Famous at Home

Today's episode is a conversation for Dads. Okay, so wives will appreciate it too. Peaking behind our own picture frame, we begin with a story about how we began to emotionally disconnect in our marriage after our kids entered the world (i.e. invaded our home).

Don't get us wrong, we love our children dearly. But nothing challenged our marriage more than having two kids less than two years apart. Even more, it impacted Christi's identity. But in the moment, she was unable to put words to that. As I left for work each day, she stayed in between the four walls of our home. Eventually, as she describes it, she was on "the bottom rung of life."

Based on a blog post I (Josh) wrote that continues to resonate with many, we talk about the valuable lesson we learned on connecting deeper in our marriage, after kids.

This conversation is certainly not exhaustive, nor does it represent the feelings of every woman. However, we hope it opens the door for wives to voice what they really need, and for husbands to empathetically understand and offer support.

Let us hear from you. Join the conversation with us and share the lessons you are learning from your own picture frame.

Show Notes and Podcast Sponsors:

TwentyTwoSix Parenting: Discipleship Tools for Raising Kids Who Love God and Love Others



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Part of the vision of In This Together with Dr. Josh + Christi is to be a podcast where we interview guests to discover how their stories can give us insight on becoming families who live, love, and lead well. Today's guest is the epitome of what it means to live a great story. 

Rarely are the terms hilarious storyteller and theological scholar used in the same sentence, much less used to describe the same person. But then again, Lisa Harper is anything but stereotypical! Listen for a few minutes and you'll see why.

Lisa a gem. In this episode, she shares her journey with adoption, losing two, before adopting her precious daughter, Missy.

In addition, Lisa hilariously, yet truthfully, gives us incredibly practical advice on living happy. And no it's not sinful to be happy. In fact, Jesus teaches about it. Lisa encourages exhausted moms, single parents, and families in the trenches. She even lovingly calls us out as parents (hint: we do trauma, but we don't do drama).

You'll hear Lisa's heart behind her latest book, The Sacrament of Happy: What a Smiling God Brings to Wounded World. Be prepared to laugh and walk away feeling less guilty, and more inspired, about your parenting.

Show Notes and Podcast Sponsors:

The Sacrament of Happy by Lisa Harper

   

TwentyTwoSix Parenting: Discipleship Tools for Raising Kids Who Love God and Love Others



Forcefield: Screen Time Done Right. Try it out FREE for 30 days.

Our guests this week are two of our favorite people. We believe they will fast become two of your favorite people as well.

Licensed counselors Sissy Goff and David Thomas serve at Daystar Counseling in Nashville. Along with Daystar's founder, Melissa Trevethan, they host a website of helpful resources for parents called Raising Boys and Girls.

In this episode, Sissy, who serves as Director of Child & Adolescent Counseling, talks about the increasing anxiety in today's culture. Particularly, she shares stories of how anxiety is impacting girl's development.

In addition, David, who serves as Director of Family Counseling, talks about boys and anger. David and Sissy, with their decades of counseling experience, provide very practical ways we can help our kids best channel their negative emotions.

Based on their new book, Are My Kids on Track?, you'll learn about the emotional, social, and spiritual milestones of your kids. Personally, this is a book I devoured.

Show Notes:

For the book, Are My Kids on Track? click here.

       

 

Our guest is best-selling author, pediatrician, mother, and grandmother Dr. Meg Meeker. Even more, she is a mentor and dear friend to us.

This is a super fun episode! One I personally love because she hones in on what Christi is doing wrong in our marriage. Seriously, the advice on marriage is epic for both husbands and wives.

And, we talk about Dr. Meeker's latest book Hero: Being the Strong Father Your Children Need.

Here are a few highlights from our time together:

* Meg tells the story of how she and her husband, Walt, both finished medical school with young kids.

* How Meg undermined and blamed her husband, and how it created chaos for their family.

* Why she believes wives are trained to think this way about their husbands--and the one thing wives can do to make it right.

* The reason she came to deeply respect her husband--and the one way husbands can get their wives to respect them.

* How dads can see who they are from behind their child's eyes.

* How fathers have everything they already need to be great dads.

* Why kids define the word "hero" with dad.

