Family worship is one of the most transformative habits a family can have. It’s also very intimidating to most moms and dads. Dr. Rob Rienow, founder of Visionary Families, helps simplify the process of starting and continuing family worship. With a simple toolbox of prayer, Bible reading, and other elements, you can implement a healthy habit of family worship in your home no matter the age of your children.

 

Dr. Rob Rienow’s most important ministry is loving his wife Amy and partnering with her to lead their seven children to love God. He is the founder of Visionary Family Ministries (www.visionaryfam.com), a pastor, international conference speaker, and the author of several books including Visionary Parenting and Visionary Marriage. When Rob is not fishing for men, he enjoys fishing for fish. The Rienow family lives in West Chicago, IL.

 

Resources Mentioned:

www.VisionaryFam.com

www.Facebook.com/VisionaryFam

www.Twitter.com/VisionaryFam

www.YouTube.com/visionaryfamilyministries

PODCAST www.VisionaryFam.com/podcast

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When Stacy Callender was a young mom she felt burdened as her children entered public school. This burden led her to join a Moms in Prayer group that changed the trajectory of her life, family, and mission. Stacy and I talk about the work of God through prayer, and how we grow in courage and faith by consistency praying with others. You can’t help but be encouraged as you listen to Stacy’s story and her infectious joy!

 

Stacy Callender is the host of the Moms in Prayer podcast. She has been involved in a Moms in Prayer group since her oldest child started kindergarten in 1999. She has served as the Southern California State Coordinator, and also in Women’s Ministry at her local church. She and her husband, Scott, live in Southern California where they have raised their four children, Megan, Bryce, Madison and Brendan. During her free time, Stacy can be found eating Mexican food, hiking, reading or bargain hunting.

Resources Mentioned:

• Sign Up for My Things For Thursday Email - https://bit.ly/3EDH56y

• Moms in Prayer https://momsinprayer.org

• Moms in Prayer Podcast https://momsinprayer.org/resources/ podcast/

 

It’s a challenge to balance boundaries and freedom, adventure and responsibility when raising a boy. My guest Monica Swanson shares here experience of raising boys who are sensitive to the things of Jesus while still being strong and capable in the face of the world’s trials. She gives examples of success and failures in her process as well as her insight into creating a “character training course” for her son when he needed extra focus.

 

Monica Swanson is the author of the Boy Mom book and a blogger at monicaswanson.com. She shares encouragement and inspiration for raising boys in today's world. Monica shares practical advice and biblical wisdom through honest conversations, interviews with other boy moms, and light-hearted humor.

 

Resources Mentioned:

www.monicaswanson.com

The Boy Mom Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-boy-mom-podcast-withmonica-swanson-and-friends/id1468061855

Boy Mom- What Your Son Needs Most From You - https://amzn.to/3H3d7t2

Sign Up for My Things For Thursday Email - https://bit.ly/3EDH56y

 

Sometimes our worst fears in parenting do come true. When Daniel and Kelly Crawford were pregnant with their first son Abel, they learned that he had a life limiting diagnosis. Directed to find services to terminate the pregnancy, they instead chose to carry their little boy to birth. They were gifted fifteen days with their little Abel. Their experience led them to reach out and minister to other families facing similar scenarios. It also gave them perspective as they raise their other special needs children. This is an honest yet hope filled conversation about the sadness and sweetness of dying dreams and and an enduring gospel hope.

 

Daniel and Kelly Crawford have been married since December 2013 and reside in Dallas, Texas. They have three children (Abel, Mayfield, and Deacon) who were all born on the exact same day in 2016, 2017, and 2019. Yes, January 22 is a big day at the Crawford house! They co- founded Abel Speaks in 2018 to support families who have chosen to carry a child with a life-limiting diagnosis. After walking that road with their firstborn son, Abel, they realized the significant need that existed for parents in their position. The vision of Abel Speaks is that every family they serve will cherish their child’s life and have hope in the midst of sorrow. This ministry is but one example of the redemptive truth that God never wastes an ounce of our pain, and the Crawfords love to write and speak on the ways that God can and does use our suffering for his glory and our good. Go to AbelSpeaks.org to find out more.

