What if we could sit down with Joseph, the angel Gabriel and Mary’s mom to ask them what that first Christmas was like? That’s exactly what we’re trying to do in this episode as we consider the anticipation of Jesus’ birth and all that happened once he was born.

Joseph models for us what it looks like to walk into the unknown clinging to what we know. He believed what the angel promised him, he knew what the Bible said about the Messiah and he took the next right step of faith even when he didn’t know how it would all work out.

Joseph was willing to look foolish for Jesus. He was willing to put aside his name, his reputation, even his rights in order to obey God. His life was interrupted but instead of pushing back, he allowed the holy interruption to change his and our world.

We also talked about Mary’s mom this episode. We don’t know much about her or how she would have handled the news about Mary’s pregnancy but we do know how we hoped she would respond and how we hope we would do when our teenagers come to us with news we weren’t expecting.

We’re excited to talk about the Christmas story with all of you during the month of December!

Join us for Advent! Find LOOKING FOR JESUS on Gather Moms Patreon. Each day, we’ll release a short episode to help focus our eyes and hearts on Jesus this Christmas seaosn.

We’re asking FIFTY moms to give FIFTY dollars. Click HERE to give and be entered to win one of our amazing giveaways.

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Canes and Community

If your child is on a sports team, your school is doing a fundraiser or a reading challenge, or your place of worship needs a donation, discounted meal or free meal vouchers, you need to check out canesandcommunity.com. Create a profile and enter your request. Someone from their team will reach out to you and they can even work with you to help get creative about what may be best for your organization.

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Our children are navigating cultural issues earlier and younger. As their moms, we need to be a safe place where they can ask questions and we can work with them to have a biblical worldview. Thankfully, this doesn’t mean we have to have all the answers right away. We can tell our kids we need a day or some time to consider and get back with them. It does mean, though, that we need to have open lines of communication, be engaged with what they are learning outside of our homes and be willing to lean in on tough issues.

We want to equip our children to have the tools they need to recognize what is true, what is false and how to respond in a way that honors God. We are not alone in this endeavor and we are so thankful at Gather Moms for Mama Bear Apologetics and the work they are doing to equip mamas so we can equip our children.

Check out these resources from Mama Bear Apologetics:

Mama Bear Apologetics Website

Mama Bear INSTAGRAM

GIVING TUESDAY:

We’re asking FIFTY moms to give FIFTY dollars. Click HERE to give and be entered to win one of our amazing giveaways.

SPONSOR:

Canes and Community

If your child is on a sports team, your school is doing a fundraiser or a reading challenge, or your place of worship needs a donation, discounted meal or free meal vouchers, you need to check out canesandcommunity.com. Create a profile and enter your request. Someone from their team will reach out to you and they can even work with you to help get creative about what may be best for your organization.

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As our kids grow, they start asking about their bodies and it can catch us off guard! That first time in the bath tub when they ask us what a body part is called or where babies come from can leave us stuttering because we often aren’t sure what to say or how to say it. In this interview with Mary Flo Ridley and Megan Michelson from The Birds and The Bees, they give us the language to use and the why behind it. We’re so thankful for the wisdom and candor and comfort in saying the words that make us blush!

Check out these resources from The Birds and The Bees:

WEBSITE HERE

ONLINE COURSE HERE: Black Friday sale is on!

BIRDS AND BEES INSTAGRAM

GIVING TUESDAY:

We’d love your support this Giving Tuesday. Click HERE to give and be entered to win one of our amazing giveaways.

SPONSOR:

Canes and Community

If your child is on a sports team, your school is doing a fundraiser or a reading challenge, or your place of worship needs a donation, discounted meal or free meal vouchers, you need to check out canesandcommunity.com. Create a profile and enter your request. Someone from their team will reach out to you and they can even work with you to help get creative about what may be best for your organization.

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Welcome to the Middle School Moms Support Group! In this season of motherhood, our pre-teens can’t decide if they want us close or as far away as possible. It’s a struggle for independence but also support. We’re calling this episode the Middle Season for a reason; the in between of childhood and adolescence. Our kids are experiencing new schedules, body changes, a bigger social scene and more opportunities. The weight is heavy on their minds, bodies and hormones.

Rebecca shares a story from the Bible about God’s chosen people wandering through the desert with their fearless leader, Moses. Moses is a kindred spirit to us mamas. He didn’t just have 2 boys of his own, he had 2 million Israelites…whining teenagers…to oversee for 40 years. The similarities are blaring! As they stood on the edge of the Promised Land, the people buckled under fear and distrust. Scripture says their children would suffer for their faithlessness. Instead of claiming the victory God promised, they would experience waiting and death.

MAMAS, we can’t be fearful of what middle school presents us and our kids. We can’t distrust that the God who has gotten us this far won’t take us through this desert too. Instead of stepping back to wait it out, let’s lean in and parent hard. Let’s stand in faith FOR our kids when they’re searching for who they are. We can talk about the hard topics, and we can limit social media. The age-old argument still rings loud in 2023: Everybody gets to do this but me! Wrong. You ask God what’s best for your child and then stand firm when they winds and tantrums blow.

