is about planting seeds. We aren’t going to see them bloom overnight.
• Dealing with rebellion and authority issues with grace and consequences
• Parenting adopted children and helping them with identity

Teens. Toddlers. Moms.

No matter the age. We all struggle to remember (or know) the truth about who God says we are. And our position in Christ.

When we forget, we let friends, circumstances, or lies feed our souls with identity. And that takes us down the path of uncertainty,  harmful activities and a broken path.

Thankfully, today’s guest, Kristen Hatton, helps “Get Your Story Straight”.

When her daughter was in 6th grade, Kristen started teaching her and a group of friends truth from the Bible. Unfortunately, there weren’t a lot of great resources available for preteens/teens. So she used notes from her husband’s sermons and wrote her own Bible study. (click here to check it out)**

In this episode, Kristen and I talk about the struggle for our kids to know how “justification” applies to daily life. (And define what ‘justification’ means).

We also chat about how to help teens navigate the challenges of social media. And Kristen vulnerably shares her daughter’s battle with an eating disorder (which began with internalizing social media posts).

Lastly, Kristen helps us start to keep communication open with our kids. So when they are teens they will keep talking. I’m in the stage with lots of little people all trying to be with me and talk to me (at the same time). But after three blinks I’ll have a home full of teen boys. The time I spend listening now will impact how much they talk to me in the future.

Very thankful for the help, perspective and wisdom from Kristen. Now I can see the teenage years as an age of opportunity not a season to be feared.

What we chat about:

• How quickly our kiddos grow into teenagers.
• How Kristen saw a need for good bible study materials for teens.
• Helping our kids be anchored in who God says we are (not who their friends on social media says they are).
• Importance of teaching our kids the concept of justification.
• When the world is measuring perfection and performance but we know we are only perfect in Christ.
• How to communicate worth and identity to our kids.
• Why teens stop talking to their parents.
• Listening and asking probing questions.
• Responding with grace instead of condemnation.
• How internalizing social media posts led to her daughter’s eating disorder.
• How boys struggle with social media.
• How Kristen talks to her kids about the impact of social media.
• Talking to your sons & daughters about pornography. Keeping an open conversation.
• Reorienting your kids to the message of the gospel, moment-to-moment

Links Mentioned:

• Get Your Story Straight: A Teen’s Guide to Learning and Living the Gospel by Kristen Hatton**
• The depressing Eggo commercial
• Why Teens Don’t Talk to Their Parents
• Connected Families–Jim & Lynn Jackson (Ep 80)–“You are Safe” message
• Birds and Bees? Oh Help Me, Please with Mary Flo Ridley {Ep 25}
• Eating Disorder Resources–article by Kristen
• Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens, Second Edition (Resources for Changing Lives)

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

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**

Does it seem possible to draw our kids away from entitlement and toward the bigger “Yes” of God’s blessing for them and other people in their lives? Well, get excited because Jim and Lynne Jackson of Connected Families are back with parenting wisdom to address entitlement in our kids AND in ourselves.

We as parents feel entitled to grateful, hard working kids, and when we don’t get them an we have ungrateful, resistant-to-chores kids we get pretty upset. That shows that we feel entitled to how things go my way in the home. Instead of saying, ‘Oh! Wow we have some challenges here that I can partner with Jesus and really dive into.’

What we chat about:

• Jim and Lynne Jackson introduce Connected Families and their parenting framework
• The root of entitled behavior in our kids and the beliefs that back it up
• Entitlement is the belief that I deserve something because I’m more important than someone else
• Entitlement is about our sin nature and we’re all born into that
• As believers we need to call out entitlement in our lives and choose to put God first
• We as parents feel entitled to grateful, hard-working kids
• The attitude we bring into parenting and our beliefs are reflected onto our kids
• Helping our kids learn to work hard and celebrate accomplishments give them a dopamine burst in their brains that helps “rewire” them to want to work hard again
• Letting go of the places we are coddling our kids by not expecting them to serve and do hard things
• The “Bigger Yes” of God’s blessing for your kids and other people
• Take it slow and consider your kid’s perspective as you make changes toward growing our kids out of entitlement
• Determining the rights, privileges and responsibilities of your family
• When our kids see the beliefs we fight for and see the joy we experience as we follow God and it inclines them to want that too

Links Mentioned:

• Help Your Child Feel Safe and Loved :: Jim and Lynne Jackson [Ep80]
• How to Connect, Coach and Correct Your Child :: Jim and Lynne Jackson [Ep 81]
• Connecting With Your Kids in Any Circumstance Jim and Lynne Jackson [Ep 98]
• Resolving Sibling Conflict :: Jim and Lynne Jackson [Ep 126]

We know that God’s word is living and active. Today’s guest Jodie Berndt takes us through using Bible verses as prayers that can powerfully influence your children’s lives.

There is so much encouragement in this episode for standing on the truth of God’s word and relying on scripture to help shape your children, teens and adult children. Of course, we as moms can’t help but be changed when we hide his word in our hearts and pray them over our family.

We know that he is a loving God who knows our needs and our kids’ needs better than we know them. So when we lift our children to him and surrender them, he’s going to do for them what he knows they need. It might not be necessarily in the timing or the ways that he would’ve ordained, but in Isaiah 55 it says that his ways are higher and better than our ways. When we come to believe that, it can really bring peace to our lives.