Show Notes: 

For a fantastic Father's Day gift idea, check out Dr. Meeker's brand new book, Hero: Being the Strong Father Your Children Need. 

You can also check out Dr. Meeker's Parenting Great Kids podcast by clicking here.

We all have a lot to learn from the sacrifice of those who serve in the military. In this episode, we learn from a couple, married more than 30 years, who served active duty. But even more, Wes Crawford, a military analyst, and his wife Wanda, a social worker for Special Operations continue to serve in the trenches with military families day in and day out. We are excited to introduce you to Team Crawford!

In this episode, Wes and Wanda teach us the secrets to what kept them fighting for each other. We also learn how they prioritized the mission, no matter the season of life they were in. One of our greatest takeaways was what to do when the mission requires us to focus on other priorities. Especially when that mission requires us to be separated from one another. Whether it's her focus on the new-born baby, or his focus at work, we can always fight as a team.

In honor of all military families, we salute you. To those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, we remember you. May we all learn from and honor our fellow military families.

Anxiety in kids is increasing in epidemic proportions, particularly in the past three years. Not only that, anxiety has a trickle down effect on kids. In fact, one research study shows that—only behind love and affection—that a parent’s ability to manage their own stress is the second most effective parenting strategy for getting the outcomes we desire most in our kids.

We have had our own run-ins with anxiety just in the past few weeks. In this episode, we tell stories from our own journey. We also describe three practical ways you can help your kids when they get anxious.

Show Notes:

This month we’re launching TwentyTwoSix parenting, an online community for parents to disciple their kids based on Proverbs 22:6. Each month we focus on a mile marker to lead our kids in the way they should go. July’s mile marker provides content and coaching on this topic: Fear Not: Building Confidence in our Kids. Click here to reserve your spot before May 26, 2017!

Our guests this week are none other than Bob and sweet Maria Goff. One word defines these two: LOVE. Get a pen and paper. Prepare to laugh. And especially ready yourself to learn super fun and creative ways to instill love in your own home. If there's anyone we want to be like one day (apart from Jesus, of course) it's these two.

Oh yeah, and find out why Christi is buying a "Help Wanted Sign," a tiny stuffed koala bear, and a pole. Our own parenting journey is about to get more fun!

Show Notes: 

For more information on Sweet Maria's book, click here. 

To purchase Love Lives Here, click here.

So often we feel alone as parents. But we aren't supposed to do it alone. Raising kids who love God and love others doesn't have to be filled with shame. We don't have to fear that we're somehow messing them up. In this episode, we break down Proverbs 22:6, and how we can raise our children "in the way."

Leading our children in "the way," is about the environment we raise them in. Consequently, we created a community called TwentyTwoSix.  A way to connect with our kids at a heart level. Without needing to add anything more to our already busy day, we lay out content for the four key times of the day prescribed by Moses--morning prayers, drive-time games, dinnertime stories, and bedtime questions.

In this episode, we also talk about the monthly mile-markers--a new character trait or life skill necessary for our kids to grow in emotional and spiritual maturity.

Though parenting isn't easy, we believe doing it together can make it simpler. That's what this community is all about.

Show Notes:

Click here to sign up for the FREE video series, The Three Most Important Lessons We Can Teach Our Kids, beginning Wednesday, May 3.

For more information, visit www.226parenting.com.

We all want to win our children’s hearts. Even more, we want them to give their hearts to Jesus. Unfortunately, there’s no surefire way to get our kids to make the right decisions. However, there is one primary posture we can take as parents that increases the chances of influencing their hearts–and having them call us when they’re out of the house

We all want to win our children's hearts. Even more, we want them to give their hearts to Jesus. Unfortunately, there's no surefire way to get our kids to make the right decisions. However, there is one primary posture we can take as parents that increases the chances of influencing their hearts--and having them call us when they're out of the house :)

In this episode, we discuss five critical moments—in discipline, in our child's anxiety, in our mistakes, in our kids’ interests, and in play—where how we speak, matters for winning our kids' hearts. We talk about why focusing on how we respond, not how we react is important. That's because research consistently shows that it’s not necessarily what we know about parenting that matters for child outcomes, but who we (the parents) are becoming.