Brave Moms

In this episode, we are discussing ways to set ourselves up for a Christmastime full of joy and hope without becoming weary moms. If you've ever felt like you are worn out, overworked and too tired to enjoy this time of year this episode is for you. Let's chat about some simple ways to make memories with our kids, keep Jesus at the center of Christmas and enjoy this typically busy time of year. Don't miss this episode!

• Ask God for a gift for you each day of His voice and His presence in your life
• Ask God what should be on your list of to-dos before you pack it full
• Remember to take your thoughts captive
• Create memories but they can be simple
• Operate out of your own gifts and stay in your own lane
• Leave margin in your days

EP 1 You are a Good Mom

EP 10 Margin and Keeping it All Together

The Christmas Star From Afar Nativity Set

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How do you have any hope in the hardest times in life? What about when the hard season just keeps going and going? Does it mean you are doing something wrong and God is punishing you? What if you have a real enemy that is out to get you but God is going to use this season to change everything for you, to anoint you for your calling and to give you lasting hope? Don't miss this episode if life has ever been hard.

• We may think that when we are being obedience we are not going to have hard times
• Isaiah 43:1-2
• I want to share with you 3 things that I want you to remember in times of suffering
  • God is betting on you
  • God is anointing you for your calling
  • God is changing your perspective to give you lasting hope
• Job 1:6-12 Romans 8:31
• ‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭16:9‬ ‭NLT
• Job 38:1-11
• God didn't tell Job why he was suffering.
• God didn't tell Job what he needed to do to end the suffering
• What God did was shift Job's perspective. He told Job where to put his hope.
• Job 42:5-6
• Job loved God and served Him before. Remember, God called him blameless and upright. Job wasn't doing something to deserve suffering but this encounter changed his whole perspective.
• The way that you defeat the enemy in this is that you rest in Who God is. You become steadfast and you set your hope on God instead of your circumstances.
• Ephesians 6 - The Armor of God

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What do you need to know as a mom to a teenager? How can you set yourself up for success and have the right expectations? Today we are sharing helpful ways to be a Brave Mom during the teen years.

• Ask God for wisdom
• Ask God to help your kids see that their friends are not the greatest source of information
• Teach them to ask you the tough questions
• Ask for forgiveness and model humility
• Hug them often
• Give them space when they need it and don't be offended by their need for space
• Let them question their faith when they need to and be in it with them
• Pray with them about the things they are concerned about
• Help them learn to deal with stress
• Teach them about taking their thoughts captive and that overwhelmed is a lie
• These are great years to discuss dating relationships, standards and how to treat each other
• Keep cultivating a sense of family identity
• Continue to comfort them, teach them how to comfort others, listen and to wait for times of non-conflict

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If you love the podcast leave a review here. It will take 30 seconds and I'd be so grateful. Plus, it will help more moms find this encouragement.

What do you need to know as a mom to a middle schooler? How can you set yourself up for success and have the right expectations? Today we are sharing helpful ways to be a Brave Mom in the middle school years.

• Rest Up! They are going to want to have deep conversations with you during this time and they can happen at all hours
• No guilt allowed! Set boundaries
• Learn how to comfort your kids and listen well
• God will give you wisdom and you don't have to know everything upfront
• You kids may go through rough times and that is ok
• Dealing with Mean Girls
• Don't pressure them to be a light
• What to do when your kids are struggling with their beliefs
• Invest in what lights them up and what they are called to
• Do things with your kids that they like to do

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If you love the podcast leave a review here. It will take 30 seconds and I'd be so grateful. Plus, it will help more moms find this encouragement.

What do you need to know as a mom to an elementary-age kid? How can you set yourself up for success and have the right expectations? Today we are sharing helpful ways to be a Brave Mom in the elementary age years.

• Give them more and more freedom as they grow. Allow them to feel accomplishment and achievement.
• Help them learn to do work to help the family out and have a sense of ownership and belonging.
• Cultivate a sense of importance around reading God's Word and asking Him for wisdom and revelation as they hear it or read it.
• Begin to develop your family culture - our family does... our family doesn't...
• Teach them about what's in their food.
• Start paying attention to what they enjoy doing and what they are good at.
• Call out the good and speak truth over them if you see them believing any lies.
• Help them put names to their feelings and work through expressing them properly.
• Teach them about self-control and forgiveness. Walk them through these often.
• Pray with them and let them pray when they have issues. Help them learn to give thanks and ask God for what the need and want.
• Teach them to value others and be kind. Teach them how to handle it when others are not kind to them.
• Talk to them about sex early and often. Establish yourself as the expert in their life. Let them know they can ask any questions they have and that you can be trusted
• Keep teaching them about appropriate and inappropriate touching and equip them to speak up if anyone touches them inappropriately.
• Tell them all the things about them that are unique and special. Help them build confidence in who God made them to be. Teach them to take their thoughts captive.
• Keep making time for your own relationships to model healthy friendships for them.
• Continue to work on your marriage and enjoy each other.
• Pray for wisdom often.

