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You didn’t plan this road...and some days it’s heavier than you can explain. Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler talk honestly about parenting children with disabilities: including the grief, the grit, and the quiet beauty most people miss. Emily and Laura don’t tidy it up, but they do point to a steadier way to carry what can feel impossible.

Show Notes and Resources

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In recognition of Mother's Day, Dr. Danny Huerta and Rebecca St. James discuss cultural pressures that leave many moms overwhelmed, burned out, and lonely, including perfectionism and social media comparison. They talk with Jamie Erickson, the author of Overwhelmed Mom, about finding hope and purpose in motherhood. Jamie emphasizes “one another” support in the church, embracing hidden, mundane tasks as God-seen work, and setting boundaries through a personal vision statement to filter commitments. Practical tips include creating a “10-minute power task list,” reducing screen time by “analoging” life, and prayerfully realigning priorities. In a Q&A, they advise a first-time mom that saying “no” appropriately  —helps children learn resilience and boundaries.

Overwhelmed Mom: Quiet the Chaos, Mind What Matters, Enjoy Your Life Again

Is Mother's Day Unhappy For You? This Article May Help.

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OK, let's put away all the junk food snacks for a minute and reach for a healthy snack today. Yes, it's time for some fresh fruit. It could be an apple, an orange, a pear, but the next time you eat one, would you look for the example on the inside? There is one. Oh, I wouldn't recommend you eat that entire apple; you'll probably want to stop when you get to the core. But notice what's there in the middle of that apple. Yep, seeds that can make another apple!

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "You Have Life to Give."

That little encounter with the inside of a piece of fruit can actually take us all the way back to the first fruit that God ever made, and a powerful example of some of what gives our lives real meaning.

Genesis 1:29 - it's our word for today from the Word of God. The Lord told Adam and Eve, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it." As I was reading that, it really struck me that God has created things with the seeds of reproducing themselves built right in. When God created man and woman, He told them to "be fruitful and increase in number" (Genesis 1:28).

But that principle of fruit carrying the seeds of the next generation goes beyond just physical reproducing. Jesus said to His followers, "I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last." And certainly that includes people who will come to Jesus because of you. They are fruit that your life is supposed to be producing. So, how are you doing?

The great creative plan of God is that when He creates a life, He creates it with the potential of reproducing life like itself - "Fruit with seed in it." The moment you gave your heart to Jesus Christ, God made you fruit with seeds, with the capability and the purpose of making some more like you! Apples generate apples, oranges generate oranges, and followers of Jesus generate followers of Jesus. Or at least they're supposed to.

But you know what? There's research that shows that maybe even just 10% of believers ever tell someone about their relationship with Jesus Christ, which in that case would mean 9 out of 10 believers are missing their destiny. They have the seeds of life to plant in another heart, but they're doing nothing with those seeds. And people around us go on dying without Christ, and without any hope of heaven.

Isn't it time you start bearing some fruit, like people who will be in heaven with you because you helped them know how? And God's plan is that we reproduce our own kind. Moms introducing other moms to Jesus, and students introducing other students to Jesus, and golfers pointing golfers to Christ, and business people reaching business people, and wounded people reaching wounded people. God has made you who you are; He's placed you where you are so you can take people like you to heaven with you! How are you doing with your divine assignment?

We're not talking here about you adding some new activities to your already overstuffed life. This is just using things you already do to bring other people who do them to Jesus. You already live where you live, you go to school where you go to school, you work where you work, and you play where you play. Just go there with the conscious mission of helping some of those people go to heaven with you!

There are seeds of spiritual life that God planted in you the day you met Jesus. And He's counting on you now to plant those seeds in the people like you. In fact, their eternity may depend on it.

Read: Psalm 75:4-7; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

HONK! Honk-honk-HONK! The horn on Jace’s tricycle was making an awful racket. Mya clapped her hands over her ears as she came in from school. “You’re hurting my ears with all that honking!”

“Jace,” Mom said, “let Mya help you take your tricycle to the playroom in the basement.”

“But I wanna ride up here!” Jace wailed.

Mya picked up the tricycle and started for the stairs. “Blow it all you want in the basement where it won’t bother anybody.”

When Mya came back, she said, “Now I can tell you my news, Mom. I’ve been promoted to the advanced math class! Only five percent of the kids make that class.”

Mom came over to give her a hug. “Congratulations, honey!”

Mya beamed. “And my art teacher told me she wants me to enter one of my projects in a competition for kids my age. She thinks I might win an award!”

“That’s great!” said Mom. “I hope you win!”

“Me too. I think I will—the other kids’ projects weren’t nearly as good as mine. Now I just need to tell my friends! Oh, and I need to tell them I’m going to see a Broadway show with you and Dad in New York next month. They’ll be so jealous!”

