Live & Learn with Daniel Floyd

In this episode, Daniel and Schelleen discuss what makes men different from women. First, they unpack three pairings that are helpful in thinking more clearly about this topic (male-female, man-woman, masculine-feminine). Daniel highlights how the themes of "internal" and "external" consistently show up in each of these layers, and shares what it meant for him to become a man in his family. They then discuss how parents should think about raising boys to become men.

If you have questions or comments, please reach out! We'd love to hear your input regarding this topic.

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This episode is really late, but it’s still happening! Daniel and Schelleen sit down to discuss their biggest takeaways from last year’s reading. Daniel discusses some of the most important aspects of education he learned about, and Schelleen shares some of the most interesting things she’s learned about healthy relationships. Take a look at the lists below for books to add to your own reading list.

Please enjoy!

Daniel's 2024 Reading List 

Competed 

• Repairing the Ruins: The Classical and Christian Challenge to Modern Education - Douglas Wilson (editor) 
• On Secular Education - R.L. Dabney 
• How to Educate a Citizen: The Power of Shared Knowledge to Unify a Nation - E.D. Hirsch 
• Leadership and Emotional Sabotage: Resisting the Anxiety That Will Wreck Your Family, Destroy Your Church, and Ruin the World - Joe Rigney 
• The Abolition of Man - C.S. Lewis 
• The Paideia of God: And Other Essays on Education - Douglas Wilson 
• Slaying Leviathan: Limited Government and Resistance in Christian Tradition - Glenn S. Sunshine 
• The Household and the War for the Cosmos: Recovering a Christian Vision for the Family - C.R. Wiley 
• Mere Christianity - C.S. Lewis 
• Why You Think the Way You Do: The Story of Western Worldviews from Rome to Home - Glenn S. Sunshine 
• Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution - Carl R. Trueman 
• Man’s Search for Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl 
• The Education Reformation: Why Your Church Should Start a Christian School - Jimmy Scroggins, Trevin Wax 

Still in Progress 

• Thinking God's Thoughts: Johannes Kepler and the Miracle of Cosmic Comprehensibility - Melissa Cain Travis 

Did not Finish 

• Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview - W. Gary Phillips, William E. Brown, et al 
• A Matter of Principal: A Former School Principal’s Journey to Redefine Education and Bring Learning Back to the Home - Mandy Davis 
• Speed Reading: Learn to Read a 200+ Page Book in 1 Hour - Kam Knight 

Schelleen’s 2024 Reading List  

Completed 

• The 13th Gift - Joanne Huist Smith
• Psalms: A Guide to Studying the Psalter - W.H. Bellinger Jr. 
• Breaking Free from Body Shame - Jess Connolly
• Sabbath as Resistance - Walter Brueggeman 
• Bird Day - Mark Hauber
• The Four Loves - C.S. Lewis
• The Way of the Shepherd - Kevin Leman, Bill Pentak
• Rethinking Sexuality - Dr. Juli Slattery
• How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind - Dana K. White 
• Waymaker - Ann Voskamp
• Married Sex - Gary Chapman, Lisa Fileta
• With - Skye Jethani
• Digital Liturgies - Samuel James 
• The Intentional Year - Glenn Packium
• Church History in Plain Language 5th Edition - Bruce Shelley
• The Benedict Option - Rod Dreher
• Being the Body - Chuck Colson
• The Hidden Prince - Tessa Afshar

intro/outro music by Alan Floyd

It’s been awhile since the last episode. Daniel and Schelleen sit down to discuss what’s been happening in the last few months… namely, their new baby! Schelleen and Daniel discuss the whole journey of bringing baby Christopher into the world, from deciding whether to induce or not, debating whether to get an epidural, and figuring out how to keep a tiny human alive. We hope you enjoy!

intro/outro music by Alan Floyd

Daniel and Schelleen discuss how parents should handle difficult or uncomfortable topics with their children. Whether they’re dealing with the death of a family pet, or the topic of sexual predators, it can be challenging for parents to address these issues with their kids. 

Some parents take a sheltering approach– seeking to protect them from the ugliness of the real world; while others take an exposure approach– allowing their kids to experience the difficulties of the real world as a way to prepare them for adulthood. 

There's merit to both of these extremes, but Daniel and Schelleen haven't fully worked the guiding principles that help clarify how to balance these two approaches. This episode is more of a thinking-out-loud type conversation rather than a comprehensive explanation. 

If you have thoughts you’d like to share, we’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment on Spotify or email us!

Email us!

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On this episode, Daniel speaks with English teacher and dad of 3 Jake Coffin. Jake was homeschooled all the way from kindergarten through high school, and he shares his thoughts about that part of his life– what he thinks went well and what didn’t go well, and whether he would do it again if he could go back. 