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If you love the podcast leave a review here. It will take 30 seconds and I'd be so grateful. Plus, it will help more moms find this encouragement.

What do you need to know as a mom to a toddler? How can you set yourself up for success and have the right expectations? Today we are sharing helpful ways to be a Brave Mom in the early years when you have a toddler. Share this episode with the moms of toddlers in your life.

• Extra sleep is still needed because your toddlers will have lots of energy.
• Play games with them that have them using up their energy (run around the table 10 times)...
• Be consistent with what you require from them and with discipline
• If they get away with something more than once you will have to work way harder later on to undo it
• Remember that discipline is love. "Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them." Prob 13:24
• Keep having them take naps and if they stop napping turn it into quiet time in their rooms so that you continue to get the break and rest you need.
• Have expectations for them that are on their level. Don't expect too much or too little
• Teach them how to act BEFORE you go places. Practice at home and remind them in the car on the way there.
• Their "why" questions may drive you crazy but answer them when they are not questioning your discipline. Kids need to know the reason why and you are educating them with moral reasons why that will stick with them for the rest of their lives. Why don't we run in the store? Because someone might come around the corner and we could run into them hurting them and that would not be nice.
• Give them choices with rewards for good decisions and consequences for bad decisions.
• Your strong-willed toddler will change the world one day. Equip them to make good choices and be self-disciplined.
• Start teaching them now to pray and to wait and listen to hear God's voice.
• Play with them and make memories but you are not allowed to feel guilty when you need to do the laundry and they want to play. Doing the laundry is for them too and it helps them learn there is a time to play and a time to work. It also helps them to learn to entertain themselves which is a valuable skill as they grow.
• Start teaching them about how special their bodies are and that no one should be touching them inappropriately. Tell them what to do if that happens and repeat this every so often.
• Make date night a priority. Keep working on your marriage. Keep taking good care of yourself.
• Keep doing the things that light you up inside.
• Remember this is a season and it will end and a new season is around the corner.

CONNECT WITH BRAVE MOMS:

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If you love the podcast leave a review here. It will take 30 seconds and I'd be so grateful. Plus, it will help more moms find this encouragement.

What do you need to know as a mom to a newborn or an infant? How can you set yourself up for success and have the right expectations? Today we are sharing helpful ways to be a Brave Mom in the early years when you have a little one. Share this episode with the new moms in your life.

• Give yourself lots of grace and lower your expectations for yourself. You're going to want to do it all but you won't have the capacity in the same way you did pre baby
• Give yourself extra time for everything
• Meet with Jesus frequently - He is your lifeline
• Quiet all the external voices and ask for wisdom - start now getting in the habit of praying about everything
• Talk to your husband often about how you want to parent, what discipline you will use, etc... get on the same page as much as possible now
• Learn about the differences between boys and girls
• Speak life over your babies
• Start praying for their future spouse - remember their mom might be in the same boat you are. What a gift for you to pray for her this whole time and she doesn't even know it
• Sleep whenever you can for the first several weeks.
• Write down all the things that overwhelm you and whenever a friend asks how they can help actually let them see your list. In the long run, you'll be grateful you were honest and didn't try to pretend you had it all together
• Keep doing the things that light you up inside and pursuing your dreams in small ways
• Enjoy this time and remember this is just a season and a new season is around the corner. By

LINKS WE MENTIONED:

Wild Things: The Art of Nurturing Boys

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If you love the podcast leave a review here. It will take 30 seconds and I'd be so grateful. Plus, it will help more moms find this encouragement.

