In a world that prizes hustle and constant productivity, breaking the habit of hurrying can seem far-fetched, yet taking time for rest is far more productive than we may realize.

Listen to a conversation with naturalist Eryn Lynum and the author of The Nature of Rest as we consider patterns of rest from Scripture and nature and share practices for these times of refreshment in our own lives. 

Eryn's new book launches today! Check it out on amazon 

What is the purpose of a home? Is it just a charging station for people to go home at night and then leave in the morning? Or ought it to be the center of life and activity? Why is a beautiful home more than design? How can the atmosphere of a home foster the living of life?  

Happy Holy Week!

Everyone wants to enjoy parenting but so many of us are struggling. What's the key to delighting in this calling? 

Everyone wants to be a loving, joyful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled parent. But in this world marked by sin and decay, our efforts are never enough. Yet, through the power of the Holy Spirit living in me, more and more, God is working to make me holy.

The key to enjoying parenting is resting in the power of the resurrection and submitting the authority of Jesus in my life. The more obsessed we are with the gospel of Jesus Christ and the glory of God the more we will thrive in the good work he has for us to do. 

Parenting ought not to consume or overwhelm me because I am consumed and overwhelmed by something far greater – Jesus Christ the Righteous (1 John 2:1). 

Elizabeth Eliot states, “God is my heavenly Father, and he loves me with an everlasting love, and the proof of this is the cross.”

A delighted mother’s joy doesn’t come from what she does but who she is.

It seems, if you want to be countercultural, throw parties and do it regularly. 

According to the Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics only 4.1 percent of Americans attended or hosted social gatherings on a given weekend or holiday in 2023. 

When Christians choose to foster community –both within the church and with unbelieving neighbors –we push back the darkness. In a partyless culture, Christians have a strategic opportunity to invite our neighbors to become friends. As author Rosaria Butterfield exhorts, radically ordinary hospitality can allow “strangers to become neighbors, and, by God's power, those neighbors can become part of God's family.” 

But sometimes getting people through your front door can feel impossible. After all, Americans as a whole aren’t accustomed to invites. Hitting roadblocks can be discouraging.

Even though it is hard (like really hard), with lots of prayer and creativity, it can be done in many contexts. 

Listen in for five encouragements for making it happen.

Across the western world, women are saying no to kids. According to the Annual 2024 State of Motherhood Report compiled by Motherly, a secular motherhood website that reaches 20 million women a month, only 25 percent of Gen Z and Millennial moms surveyed said they planned to have or adopt more children while 55 percent said no to more kids, and 20 percent said they were unsure. 

According to Pew Research two thirds of moms say parenting is harder than they thought it was going to be. The New York Times reports that “Today’s parents are exhausted, burnt out and perpetually behind.” 

Who wants to sign up for that?

Instead of looking to the secular world for answers as to why motherhood is worth the sacrifice, let’s turn our gaze upon Scripture and try to understand from God’s word why he created motherhood and why it is ultimately for our good – not for our destruction. 

When it comes around to late February and early March we are desperate for some tulips to start blooming. But alas! It still isn’t time to start planting. What do we do with these gloomy months of waiting? And how does the waiting help prepare us for the glories of Spring? 

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Christie Purifoy is a writer and gardener who loves to grow flowers and community. Most of all, she is a placemaker, and the place she is making with her family is a red brick Victorian farmhouse in Pennsylvania called Maplehurst.

She’s the author of numerous books including Seedtime and Harvest: How Gardens Grow Roots, Connection, Wholeness and Hope which was released by Harvest House Publishers in March 2024, which completes her trilogy of gardening gift books that began with Garden Maker (2022) and A Home in Bloom (2023).

As a Christian mom, I should know better than anyone that nothing I do is invisible. Everything I do—or neglect to do—is fully and completely known to God.

There’s no such thing as an invisible mom or a supermom. But there are moms who are fully known, fully forgiven, and fully loved in Christ. He has called us to live in the light as he is in the light. And as we abide in him, we need not fear our labor is in vain.

Sometimes it feels like the world depends on us and yet amidst our worry and wrestling, the Lord reminds us to call him “Abba, Father.” When we anchor ourselves to God through prayer, we free ourselves from the myth of our own sovereignty and trade anxiety for joy. 

If I’m totally honest, the idea of talking to my kids about sex isn’t the most appealing. But as a Christian parent, it is important that my kids are blessed with  a biblical vision for sex and sexuality. If I neglect this responsibility it may be the case that their thinking is informed by the world.

Today we are going to be talking with Garrett Kell, father of seven, pastor of Del Ray Baptist Church and author of the book Pure in Heart about how to talk to our kids about these sensitive subjects. 

We are going to talk through three general areas: how to first introduce the concept of human sexuality and baby making with elementary age kids, how to shepherd kids in purity as they reach puberty and how to help kids think biblically about the sexual confusion they might encounter among kids of their own ages. 

Below are some books for kids that Garrett recommends:

God Made Me Series
The Story of Me
The Talk: 7 Lessons to Introduce Your Child to Biblical Sexuality
Good Pictures Bad Pictures: Porn-Proofing Today's Young Kids

In order to lead well, it helps to plan.
Nine times out of ten, days that I tumble into without intentionality, prayer, and planning feel more like chaotic, cranky, messy disaster zones I am desperate to get out of rather than orderly, productive, creative days filled with adventures and joyful memories.

The natural bent of this sinful world is towards destruction and decay. If I’m not proactive about it, my days are not going to bend that way too.

D.A. Carson stated, “we don’t drift towards holiness.” Delighting in the Lord, enjoying our kids, and creating an atmosphere of belonging and becoming doesn’t just happen.
Listen in for thoughts on priority setting, long term goals and daily habits and for a look at the mom chart.

If you'd like a hard copy of the mom chart email me at [email protected]