Motherhood to little kids can be mentally and physically draining and sometimes it can feel like our husbands are the last people we feel like investing in. Or worse yet, we can use them as an outlet for our frustration. 

But our words matter and they don’t just matter to our husbands. The words we speak to our husband will directly impact our kids.

As counterintuitive as it may seem, if we want our kids to thrive we must pay attention to how we speak to our husbands.  How can we choose words that speak life, give grace, and strengthen our faith and our marriages?

Listen in for a helpful conversation with Sara Molitor -- a wife, mom to seven kids, and author of Well Said: Choosing Words that Speak Life, Give Grace, and Strengthen Your Faith and Family on why is it so important to focus on the heart behind our words.

October's Party by George Cooper describes a party, thrown by October herself, that everybody comes to and stays long after the party has officially ended.

October is a time for parties --but the very best kind of parties are those that focus specifically on the people we love most, our own dear families. As the days get shorter and the nights get colder, many of us will start to gravitate inside. 

And as we do, what are strategies for making our dinnertimes magical? How can we make our tables warm, inviting and a place no one wants to leave? 

If you are like me, you grew during the Leadership Craze. I went to half a dozen “leadership” camps during high school and when I was applying to college it seemed that every university  was “training tomorrow's leaders.”  Even at the time, this seemed like a bit much. I mean, we can't all be president. 

Plus, this self-absorbed leadership didn't seem all that biblical (not that the training was self-absorbed, but simply how I perceived it).

The Bible seems to suggest that Christians ought to consider the interests of others before themselves and should humble themselves before the mighty hand of God. I should be caring for the least of these and seeking to live a peaceful and quiet life.

My life today is delightfully simple in many ways. I’m a stay-at-home mom, a member of my church, and a happy neighbor. My days consist of phonics lessons, reading stories about raccoons, and trying to fix our broken drain with my amazing lawyer husband who it turns out is also handy with a plumers snake. 

So leadership really doesn’t apply to me, does it?

Or actually, maybe it still does. Because in my ordinary everyday life with little kids, I actually do a lot of leading.

And in your life, whether you are a mother or not a mother, I think you probably have a lot of leading to do as well. 

How do we think about leadership from a biblical perspective?  What is Leadership Emergence Theory? And how can leading with conviction, vision casting, honest self-reflection, communicating with clarity, and resourcing from the Holy Spirit benefit our little families? 

As a whole, we are a people obsessed with the Fall. We love all things pumpkins, spice and everything in between and sometimes it can seem silly.

But is our wonder at the changing seasons silly? Or is it actually a gift from God? What eternal lessons might the Lord teach us through marveling in azure skies, observing brisk windy days, or baking brightly colored squash?

Daniel 2:21 says: “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding”

Fall ought to be a time of wonder and a time that we marvel at the Lord who holds the planets in motion, who causes the earth to orbit the sun to give us the distinctions of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

Listen in for an incredibly delightful conversation with Kelly Havens about eternal truths that God has woven throughout the natural world and for simple fun ways to invite our families into deeper worship through celebrating all the lovely delights of fall –apples, leaves, sewing, baking, good read-out-louds, and yes, tasty hot beverages.

Check out Kelly's amazing Instagram HERE!

The start of the school year can be chaotic. Everyone has soccer practice at different times, kids are “leveling up” into harder grades, and there are dozens of new demands on our time. It’s fun for sure, but it can also be draining on parents and kids alike.

As we spin into this new and exciting school year, how should we think about time? What is sacred time? What is a sacred day? What is a sacred week? And how can the church calendar inform our school calendars for the year?

Danielle Hitchen,  founder of Catechesis Books and author of the upcoming book, Sacred Seasons (available on October 3rd and ready for pre-order now!) walks us through the history of the church calendar and how it can bless our families.

Order Sacred Seasons HERE!

Check out Danielle's other beautiful resources HERE!

Follow Danielle on Instagram HERE  (@catechesisbooks)

P.S. Holy Cross Day is September 14th! Click here for an Irish hot cross buns recipe!

