When Joanna was in fifth grade, her teacher passed out a pamphlet to everyone in the class. On that pamphlet were all kinds of topics about puberty and sex, and it had a phone number that you could call to listen to pre-recorded information on every subject. In all honesty, there were lots of terms and phrases on that pamphlet that she had never heard of before!

This led to Joanna's mom giving her “The Talk.” If you remember back to your own "talk", your parents may have been open, honest, and informative; or maybe they felt awkward, and you walked away with more questions than answers. Now that you are a parent, you may be wishing for some sort of manual or coach to lead the way as you prepare to broach this topic with your own children.

That’s why we are so happy to welcome back Jim Burns to the show. Jim is the president of HomeWord, an amazing ministry that equips parents to build God-honoring families for generations. He’s also the author of several books, including his latest, A Student’s Guide to Sexual Integrity: God’s Plan for Sex and Your Body. This book tackles the sensitive issues of sexuality for kids in today’s confusing culture.

In this episode, Jim shares :

• Why it’s important to have more than one "Talk"
• How to overcome the barriers around starting these conversations
• Practical tips for helping our kids navigate sexuality
• And much more!

We hope this episode is a helpful resource as you navigate the discussion on sexuality!

Show Notes: https://growinghometogether.com/jim-burns-103/

As our children grow up, they may start to handle some things themselves. This could be chores, getting up on time, or saving up their allowance or earned money whenever they want a new toy.

This is a natural part of getting older, but as a parent, it can be difficult to navigate when to step in and when is it healthy to let your child fail. There are going to be times when “helping” is actually preventing our children from developing their independence and sense of responsibility. We’ve been going through this with our own son lately so this conversation hit home as we are asking ourselves if we were actually helping our son or if we are feeding an entitled spirit.

And this topic of entitlement can pop up in all kinds of areas such as how much to buy for our kids, how much we expect them to help out around the house, or even when it comes to birthdays and Christmas gifts.

Today’s guest, Kristen Welch, has wrestled through these questions in her own home. She is the author of Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World and the founder and CEO of Mercy House Global, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower marginalized communities with life-changing opportunities that create hope.

In this episode, Kristen shares :

• The connection between gratitude and happiness
• How to identify entitlement
• The danger of instant gratification
• And much more!

We hope you enjoy this conversation!

Show Notes: growinghometogether.com/kristen-welch-102

A number of years ago during one of our Michigan winters, our kids had a snow day off of school. What should have been a fun memory for our daughter became really scary since she suffered a sledding accident that put her in the hospital. She went through surgery and weeks at home in a wheelchair. To make matters worse, when she finally returned to school she was pushed out of her friend group by a bully who made the rest of her school year lonely and miserable.

For a time, these things affected her deeply until she healed and regained her strength. Yet for many children, traumatic events go beyond a single, difficult crisis. When kids experience ongoing abuse, neglect, and risk of harm, the effects can last for life. It’s no secret that traumatic events can have a profound impact on our kids’ lives. We all want to serve and love our kids well when they experience pain, and the awareness and understanding of the impact of trauma can make a world of difference.

That’s why we are so glad to welcome our guest, Jayne Schooler. Jayne is the author and co-author of many books including Caring for Kids from Hard Places. She’s an expert in Child Welfare, she’s an adoptive parent, and she has brought trauma-informed training worldwide to help adults care for kids in pain.

In this episode, Jayne shares :

• What trauma is and the different types
• Some of the behaviors children may display after a trauma
• How we can best support our children through the pain
• And much more!

This conversation has been so helpful in understanding how trauma can affect our children!

Show Notes: growinghometogether.com/jayne-schooler-101

This is an exciting podcast for us since it’s our 100th episode! Wow! We are so grateful for every one of our guests who have joined us to encourage us in our faith and in loving our family well. We are also truly grateful for all of you who have tuned in, listened, and supported the ministry of the Growing Home Together podcast. 

We have the honor of welcoming some of our favorite people to the show for this very special episode—our oldest son, Josh, with his wife, Cassie, and our oldest daughter, Emma, and her husband, Adonis. They’ve given us some of the greatest gifts of our lives, our grandbabies, and they’re here to help us accomplish three goals:

1. We want to grow our empathy for young couples and parents in this season.
2. We want to learn how to serve as a support system.
3. And we want to gain some ideas for how to connect with our grandchildren as they grow.

Listen in as our family shares their wisdom and perspective on these topics and more. We hope you enjoy this special conversation! It was so fun!

Show Notes: growinghometogether.com/teigen-family-100

In this stage of life with our middle schooler, it is pretty clear what our job description is as his parents. He needs us to provide clean clothes, food in the fridge, some help with his homework, drive him everywhere, and pay for his schooling and extracurriculars. We are his biggest cheerleaders and guides as he is doing this work of growing up.

But things aren’t so clear when it comes to our adult children. We are having to tear up that old job description and learn a whole new way of relating and supporting them. Today’s guest knows all about this and often says that “the transition is complicated, often messy, and can sometimes feel like you are walking on eggshells.”

Jim Burns is the president of HomeWord and the author of several popular books, including Doing Life With Your Adult Children. He and his wife, Cathy, reside in Southern California and have three grown daughters and four grandchildren.

In this episode, Jim shares :

• Strategies for redefining your relationship with adult children
• The danger of offering unsolicited advice
• Tips for the child who resists launching
• And much more!