“Mya,” Mom said, “that’s enough. You’re hurting my ears!”

Mya looked puzzled. “But Mom, I’m not talking that loud.”

“No, but you’re blowing your own horn, and it’s getting louder and louder.”

“What do you mean, Mom? I just want to share my news with my friends.”

“I know,” said Mom. “But there’s a difference between sharing an accomplishment or opportunity you’re excited about and bragging because you think you’re better than others. God has given you many blessings, like a sharp mind your teachers have helped you develop. But He wants you to use those blessings to point others to Jesus, not brag about how great you are. When none of us could save ourselves from sin, Jesus came and died for us. He’s the one who deserves our praise, not us.”

Mom smiled as the faint sound of a tricycle horn drifted up the stairs. “If you’re going to honk your own horn, do it in the basement.”

“No thanks,” said Mya. “I don’t want to sound anything like that!”

–Barbara J. Westberg

How about you? Do you like to hear people brag? Do you brag yourself? It’s great to accomplish something difficult or receive a special opportunity, so go ahead and be excited when that happens. But don’t brag. Thank God for the blessings He’s given you, and remember that He wants you to use your accomplishments and opportunities to show people the love of Jesus.

Today's Key Verse: Let someone else praise you, not your own mouth. Proverbs 27:2 (NLT)

Today's Key Thought: Don’t blow your own horn

Have faith in knowing there is no one more faithful than God when you're facing times of trouble.

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Theme is: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives 4 - Barnabas

Barnabas willingly stepped out of the spotlight so that Paul could step into his calling, choosing humility over status. Are you willing to step back so that someone else can step forward?

Acts 13:13 - "Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem."

Quote: "Greed for power, even when dressed in Sunday church clothes, is only a well-dressed rascal." Neil Wiseman

J.D. witnessed amazing sights on his trip to several African nations. His text messages to us from Eastern Zambia included several pictures of faith-filled women who presented their three-year gospel ministry plan. “It is one of the most powerful strategic plan presentations I’ve ever heard in my life. Instead of a whiteboard, they drew in the dirt. Instead of handing out nice copies of what they were going to do, they displayed their plan on poster-sized crumpled paper held up by two of them. It was just incredible!”

They were demonstrating the kind of faith that Jesus values. Matthew 15:21-28 records another example. A daughter’s condition drove a woman to seek Him. “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is demon-possessed and suffering terribly” (v. 22). Her “great faith” (v. 28) in Jesus contrasted with the faithlessness of the Jewish leadership whose hearts were far from God (v. 8). While Christ recognized the outward pedigree of those belonging to Abraham, His commendation was for a gentile woman who possessed “the faith of Abraham.”

What compels you to look to Jesus today? A personal, family or community need? Whatever prompts you to go to Jesus, go even if you feel that you’re limping. Go to Him because it’s not the size of your faith that matters. What matters it’s the object of your faith: Jesus and Jesus alone.

Segment 1

• What did it actually cost to join the early church—and would you qualify today?

• Membership wasn’t casual: years of catechesis, believer’s baptism, and rigorous accountability defined entry.

• Is your church’s view of membership and discipline a shadow of what it once was?

Segment 2

• When was the last time a sermon truly gripped your soul with the beauty of Christ?

• Preaching has shifted—less weighty, less piercing, less “soul-melting” than what marked earlier eras.

• Do modern pulpits aim for transformation…or just information?

Segment 3

• Are government institutions quietly targeting faithful churches for what they preach?

• Reports surface of federal scrutiny—raising questions about religious freedom in practice, not just theory.

• From Puritan practices to modern pressure: are we prepared for what may be coming?

Segment 4

• Why does cultural confusion keep escalating—even in something as simple as school authority?

• From bizarre identity claims to inverted values, the culture isn’t neutral—it’s discipling.

• If everything feels like it’s unraveling, are Christians ignoring the obvious solution?

___

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We’re continually tempted to want more, upgrade faster, and pursue the next big purchase—but what if all this activity actually costs us our freedom? On the next Faith & Finance Live, Rob West and Bob Lotich explain why wanting less may be one of the most powerful financial decisions you can make. Discover how making this shift can reshape your life. Then, it’s on to your calls. That’s Faith and Finance Live . . . biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. That’s weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio.

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Ken talks about the concerns he has for those people who once gave their life to the Lord but stopped following Him. He encourages his audience not to be discouraged through this, but to commit their lives to the Lord and continue to share the Gospel trusting that the Lord is working in each person’s life.

*** Program#K767.

Real Life. Real People. Real Hope.

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