 

Resources Mentioned:

Instagram -@abelspeaks
Facebook - www.facebook.com/abelspeaks.org

Website - www.abelspeaks.org

The vision of Abel Speaks https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=qLJrbTZpQB8
A Parent’s Guide to Sorrow & Suffering- www.abelspeaks.org/
store Sign Up for My Things For Thursday Email - https://bit.ly/3EDH56y

When Steven and Mary Beth Chapman took their 11 year old daughter Emily on a mission trip to Haiti, it changed the trajectory of their family. A burden to adopt started with Emily and spread to each family member. As the Chapmans adopted three children from China, God connected them with other families that needed support in their own adoption journeys. 8,000 children later, Show Hope is still resourcing moms and dads to enlarge their forever families. Mary Beth joins me to share their story as well as her incredible wisdom for others who are at every step of the adoption process. This is a conversation for more than just adoptive families. It takes a practical and spiritual village to adopt a child!

 

Steven and Mary Beth were married in October of 1984 and have six children – three biological children, Emily Chapman Richards (married to Tanner and mom to three daughters Eiley, Della, and Verity), Caleb Chapman (married to Julia and dad to son Noble and daughter Olive "Ollie"), and Will Franklin Chapman (married to indie artist Jillian Edwards and dad to daughter Willow Faye), and three daughters adopted from China, Shaohannah Hope, Stevey Joy and Maria Sue, who is now with Jesus. The Chapmans live in Franklin, Tennessee.

 

Resources Mentioned:

• Sign Up for My Things For Thursday Email - https://bit.ly/3EDH56y

• https://www.marybethchapman.com/

• www.showhope.org • howtoadopt.org

Kids and teens are more stressed than ever. As our world bombards them with social media, bad news, and inescapable connectedness, researchers are finding depression and anxiety rates are higher than ever. Author and counselor Eliza Huie joins me once again with great practical advice for moms and dads on fostering emotional health in every stage of their children’s lives. We talk about the importance of nurture, understanding your child’s capacity, regarding their feelings, cultivating hope, and knowing when and how to get help.

 

Eliza is a counselor, author, speaker, and trainer committed to providing care and resources for the whole person. Trained both biblically and clinically, she understands the complexities people face in their spiritual, emotional, and physical lives.

 

She holds a Master of Arts in Counseling and has advanced certificates in biblical counseling from The Christian Counseling Educational Foundation (CCEF) and The Association of Biblical Counselors (ABC). She is also a licensed clinical professional counselor.

 

Eliza is the director of counseling at McLean Bible Church located in the Washington D.C. metro area. She is the Dean of Biblical Counseling for Metro Baltimore Seminary in Maryland. She and her husband Ken have been married for almost 30 years and they have 3 grown children and a lovely daughter-in-law.

 

Resources Mentioned:

Raising Emotionally Healthy Kids - https://us.10ofthose.com/raising- emotionally-healthy-kids-help-for-parents-paperback/
Eliza’s other books - https://us.10ofthose.com/search.php? search_query=eliza

Sign Up for My Things For Thursday Email - https://bit.ly/3EDH56y

Our culture is obsessed with influencers and leadership, but parents often forget that their primary opportunity for leadership and influence is in their own household. My guests Jeff and Terra Mattson talk with me about the distance between what we say and what we do in our families, and how that damages our credibility. We discuss the necessity to recognize the influence of our own childhood families, the importance of grieving trauma and loss, and empathizing even when we don’t agree with the other side.

 

Jeff and Terra are a husband and wife team who co-founder of Living Wholehearted, LLC, a professional counseling and organizational consulting firm outside of Portland, Oregon and a global movement for moms and daughters called Courageous Girls. Terra is a licensed marriage & family therapist and executive coach with over twenty years of clinical and ministry experience. She is the author of Courageous: Being Daughters Rooted in Grace and the visionary and curriculum developer for Courageous Girls. Jeff serves as president of their organizations and leads the executive coaching and organizational development arm of the practice. Together they are the co-hosts of the weekly Living Wholehearted Podcast and Dear Mattsons YouTube series produced by Christian Parenting and the co-authors of Shrinking the Integrity Gap: Between What Leaders Preach and Live. Married just over twenty years and raising their two teen daughters, they integrate biblical, clinical, and relational wisdom to help leaders live and lead with integrity in the home, work and community.