We hope this episode is a helpful resource as you navigate this season of parenting!

Show Notes: growinghometogether.com/jim-burns-99

If we could use one word to describe Christian parents right now it would probably be “overwhelmed.” Parents feel overwhelmed by their busy schedules, concern of how culture will influence their kids, insecurity in their own ability to teach their kids about Jesus, or even the pressure to get everything right.

Our guest is bringing a word of encouragement and hope to us as moms and dads. Christie Thomas is a mom and best-selling author with expertise in Children’s Ministry and Family Discipleship. Her latest book is Little Habits, Big Faith: How Simple Practices Help Your Family Grow in Jesus. Christie is here to set us free from overwhelm with wisdom and advice to help us disciple our kids with confidence and joy.

In this episode, Christie shares with us:

• How to use the bit-by-bit approach
• Tips for engaging different ages with Scripture
• The power of prayer at bedtime
• And much more!

We hope this episode gives you confidence as you disciple your children!

Find resources mentioned and more in the show notes: growinghometogether.com/christie-thomas-98

We got married when we were pretty young after we met at Bible college. Needless to say, we had a lot of lofty ideas about what our Christian marriage would look like. We thought we would never argue, never lose our temper, keep the romance alive all the time, and always put each other first.

While we meant every word of our vows and we have stayed committed for over 30 years, we did not anticipate that we both entered our marriage with a sinful nature and would fail to love well at times. We’ve said words that have hurt each other deeply and haven’t always been there when we needed each other the most.

Looking back, we wish we had started with a more solid foundation of what God’s design for marriage truly looks like. That’s why we are glad to welcome Chad and Emily Van Dixhoorn. They are authors of Gospel-Shaped Marriage: Grace for Sinners to Love Like Saints. If you need fresh hope and vision for your relationship today, this is the place to be!

In this episode, Chad & Emily share with us:

• How God uses marriage to grow us
• The source of true happiness in marriage
• How your spouse has been uniquely designed to love you
• And much more!

We hope this episode strengthens your relationship!

Show Notes: growinghometogether.com/chad-emily-vandixhoorn-97

When I (Joanna) was in middle school, I can remember having a love of learning, I enjoyed being outdoors and moving through childhood content with who I was. It wasn’t until I moved to a new school and got my hands on my first Seventeen Magazine that it seemed like I was overwhelmed with feelings of not being enough. I felt like I wasn’t pretty enough, popular enough, or good enough to be wanted and loved for who I was.

I think most girls could tell you the moment when comparison drove insecurity deep into their spirit. As we parent our daughters, we want to be aware of how comparison is destructive to their mind, their body, and their souls as they grow.

We are so excited to have Shannon Popkin and Lee Nienhuis, authors of Comparison Girl for Teens: Thriving Beyond Measure in a World That Compares, with us on the podcast for this episode.

In this episode, Shannon & Lee share with us:

• What it means to be a “comparison girl”
• Some comparison cues to look out for as you interact with your daughter
• The importance of biblical literacy when it comes to issues of self-worth
• And much more!

We hope you find encouragement and hope in this episode!

Show Notes: growinghometogether.com/popkin-nienhuis-96

“A mom is only as happy as her unhappiest child.” Have you seen this quote floating around social media? It’s caught our eyes more than a few times.

I think for a lot of us as parents, this phrase can feel accurate because when our child is hurting or struggling, it becomes the main focus of our lives. Our emotions can get all tangled up in their anxiety, pain, or their failures, and those feelings can make us feel like we let them down.

You may be in a hard parenting season right now. You may be having a difficult time feeling okay because your child is not okay at all. If that’s you, we are so glad to introduce our guest, Erica Wiggenhorn.

She is a national speaker, best-selling author, and she’s on the writing team for Proverbs 31 Ministries. Erica’s passion is to equip people to read God’s Word with confidence. She’s also a wife and a mom of two who knows all about the joys and challenges of parenting.

In this episode, Erica shares with us:

• The danger of focusing too much on a single circumstance
• How we can unwittingly direct what our children are placing their faith in
• Practical ways you can remain connected with your spouse in this season
• And much more!

We hope you find encouragement and hope in this episode!

Show Notes: growinghometogether.com/erica-wiggenhorn-95

Does your calendar have nearly every square filled to the brim? For most families, May is a particularly busy time of year with graduation parties, school concerts, sports, final exams, and all the things that go along with wrapping up the school year.

Even with such a busy schedule, we can get to the end of a packed-out day and still feel like we don’t have much to show for it. We can be in the same room with the people we love and feel like we haven’t connected at all. When we take a minute to slow down and look inside, we may even realize how we have lost our sense of purpose and joy in it all.

Brenda Yoder is here to talk about this very thing! Brenda is the author of Uncomplicated: Simple Secrets for a Compelling Life. She’s also a speaker, a counselor, an educator, and a mom who knows what it’s like to juggle a full and complicated life. Brenda is here to share how the wisdom and simple habits of the past can speak into the busy and hectic lives that we lead today.

Brenda shares with us:

• Some of the underlying reasons for stress
• The role of interdependence in regaining community
• The simple power of ordinary practices
• And more!

We hope you find encouragement and hope in this episode!

Show Notes: growinghometogether.com/brenda-yoder-94