Finding Joy in Your Home

This is a fun and (hopefully) inspiring episode. Whether you find yourself homeschooling or supporting your child's education while they attend another form of school, one thing is certain, moms play a vital role in their children's education. I want to inspire a love of learning in my kids that lasts a lifetime. So in this episode, we are going to talk about ways we can make their education fun AND exciting. Instead of chiding you to do more, I am going to encourage you to approach it all from a place of rest. Let's jump in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. How to make school so much more fun and exciting 1. First thing to remember - you don't have to be a crafty Pinterest queen mom to accomplish this. 2. Ditch the Textbooks that aren't working Education is so much more than a textbook think outside the box with things like math. (Simple Charlotte Mason offers a really cool 1 year math program that teaches math through the kid running a fictional pet shop! So cool!!) They offer a pet store edition, book store edition, and sports store edition. Grades 3-6 Ideas: Ditch the science textbook and drive four hours and spend time at the tide pools. Ideas: Buy the kids some kites ad spend time learning about real world gravity and how things fly. Ideas: Ditch the astronomy textbook, let the kids stay up late, make some popcorn, and lay out under the stars identifying constellations. 3. Let each kid choose an area of interest This year I have a kid who wants to learn all about wood working. And another child who wants to learn how to fly a plane. 4. Other good skills are educational too Our cooking experiment A dad taking his kid along on his construction sites Our Christmas present to the 4 older boys this year: their own tool sets to build a playhouse with their dad Links & Resources: Our sponsor: Need help with your meal planning? Let PrepDish do it for you - they are giving you 2 weeks for FREE. That's 2 full meal plans for free. Sign up here. Our sponsor: Get $130 off plus free shipping at GreenChef.com/homemaking130 and use coupon code: homemaking130 at checkout! Join our FREE community here: FindingJoyCommunity.com

THIS is an important topic for me right now as I'm 11 weeks pregnant and TIRED. I've done a version of this talk in the past, but each time I feel like it gets better as I go through more stretching and busy times. Does any else feel like each passing year just gets faster and faster? I've felt this from around the time I turned 20. It's always so important to evaluate our use of time. Are we squandering it on social media? Are we feeling exhausted and burnt out? Are we using rest the way God intended it? Today we are going to dive into how we can make sure we are using our time for God's Glory! Let's jump in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Our sponsor: Organize365.com/minicourse for a free 7 day course and check out their Sunday Basket Organization system!! Our sponsor: Go to HelloFresh.com/homemaking16 and use code homemaking16 for up to 16 free meals AND 3 free gifts! Join our FREE amazing community at FindingJoyCommunity.com You can purchase access to our entire 2022 Finding Joy in Your Home Online Conference here

Well the title of this episode kind of gives it away! We are expecting our 7th child in September 2022 and as I'm in the throws of the first trimester, I thought I would share a little bit of the journey with you. Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Favorite Pregnancy Books: Taking Charge of Your Fertility The Mama Natural Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth Awakening Fertility: The Essential Art of Preparing for Pregnancy Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way Husband-Coached Childbirth Betsy Bosom's Baby Book: A Girlfriends Guide to Using Essential Oils From Bellies to Babies Gentle Babies: Essential Oils and Natural Remedies for Pregnancy, Childbirth, Infants, and Young Morning Sickness Remedies: Sea Bands – Motion sickness bands High amounts of vitamin b – my two favorite Vitamin B complexes are Dr. Axe's Vitamin B complex & the one I use now is Super B by Young Living (it's AMAZING!!) NEW in this pregnancy: A cell salts protocol from Her Homeopathy. Her website is a wealth of information!!! Heartburn remedies: The only thing that has ever worked for me for heartburn is: Alkalime supplement by Young Living Genexa Pregnancy tea: Mama's Red Raspberry brew – My favorite pregnancy blend!! Mama's Milk tea – Great for lactation and milk production! Earthley also makes a great pregnancy tea Pregnancy workout dvd: Lindsey Brin's pregnancy workout DVD set Vitamins and supplements: Take a good prenatal – I use Master Formula + Super B as my prenatal vitamin (both from Young Living). You can read about this combo here. Dr. Axe also has a great prenatal I recommend I also take a good probiotic. I switch between Young Living's Life9 and some of Dr. Axe's probiotics. It's a good idea to switch up your probiotic from time to time to get different strains. Dr. Axe has a bunch of good ones but I recommend his Women's once a day as well as his SBO probiotic. You will also want a good omega/fish oil supplement for pregnancy. No surprise here but I recommend one of Dr. Axe's Omega's but all four are currently sold out. The one I take now is Young Living's OmegaGize. A good omega supplement is crucial during pregnancy, but a GOOD one from a good source is going to be expensive. Just keep that in mind. I usually take mine 3-4 times a week instead of every day just to lesson that expense a bit. I also take Magnesium and iron – see my favorites below Other supplements I LOVE: TriLight Health has an entire line of pregnancy herbal blends that are affordable and rock! Their ingredients are outstanding. I recommend getting their Pregnancy essentials kit for everything you need. Earthley is my next favorite store to recommend. It's owned by a mom who has a passion for providing home remedies at an affordable price. Here are a few of my favorites from Earthley: Pregnancy tea -a Premade blend for pregnancy Fertili Boost herbal extract – Want help getting pregnant? This tincture might help. Post Partum balance – I am SO getting this tincture for this time around – helps balance things out after pregnancy Mama's tummy relief – I wish I had seen this during my first-trimester sickness Nourish her naturally – Another possible option for a prenatal Magnesium Lotion – Another great one for pregnancy! I use this every night. Dr. Axe has a good supplement if you want a pill instead of a lotion. Iron supplement – I LOVE Earthley's iron supplement. Make sure to look for an herbal iron supplement though if using a different brand. Meal Planning Help for Eating Healthy: I am really excited to share with you the sponsor of today's podcast episode: PrepDish! If you ever feel like you wish you had a little help in your meal planning, then I highly encourage you to check out PrepDish.