Jake’s story leads into a conversation about what it means for parents to take responsibility for their childrens’ education. Christians believe that parents are given the primary responsibility for educating their children, not teachers. But what does that mean practically? Is homeschooling the only way for parents to take responsibility for their kids’ learning? Or is it something deeper than that? And for parents now, what should they do if they realize that there are gaps in their child’s education? 

Jake and Daniel conclude their discussion by highlighting 3 pillars of a child’s education that are critical for parents to pay attention to. These 3 pillars are the child’s academic growth, their social & psychological development, and their spiritual formation. 

All of these pillars can be addressed or neglected regardless of what type of school the child goes to. The key is whether the parents are taking responsibility to keep tabs on each of these areas. 

Please consider subscribing to the show if you’re not already. And please share this episode with anyone else who you think would benefit from listening.  

Email us! 

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On this episode, Schelleen and Daniel give a life update of the last year. (Spoiler: Schelleen is pregnant!!) After mourning the loss of baby William, getting pregnant turned out to be more of a challenge than they thought. Schelleen recounts the months of disappointing news and the decision not to pursue medical intervention. She also shares how God became much more involved in this season of infertility than she anticipated. Daniel shares his journey of learning how to pray more biblically about things you want, and highlights how Schelleen’s morning sickness serves as an opportunity for him to practice being the “head of the household”. 

We hope this conversation encourages you!

Email us!

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This episode is a recording of a talk Daniel gave at the Train Up educators conference in Fresno, CA. This conference was a gathering of Christian educators from various backgrounds (homeschool, private school, public school).

In this talk, Daniel outlines the Christian view of education and articulates how it differs from non-Christian education. Working out of Ephesians 6:4, Daniel explains the concept of "paideia" and the Christian view that education is about culture building- not career or college preparation. He emphasizes that Christian education is not simply a variation on secular education, but rather operates on fundamentally different premises that give rise to a distinctly Christian purpose and curriculum.

We hope you enjoy!

Daniel's Slides

What is Christian education?

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On this episode, Daniel brings on Jake Sevits to discuss the unexpected benefits of practicing Brazilian jiu jitsu. Jake is the owner and founder of the Old School Jiu Jitsu gym. He has been training in BJJ for over 7 years.

BJJ is a martial art in which two opponents compete in a wrestling-like manner to submit each other with a choke or joint lock. BJJ is a highly complex sport that takes years to master (generally more than 10 years to reach black belt).

In training this martial art, Daniel and Jake have found that the physical struggle of BJJ serves as a training ground for developing character traits that strengthen the individual for struggles outside the gym. Drawing from their personal experiences, they discuss how BJJ develops characteristics like physical and mental endurance, confidence, the ability to keep your ego in check, humility to ask others for help, and the ability to stay calm in stressful situations rather than panicking or giving up.

We hope you enjoy this epic convo!

Old School Jiu Jitsu

https://www.oldschoolkv.com/

Academic Study

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu aș a Tool for Veteran Reassimilation

Questions? Comments? Email us!

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intro/outro music by Alan Floyd

We have new guests on the podcast! Nate and Larissa Fajkus are close friends to Schelleen and Daniel, and they all sit down to be discuss physical health from a Christian perspective. 

Many of us think of healthy diet and exercise as important for taking care of ourselves, and a lot of us treat a healthy lifestyle as being somewhat optional. We may think of people that take health and fitness super seriously as “health nuts” and ourselves as “normal people” who prioritize other things. 

But maybe this is the wrong paradigm. Could it be that health and fitness aren’t about our own wellbeing, but rather about our ability to care for others? And could it be that our dietary choices don’t just apply to our physical bodies, but also hold implications for our spiritual wellbeing? Does God really care whether we eat junk food or not? Does our physical fitness have anything to do with our spiritual maturity? 

We discuss all this and more! Stay tuned.

Books mentioned in this episode:

Full: Food, Jesus, and the Battle for Satisfaction

Breaking Free from Body Shame

Body for Life

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

Sermon Mentioned by Daniel

Undermining the Designer - John Moody

Questions? Comments? Email us!

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intro/outro music by Alan Floyd

Daniel and Schelleen continue their series of discussions on healthy habits, based on the book Habits of the Household by Justin Earley. Today, they're getting into one of the most critical habits that we all have to wrestle with- screens. Now, it's important to keep in mind that screens aren't entirely bad; they clearly have tremendous potential for good in our lives. The key is to think of screens as being powerful... powerful in their ability to form the type of person that we're becoming. Because of this, the topic of how to better manage screens is critical for all of us.

Questions? Comments? Email us!

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Get the Book

Habits of the Household: Practicing the Story of God in Everyday Family Rhythms

Article

The Yes (to Technology) in Our No (to Social Media)

intro/outro music by Alan Floyd