What we chat about:

• Using God’s word for prayers is powerful.
• There isn’t a need we’ll face in parenting that God hasn’t provided for in his word.
• Specific scriptures to pray for your child’s salvation
• Asking God what we can nurture and pray for in each child’s unique giftings
• God will accomplish the changes in your child’s character. Our job is to partner with him.
• Praying against fear and for protection
• Asking God to shape your children into good friends
• Processing popular media with your kids and discussing how it aligns or doesn’t align with a Godly world view
• The power of having others pray for your kids in community
• When prayers aren’t answered the way we want, God is still writing their stories.
• Free resources available at https://jodieberndt.com/resources

Scriptures Mentioned:

• Ephesians 4:29 – Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
• John 15:7 – If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
• Psalm 121:7-8 – The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.
• Acts 26:18 –  Open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.
• 2 Corinthians 5:17 –  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here!
• Colossians 3:12 – Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
• Philippians 2:13 – for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
• Psalm 91:11 – For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
• Proverbs 17:17 – Shape my child into a friend who loves at all times
• Proverbs 27:17 – As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
• Proverbs 16:28 – A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.

Links Mentioned:

• Free resources available at https://jodieberndt.com/resources
• Praying the Scriptures for Your Children **
• Praying the Scriptures for Your Teenagers**
• Praying the Scriptures for Your Adult Children**

So much of parenting is really about the work God is doing in our own hearts. Jeannie Cunnion shares her story of being set free from the shame of her past and learning to let go of performance-based parenting.

If you feel there IS something that separates you from the love of God, this is the episode for you. Jeannie shares encouraging truth and practical applications for giving ourselves and our kids grace.

What we chat about:

• Why we need to be set free from shame of our pasts to live in the freedom of Christ.
• Jeannie’s story of a painful, short-lived marriage and the shame she carried from it.
• What performance-based parenting looks like.
• Shame-driven messages vs. grace-driven messages.
• We all have things that we believe will separate us from God, but he says nothing will separate us.
• Research about children who grow up in Christian homes.
• The importance of talking to our children about our failings and God’s grace.
• Creating a home of confession instead of a home of perfection.
• Acknowledge that we’re all going to make mistakes and that’s ok.
• Jeannie’s Three R’s: Remember, Rely and Recognize

Links Mentioned:

• Courtney DeFeo
• Jacque Watkins  
• Mudstory with Jeannie Cunnion–shattering shame and perfectionism
• Mom Set Free book** and Mom Set Free Bible Study** by Jeannie Cunnion
• How to {really} parent with grace Episode 55
• Anchoring Our Kids’ Lovability in Christ Episode 91

Heather MacFadyen, mother of four boys, interviews guests discussing the topic of staying God-centered...both replacing "me" with "He" and remembering we are centered in Him.  

What if your son can't read as he enters first grade? What if your daughter prefers wrestling to ballet? What if your living room sofa has a couple rips and stains from a decade of use?

These things shouldn't be a big deal. But then you notice your friend's first grade boy is reading chapter books. . . and her daughter gracefully glides into class with a giant bow on her head . . . and their living room just got a make-over with coordinating floor-to-ceiling curtains.

Personally? My feelings of "less than" often start at a place of comparison. I know I shouldn't compare. I know it doesn't make me feel good. Yet day after day I glance around making sure I keep pace with the Joneses.

How do I move past comparison to contentment? And even more important, how do I get to a place where I can celebrate her athletic child or new couch or beach vacation?

Well, today's podcast guest, Kay Wyma, shines a light on the age old comparison problem and guides us to a better place of connection and true community.

In Kay's latest book, "I'm Happy for You (Sort Of . . .Not Really)", she helps readers find contentment in a culture of comparison.

"Looking at what we lack prevents us from noticing how sweet the world already is. But when we shift our focus from what could be to what actually is, we find extraordinary joy in our ordinary lives." 

I've been a big Kay fan since a dinner party over six years ago.  As I sat hugely pregnant with our 3rd son, she encouraged me in my role as young mom.

Kay is authentic, brilliant and refreshing.  My hope is her wisdom and practical tips in this episode help you stop comparing and draw you closer to the women you interact with daily.

What we chat about:

• Encouraging one another by running alongside, instead of determined to "win"
• Focusing on "being together" more than hosting the perfect dinner party
• Being our best instead of being "the best", discovering our "you"-niqueness
• How a "mental" computer reboot (cnt/alt/del) helps fight comparison
• Whose light is revealing your reflection (& the Kylie Jenner Challenge)
• How to help our kids navigate social media and speak life to their friends
• How our friends can help us "reboot" the messages we believe.
• How to enter back-to-school with fresh perspective, moving from comparison to compassion (repurposing school supplies).
• Why I can never look at an Instagram pic of feet on the beach the same way.

Connect with Kay:

The MOAT Blog :: Facebook :: Twitter

Links Mentioned:

• I'm Happy for You (Sort Of...Not Really): Finding Contentment in a Culture of Comparison *Amazon Affiliate Link
• Kathie Lee Gifford video

Heather interviews Rachel Anne Ridge. 

Heather interviews her mentor's mentor, Nancy William. A grandma to 10 and great-grandma to 4, Nancy provides wisdom and great perspective. She also shares a family gratitude tradition dating back 40 years. Also discussed: mom guilt, best parenting resource, praying with your kids, and husbands who work a lot. 

Heather interviews Crystal Stine, mother to two-year old Maddie. Crystal shares her story of reluctantly walking into motherhood. The humbling process of experiencing a miscarriage. The joy of having her daughter. She also gives ideas for ways she makes time to spend in God's word throughout a busy day of juggling a full-time (outside the home) job and being a mom.  

Heather interviews Amanda White about ministering to families while staying home with kids. Finding God's big dream while serving those right in front of you. They also discuss Amanda's Christmas Advent curriculum, "Truth in the Tinsel"...daily devotional and ornament crafts for little hands leading up to Christmas.