I love setting goals for the new year. It usually happens for me in December, but better late than never! If you haven't set goals for the year yet, don't despair, let's jump in together! Listen in to my 12 goals for 2022: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. For the first time ever, I've picked a theme for my year instead of a word. My theme this year is: The Year of Transition. It's shaping my intentionality as I approach some new projects and things this year. You can listen to my podcast episode on the topic above, but my goals for this year are coming out of this theme for the year. I've got 3 main areas that I'm setting goals in this year: Transition in my Personal goals Transition in our family goals Transition in our business & ministry Transition in my Personal Goals: I love setting personal goals for myself. I know for some people it stresses them out, but for me, it helps motivate me. My biggest part of my personal theme this year, is working on transitioning into more solid routines. In 2021, we survived working in the margins of a busy year. This year, I'm working on making more solid routines all around for more transitions to come. Read 104 books this year (I transitioned this down from 130 books) Establish a solid morning routine that becomes easy to stick to Read the Bible twice this year (A big part of better morning routines) As a result of better routines, take nights and weekends off Transition in our Family Goals: Teach the older boys 20 recipes they can cook entirely on their own (cook 20 recipes with the middle 3 kids) Play more board games (together and as a family) Read more fiction series with the kids (better routines to find the time for this) Take the children out on one on one dates monthly Transition in Business & Ministry: THIS is the area, that if we can really solidify, will help us in the other areas of goals. We are so thankful for a small business that we run with just an internet connection, but it's also easy to take over all corners and margins. I want to transition from a soloprenuer idea to a small business owner over seeing a team. It's a BIG transition for us. I'm both nervous and excited about it. Hire 3-4 people over the course of the year Find a shipper for our store launches Relaunch My Homemaking Mentor all brand new! Create solid weekly content routines

Welcome to our kind of annual life and ministry update! Jason is joining me on this episode. Today we are debriefing about all our travels and business projects from 2021. And looking ahead to all that we are planning for 2022. Join us for a fun and exciting chat! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Purchase the recordings from the 2022 Finding Joy in Your Home Online Conference from last week Join our free community: FindingJoyCommunity.com Check out our new sponsor: Organize365.com and check out their amazing Sunday Basket system! (AND try their 7 day free mini course!!)

We have a tradition around here. Each year when our annual online homemaking conference launches, I always share the first session for free here on the podcast. I always pour my heart and soul into that first talk and I love being able to share it with everyone here on the podcast. Well, today launches our 8th online homemaking conference so today's talk is the opening session titled: Homemaking in Light of Eternity - how do we make Christian households that point to Christ? Listen in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. What we are going to talk about today: WHY this entire topic is so important What does Scripture say about the household? What wisdom from Proverbs do we see for our households? It has never been more important to critically think through: The purpose of the household, our duties as Christian women, how we sold use our time, how we can glorify God in mundane moments, how we persevere through hard times, and what our joyful Gospel purpose should be n the days ahead. It's not acceptable, before the Lord, to carry on normal life, accepting the world's standards as our own. Thinking through our priorities: The world tells us to seek our own pleasure eat all costs. --> Christ tells us to deny ourselves and live a godly upright live in these present days (Titus 2:12 says, "training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age) The world tells us to leave our husbands the moment our needs are not being met (or even, never to get married at al because you'll be oppressed). --> Christ tells us to love our husband and our children and to lay down our lives for others. The world tells us that the things worth pursuing are bigger houses, nicer cars, a magazine worthy $50,000 kitchen or you are doing something wrong and all the strappings of a successful life. --> Christ tells us that a successful life is to take up His cross daily and follow Him. For those in Europe, Australia, and other places around the world, you've been living in a anti-Christian culture for a good 10 years or more. Here in the U.s. and Canada, its finally coming as well. We no longer are part of the dominant culture. We now have sesame street having a transgender story house. We have phedophelic shows on Netflix, being applauded by the critics. We have governing officials saying that parents shouldn't be in control of, nor even being aware of, what their children are being taught in schools, medical procedures, or even hormone therapies and sex changes for children as young as 7 or 8. We live in a culture that is hostile to Christ. And instead of this making us fearful and fretful of the future, instead of making us anxious about the world our kids are growing up in... It should be an exciting time to live. We finally get to take all of these lessons from Scripture and really put them into action. There's nothing like a little adversity to wake us up to how friendly with this world we've become and the immense joy we can have from serving the Lord, even under persecution. It's a time where living set apart for the Lord can truly shine. It's a time that instead of hiding in insane fear, we can proudly display the hope we have in God and be ready to share that hope we have. 2 Timothy 4:2 says, "preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires." James 1:2-5 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work,