This is my prayer for our middle school warriors – “But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it. ” Numbers 14:24

Great article on the middle school years here.

SPONSOR:

Canes and Community

If your child is on a sports team, your school is doing a fundraiser or a reading challenge, or your place of worship needs a donation, discounted meal or free meal vouchers, you need to check out canesandcommunity.com. Create a profile and enter your request. Someone from their team will reach out to you and they can even work with you to help get creative about what may be best for your organization.

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We’ve made it to the grade school years! A time of celebration for mamas when kids start school, routines take shape and children become more independent. As they’re learning their ABCs, they’re also learning how to tie their shoes, ride a bike, be a friend, and do chores. There is so much for them to learn in this season. And, as their moms, we’re learning right along with them.

A great model for us to use as we teach out children new skills is this one:

1. I do. You watch. 

2. I do. You help. 

3. You do. I help. 

4. You do. I watch. 

What to expect:

What to embrace:

What to let go:

VIDEO: For kids ready to become a Christian

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All of us are going to face times in our life where we stumble. Just like a toddler taking his first steps, we are stepping into new seasons of motherhood. Toddlers and preschoolers are facing new challenges like learning to walk, feeding themselves, and gaining their independence. Their new found strength and curiosity can be overwhelming for a mom who finally found a rhythm with life with a baby. You might find yourself mentally frazzled, exhausted and feeling angry at this small human who won’t listen to the word ‘no.’

Remember when you grabbed your child’s hand as they learned to walk down the sidewalk. You held tight in case they fell. When their knees buckled underneath, you grabbed their hand tighter, sometimes lifting them into the air until they got steady again. When they stumbled, you didn’t chide them or get mad. You picked them up and helped them try again. As moms we feel like we have to know how to do all the things on the first try. Every new season of motherhood brings new challenges and things to learn. If we stumble, then we get back up. We have a Heavenly Father holding tight to our hand too.

Psalm 37:23-24, “The Lord establishes the steps of the godly. He delights in every details of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.”

Rebecca’s Top Toy Picks for Toddlers and Preschoolers 2023:

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Skeletons and goblins and bats, oh my! How do we as moms talk with our kids about all of these things and is it ok for us to even celebrate Halloween? Rebecca and Kate are talking all things costumes, candies, where Halloween got started and how we can look to biblical wisdom as we approach this holiday. Join us!

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Something new always brings unknowns. And while we welcome the new and are often so excited about it (there is nothing like a new baby!), there is so much to figure out. Newborn mamas have to navigate when the baby should sleep and how, when the baby should eat and what, and so many other questions.

RESOURCES FOR NEW MAMAS:

HOW TO HELP A NEW MAMA:

TRUTH:

1 Samuel 1:27

“For this child I prayed and the Lord has granted the desires of my heart.”

Psalm 23:1-3

The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,

he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.

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If we could all sit in a room and share birth stories! Oh, how fun that would be. Well, except if any of you are like Rebecca because she remembers nothing. No two birth stories as the same. As moms, we may read, pack, attend the classes, tour the hospital, but nothing can truly prepare us for the moment when the doctor, scratch that, probably the nurse says: It’s time.

In the season of expecting, we do our part to prepare but ultimately trust God and His will. We want to be able to say like Paul in Acts 18:21 after he makes plans, “if God wills.”

This is part one of our episode on the pregnancy and newborn season. Join us for episode 123 as we get very practical about life with newborns and how we as a mom community can support newborn mamas.

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We’ve all had to wait. Whether waiting in traffic or waiting for a breakthrough, we know the uneasiness and stress that comes with waiting. For women, waiting for a baby may be the hardest waiting season of all. The pain of this waiting that we often call infertility is more common than we may realize. 1 in 6 women deal with infertility and know the pain of longing and waiting for a child. The Bible is not silent on this issue and instead highlights and cares for women who long for children. Women like Hannah, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Manoah and Ruth knew what it was to wait and Hannah is a beautiful example of bringing the longing and pain to God.

Psalm 27:14 NASB says “Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the Lord.”
Here are some truths to remember:
1.     Waiting, in Scripture, is the active turning to the Lord.
2.     Periods of waiting help us articulate our need for God.
3.     Our story of waiting is part of our witness.
 
Visit the Gather Moms blog for more encouragement and resources. One of our core beliefs is just because you don’t have a biological child, or an adoptive child or are still in the waiting season, doesn’t mean you don’t have the heart of a mother. You are created in the image of God – and where does motherhood come from? From God – our Creator. You are welcome here.

All of us know someone who has struggled or is struggling with this. In fact, I would guess most of us experienced some of it ourselves. We need to lean into this group of mamas because they are our friends, daughters, sisters, and sisters-in-law. We wanted this episode to remind you that you are seen and loved by a heavenly Father but also by the Gather Moms community.
 
Galatians 6:2, “Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” (NLT)

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