The effects of PMS impact almost all of us. The National Institutes of Health report that 90% of women of reproductive age experience several premenstrual symptoms varying from mild to severe and 20-40 percent experience Premenstrual syndrome (PMS scientifically).

These monthly hormonal changes can manifest in a variety of symptoms from mood shifts, headaches, body pains, depression, anxiety, bloating, and irritability to just name a few.

In essence, PMS is  a pain.

For most of us, it's a time when we are not on our A-game and when we feel physically and emotionally weak and messy. And it can make motherhood extra hard. How are we supposed to love our children when our brains feel like they are going to snap?
What does the Bible say about hormones or a woman’s monthly cycle and how to deal with it? How does a faithful understanding of the salvation story change how we cope with PMS? Thankfully, the Word of God has lots to say on this topic and many others like it.

Listen in to a helpful conversation with Krista Hart --Biblical counselor and mom to two teenagers-- on a Christian framework for dealing with hormones and some very practical nitty gritty strategies for coping with the effects of our cycles.

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Helpful links from Krista:

On Seasons of Hormonal Change

When It's "That TIme of the Month"

 As mothers, all day long we are surrounded by needy people and the majority of us get to the end of the day and feel exhausted. If you are a young mom like me, right now your primary calling is inside your home –to care for and nurture these adorable and exhausting small humans. 

But, there are also lots of needy people outside of our homes. And our Savior, the one who captivates our hearts and our minds and who we should most be desiring to emulate, seems to care a lot about the least of these. So how do we balance the very real constraints of motherhood with the also very real needs of the world around us?

Should we feel shame and condemnation if we don’t have the capacity to do the level of ministry we might desire? Or, as young mothers do we get a “pass” on caring for others because we are so spent caring for littles? 

How do we care for others outside of our homes wisely recognizing that we are limited creatures? And what role does the sovereignty of God play in all this?

Listen in for an edifying conversation with the lovely Joanna Beasley, --mom to three, church planter in a low-income part of Oklahoma, and Southeastern Seminary grad, about thinking well about serving others when we are spent and tired ourselves. 

What does a daily family worship practice look like? Why is it important to gather together as a family daily? How can the consistency of time together in the word, prayer, and song impact our marriages? What does commitment to family worship communicate to us, to our kids, to our church family, and to the wider community? 

Why is it important for fathers to lead? How can wives come alongside their husbands to help them?

Does it have to be long? (No.)

Listen in on a conversation with my very favorite person in the world, James Nelson, on why daily family worship matters and how to get started.

James practices appellate litigation in Washington DC, serves as a Deacon at our church, leads our community group, and facilitates a men’s group and has led our family faithfully in family worship for seven years.

Ideally, dads should be the ones leading and intiating family worship. This episode is geared towards husbands and wives --but specifically how husbands can lead their families.

If you have a believing spouse ask him to listen to this episode with you or to listen to it separetly and then discuss it together. 

But if you don't have a believing husband or you aren't married --don't be discouraged. The Lord speaks directly to you also and can use daily family worship in a powerful way.

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Charles Spurgeon once said, agreeing  with Matthew Henry that, “They that pray in the family do well; they that pray and read the Scriptures do better; but they that pray, and read, and sing do best of all.”

One in six women faces the heartache of infertility –and almost everyone is affected by infertility to some degree.

Where can women turn for comfort while grieving their dreams and grappling with unfulfilled longing? And for those who aren’t battling infertility, how can we come alongside those who are?

 Jenn Hesse and Kelley Ramsey, authors of Waiting in Hope, 31 Reflections for Walking with God Through Infertility, weigh in with comfort and encouragement for the struggling and those who desire to come alongside the hurting.

How is our wonder at the natural world connected to our awe of the creator?  How can spending time outdoors strengthen the faith of our families? How can experiences in nature show our kids absolute truths in a society prone to relativism?

How should we think biblically about climate change? What can we learn from invasive species? How do we manage the dirtiness of the outdoors?

Listen in for a delightful conversation full of practical encouragements and suggestions with Master Naturalist and Author of the delightful book, Rooted in Wonder, Eryn Lynum.

Rooted in Wonder
The Nat Theo Podcast
More of Eryn's wonderful resources can be found here