Candace Jones believes there's never an asterisk on what God asks us to do in His Word. She is an advocate for foster care. She has 8 children, 2 biological and 6 adopted. God called her and her husband to foster and the two of them have taken some wild steps of obedience. Candace doesn't pull any punches in this interview. In this gut-honest conversation, she busts through excuses and misconceptions about fostering and shares her heart and what God did in her life to take such a huge leap of faith. After listening to this episode, you will be encouraged, challenged and informed on how to make a difference in the lives of children that desperately need you to do something. She also shares the most important thing any child needs. Don't miss this episode.

• God calls husbands and wives together
• 30% of youth that age out of foster care become homeless
• The Holy Spirit comes and sets up camp so unmistakably when you foster. God wants these kids.
• The kids are hungry for scripture
• How would you give a foster kid back? It's maybe a valid excuse but it's still an excuse. The scriptures never have an asterisk
• Ask God to give you calluses on the right parts of your heart and keep the other parts soft
• God is not asking you to do more than He knows you can do
• I would not be good at that. Moses wasn't good at public speaking… That excuse doesn't hold up with God.
• Pride says - I'm not good at that. God only asks for our obedience
• How will it affect my biological kids?
• God never asks us to trade our kid's childhood for someone else's childhood.
• Don't get ahead of God and make assumptions
• You get to fill out a thorough questionnaire of what would work for your family when fostering
• 100,000 are legally eligible for adoption
• Half of all foster children are returned to their parents and half of those kids returned end up back in foster care.
• Half of all foster parents quit the first year. It can be very isolating. Gather your friends before you begin and have them pray. Have them come and sit with you.
• Start scripture memorization with foster kids. It is powerful.
• In our American culture maxed out is very self-inflicted
• What do we have in our calendar that is keeping us from doing God's will?
• God removes so many excuses.
• Father of the fatherless and protector of widows, is God in his holy habitation. Psalm 68:5
• Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world. James 1:27
• How to support someone who is fostering:
  • Contact a foster care agency and ask to get on their approved babysitter list. Offer them a regularly occurring night out.
  • Go over with a coffee and sit with them and let them talk.
  • Fold laundry, clean her kitchen, help her practically.
  • Ask the kids sizes and get new pajamas, new underwear, new shoes.

• Don't look left and right. Look ahead. Find an older mom who is a couple of seasons ahead of you to mentor you.
• All extracurricular activities fade in comparison to knowing the Bible and knowing what the truth is.
• Men often have financial concerns about fostering. The state of Texas and most states now if they are adopted from foster care or currently in foster care can go to college for free. Any state college. Tuition is paid. That also includes medical school, law school, and technical school. They also have Medicaid insurance through age 18. 100% of them qualify to go to college for free but only 3% of them take advantage of it.
• Cultivating a love for the Lord through scriptures. ABC printable scripture flash cards. Do 1 a week at breakfast. A whole week to talk about what it means. Discuss who said it in the Bible, what was going on, and when it applies to our lives. God's Word has power.

LINKS WE MENTIONED:

Dallas Life Shelter

Scripture Printable Cards

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If you love the podcast leave a review here. It will take 30 seconds and I'd be so grateful. Plus, it will help more moms find this encouragement.

Did you know that you can actually plan for a good day? So many times we just look back on our days and decide whether it was good or bad. Life happens and circumstances arise that can throw us off. But what if there were some things you could do to set yourself up for more good days? That's what we are talking about on the podcast today. We hope you'll join us!

• How to plan to have a good day
• Listen to your thoughts
• Are you trying to numb feelings? Really feel them.
• Remember that God tells us to be strong and courageous.
• Joshua 1:9
• God's encouragement is always that we can do this and He's got us. He never says we're stuck or that we'll stay here forever
• Remember the big picture. This is a season. Perspective is everything
• Other moms are going through the same things and we will get through this
• Have fun! Make time for fun and look for beauty

LINKS WE MENTIONED:

Podcast Episode on Margin and Keeping it all Together: https://www.bravemoms.com/margin-and-keeping-it-all-together/

CONNECT WITH BRAVE MOMS:

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If you love the podcast leave a review here. It will take 30 seconds and I'd be so grateful. Plus, it will help more moms find this encouragement.

Back to School time is filled with so many things to do, buy and read and sign. It can be exhausting. How do you keep your heart from growing weary during this time? This week we have some ideas for you to take note of how your heart is doing and how to refuel so that you are set up for a great school year with your kids.

• Tend to your heart
• Ask God to show you what you need in this season
• Take care of your whole self
• Be prepared to slow down
• Remember that you don't have to do any of this as a weary mom

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