For the past several years, I've picked word for my year. This word kind of revolves around all of my goals for the year and helps to give me some direction. But this year, I've chosen a theme for my year instead of just a single word. Listen in to find out what my theme is, how to pick your own, and some ideas for incorporating it into your year! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. 8 years of themes: 2012: Intentional 2016: Joy 2017: Create 2018: Refresh 2019: Faithfulness 2020: Cultivate 2021: Kingdom And now, my 2022 theme for the year: The Year of Transition. What has gone into choosing this theme: We've got a LOT of transition going on around here. 2021 was a FULL year, but mostly a stable one. Lots of travel as we looped the country 1.5 times. We went to the southernmost part of the lower 48, we visited the hottest place in the USA, and spent time in the highest capital city in the USA - among a million other things. It was a wonderful, full, and busy year. But as I started thinking to 2022, I realized that this is going to be a pretty major transition year for our family - and our ministry here - in many ways. And while "transition" isn't the most fun work to pick, I thought it worked well as more of a theme. The year of Transition. I feel like this is an important distention, because transition can be hard. I'm already a tad exhausted thinking about the decisions coming up for us this year and the possibilities. It's truly a year of transition in many ways, and that could be bad. But instead, we know that God has great things in store for His Kingdom and His People. So for me, it's a positive. I'm walking into 2022, knowing it's going to be chocked full of transition. I'm expecting it and therefore excited to see what God does. For me, The Year of Transition theme has a few helpful distinctives: With many of our very necessary upcoming changes, we don't totally know what the end step will be. We have some vague ideas or even plans, but only God knows truly what will come from this year. So The Year of Transition helps me to remember, that as we walk into the unknown, God is making a path ahead for us. And we don't need to see every step of the way. Transition can be hard, daunting, and even scary. As someone who actually likes change, I already feel a bit overwhelmed at all this year is going to pack in. I feel overwhelmed with research and decisions. And so, The Year of Transition reminds me that it IS a transition year. And in transition, I can find great joy. So as I look forward to 2022, The Year of Transition reminds to me 1) Trust in God's sovereignty in all things 2) let go of the need to control all decisions and 3) walk in Joy - even when it's an uncomfortable season. A few verses I've been looking at as I pray through my to do list has been: A Time for Everything 3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace." - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 "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" - Daniel 2:21 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and ...

It's finally that time of year again: We are here today to announce the 2022 reading challenge and chat about this year's reading. We will discuss our goals, making new goals, and some exciting changes to the 2022 reading challenge (it's going to be so much fun)!! Listen in here: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. What's New This Year In an effort to inspire more reading, and to do it as a community, we are introducing a community aspect for the first time ever! We've always wanted to do this, but now is our year!! The community group will kick off on January 1st. You can join our community in the meantime here ---> FindingJoyCommunity.com In the community, we will all be able to update on our progress, share new favorite books and ask for book recommendations in categories. Jason and I will also be publishing detailed book lists throughout the year and posting our book reviews of our books we read throughout the year!! Next exciting change: You will determine your goal for the year and then compete against yourself for some fun little prizes. If you hit your quarterly goal, we'll have stickers, magnets, and bookmarks you can win for free and add to your next store order!! It's going to be super fun. I'll be unveiling quarter one's prize soon! BONUS: I'll have a reading planner PDF to download for FREE as part of the challenge. I'm almost done with it and will release it into the community as soon as it's done!! It has places for book summaries, tracking your reading goals, favorite quotes, and more. Jason & Jami's 2021 Reading Goal: We both set big goals for this year, and neither of us are hitting it! But that's okay because I feel like we both had great reading years. And that's really all that matters. Jason's read (so far): 93 books for the year Jami's read (so far): 97 books for the year 2022 Christian Reading Challenge Here's how it works: You will find the reading challenge below. You'll see that we've given you two tracks – 13 books or 26! This is either reading one book every four weeks or one book every two weeks. If you want to do 52 books (one a week) you can easily adjust for that as well. A note about fiction: This year we've included fiction categories per your request! I think fiction is hard because all of us are going to have different tastes in what fiction we prefer. You can find some of our favorite Christian Fiction books here. But feel free to substitute any fiction books or series that you enjoy. Pick Your Level: I know each of us has different reading levels and time for reading, so I created two different tracks you can follow. 13 Books a Year – This works out to 1 book every 4 weeks. If you have no habit of reading right now or have no idea you will fit reading time into your busy schedule, then this is a great level to begin with. Pick one book every 4 weeks and commit to getting it down within that time. 26 Books a Year – If you want to tackle a bigger challenge, then this level will get you reading 1 book every two weeks throughout the year. It's still a very doable reading track but will challenge you to stay on track! If you want to follow this plan, read one book from each list every month. So in January, read book #1 and book #14! This way everyone can read through and follow along with books #1-13 together. Here are the categories: Christian Living Marriage Parenting/Family Life Theology Fiction Biography/History Spiritual Disciplines Christian Classics Church History *If you are not a parent or are not married, then scroll down and fill in those spots with other fantastic book suggestions from the other categories. Book Recommendations Per Category: Christian Living:

Are you ready to get planning for 2022? Maybe you are like my guest today who has already done all her 2022 planning, or maybe you are like me and you've done zero planning yet 😅 Either way, you are going to love this interview with Elizabeth Santelmann from A Sunshine in My Nest. Listen in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Visit Elizabeth's blog Sunshine in my Nest Follow Elizabeth on Instagram Our Sponsor: Go to StoryWorth.com/homemaking and save $10 on your first purchase! Our Sponsor: Go to GreenChef.com/homemaking10 and use code homemaking10 to get 10 Free Meals including free shipping!

Welcome back to the 3rd episode in our mini series: The Family & Culture: How to bring glory to God within our households in a hostile culture. Last week we talked about how we can learn to be BRAVE women in our current age (And why it's so important to do so)! Today we are doing the second part of bravery: How we can take examples from Scripture to see how to be brave. Bravery is something that isn't built into our culture. For the most part, we haven't had to be brave in our lifetime and don't know how to prepare the next generation for what may be coming. So let's journey into Scripture to get bolstered up that we CAN be brave through the Holy Spirit - and how that impacts our households. Let's dive in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Our culture is becoming increasingly hostile to Christians. I think we've all seen this building in the past 10-20 years but many of us have been left shocked at how quickly it has ramped up in the past 2 years. I'm raising 6 young kids in this world and as I look into the future, I can be fearful for the world that they will be handed and what it will look like for them raising my grandkids. I know so many have felt this fear that I've heard time and again from women questioning if they should even have any more kids or even from young couples wondering if they should have children at all. But we are NOT living in unprecedented times It's been the thing to say the past 2 years that we are living through unprecedented times. Well no, we aren't. Plagues and pandemics are nothing new, in fact this is an extremely mild pandemic. Political strife and unrest is nothing new, in fact, it's been far worse at many times in our own countries history. Riots and looting are nothing new, in fact, our parents and grandparents have lived through many riots in their days. Very generation thinks they are unique, but the truth is, what we've been going through will hardly be a blip in history. In fact, the only reason I think anyone will read about the past 2 years in the future is how egreasgously the whole thing has been handled. I don't downplay the loss and devestation that many have suffered the past 2 years. There has been real grief and heartache. But because of social media especially, it can all feel a whole lot worse than it is. And is a constant presence every single second. In episode 19 we talked about how and when we should carry each other's burdens. And in that episode, we cover a good talk on social media and how it's caused a lot of problems for our generation. And then in episode #15 we take a look at the Christian responses to the Black Plague, early Greco-Roman plagues, and Emperor Nero. It's a good one if you need a dose of perspective. And in episode #16 we take it further to see how we should be looking into the future. If you need some more encouragement after this episode, dive into those two! Now turning to Scripture SO, today we are going to look at some brave acts in Scripture. But the real hero we are going to see, isn't Daniel or Abraham, it's God. Too often, we focus so much on the Bible characters. We focus on their story instead of what their story tells us about God. So let's see how acts of bravery are actually acts of our gracious God. When we can understand that, and walk boldly knowing that God is sovereign and is making a path ahead of us and that nothing will happen outside of His will, then we can be BRAVE women and build up BRAVE families. Learning from Daniel "Purpose of Writing: In 605 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon had conquered Judah and deported many of its inhabitants to Babylon – Daniel included. Daniel served in the royal court of Nebuchadnezzar and several rulers who followed Nebuchadnezzar. The Book of Daniel records the actions, prophecies, and visions of the Prophet Daniel."