 

Resources Mentioned:

www.livingwholehearted.com

www.mycourageousgirls.com

www.terramattson.com

 

FB:

wearelivingwholehearted

mycourageousgirls

jeffterramattson

 

IG:

@terramattson

@living_wholehearted

@mycourageousgirls

 

Shrinking the Integrity Gap: Between What Leaders Preach and Live - https://amzn.to/3CA5qsF

What if you could go back in a time machine and give your young parenting self some advice?  My guest Cynthia Yanof and I talk about this very idea on today’s episode. As Cynthia watched her little one play on the playground, she thought about the lessons she could teach her younger self based on how the children were playing. We talk through her excellent advice and how we are still in the process of growing, learning, and fumbling forward on our parenting journey.

 

Cynthia Yanof is a wife, mom, blogger, and the host of the Pardon the Mess podcast. She has a relaxed style of interviewing, combining her quick wit and sense of humor with a firm commitment to never taking herself too seriously.

 

She loves Jesus, her family, foster care, and having lots of friends around her as often as possible. Cynthia is relatable, real, and a friend to all of us just trying to walk the parenting road in a meaningful way that’s pleasing to the Lord.

 

Resources Mentioned: 

• Sign Up for My Things For Thursday Email - https://bit.ly/3EDH56y
• The Pardon the Mess Podcast: https://www.christianparenting.org/podcasts-post/praying-for-our-kids-praying-accountability/
• www.cynthiayanof.com
• www.pardonthemess.org

Sometimes our expectations for our families are just way beyond reality. My guest Lisa Clark reminds us that we are all just sinners raising sinners, still in the process of transformation by the gospel of Jesus. We talk about expectations, personality differences among children, settings habits for a thriving family, and what to do if a child is rejecting the faith.

 

Lisa is married to Brad, her husband of 35 years. She and Brad co-teach a young married life group at their home church in Plano, TX. They have two daughters, Caroline and Camryn. Grounded in God’s Word, Lisa has a passion for encouraging moms in the day-to-day struggles of parenting preteens and teens. This passion and mission led her to write her very First book in 2016, Raising Sinners. Raising Sinners is a biblical parenting, short story written for moms and dads in all stages of parenting. Lisa also hosts two podcasts - Wonder and Raising Sinners, both with her cohost Chrissie Dunham. 

 

Resources Mentioned:

Sign Up for My Things For Thursday Email - https://bit.ly/3EDH56y 

https://www.lisaclarkspeaks.com

The Raising Sinners Podcast - https://www.christianparenting.org/ podcasts-post/a-story-of-hope-with-mary-beth-chapman/

The Wonder Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wonderpodcast/id1335112615

Raising Sinners - https://amzn.to/3HNAAQj 

We want our home to be a place of peace and stability, but sometimes external and internal dynamics make this extremely challenging. Virgil Tanner and his wife Joy have parented their children on three continents in a variety of difficult circumstances. Today he shares how they learned to order their family stability around regular prayer and the family sabbath. Learn how he took a two thousand year old Christian tradition and adapted it to engage his little ones, teenagers, and the adults in their household. The practice has helped them thrive in the midst of shaky governments, cultural chaos, and personal tragedy.

 

Virgil Tanner has been married for 20 years and is a father of five. He has lived on three continents and currently oversees strategy and global operations for a non-profit with hundreds of staff scattered all over the world.

 

Resources Mentioned:

Celtic Daily Prayer - https://amzn.to/30M74JZ

Northumbria Online Prayer Community - https:// www.northumbriacommunity.org/offices/how-to-use-daily-office/

The Book of the Dun Cow by Walter Wangerin Jr. - https://amzn.to/ 32lN55l LPOP 189

Teaching Children How to Think with Virgil Tanner - https:// letsparentonpurpose.com/2020/08/30/shepherding-a-childs-heartpart-2-teaching-children-how-to-think-with-virgil-tanner/

Sign Up for My Things For Thursday Email - https://bit.ly/3EDH56y