Our House with The Smylies

The most dangerous idols in our lives aren't bad things. They're good things sitting in the wrong seat.

We filmed this on the first football Sunday of the season, so we start with the obvious one. But this is just the two of us getting honest about all of it: the fantasy football years Jason admits consumed him, the 45 minutes Malia loses to a scroll she never meant to start, the AirPods that became Jason's version of a drink after work, and the one idol nobody wants to name, because it's the kids.

So we talk about how you actually find yours. The question that beats any test: how much time did I spend with God today versus the thing I use to check out? Why your credit card statement might know your idols better than you do. What we do instead of deleting everything. The boundaries we keep around video games in our house. And how to bring it up with your spouse without becoming the meme who complains about phones while holding one.

If something good keeps ending up ahead of God in your week, this one is for you. The goal was never getting rid of it.

In the episode we mention a QR code for our free Family Meeting Guide. Here's the link: https://ourhouse.faith/3fm

CHAPTERS

00:00 The first football Sunday problem

04:48 "I let it consume me"

06:36 The 45-minute scroll

09:20 AirPods, scotch, and checking out

13:19 When the idol is your kids

14:14 Saying it to your spouse without the finger

19:24 Kids, video games, and boundaries

24:42 Your credit card knows where your treasure is

25:03 God at the center, not God first

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Get our Family Meeting Guide: https://ourhouse.faith/3fm

Take our 4-minute family assessment: https://www.ourhouse.faith/assessment

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ourhousefaith

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesmylies

Sponsorship: [email protected]

We're Jason and Malia. Four boys, almost 16 years married, helping families bring God to the center of their home every week.

As for our house, we will serve the Lord. Inspired by Joshua 24:15

Tithing 10% of your income sounds crazy until you realize none of it was ever really yours to begin with.

This one is just the two of us, working through what The Treasure Principle Bible study is doing to our hearts, our budget, and our bank account anxiety. Because most people want to be generous, they just don't feel like they can afford it yet.

So we get honest about what changed. The 10% pay cut question that reframed tithing for us, and what it forced us to look at in our spending. Why 10% makes you feel it at every income level, even through a layoff year. What it means to steward money that was never ours, instead of acting like the CEO of it. Why Malia calls the tithe "the bare minimum," and what she means. How a guy who thinks in investments learned to see generosity as one, with a return we can't outlive. And the difference between a want and a need in a house with four kids in a consumer-everything world.

If you want to give but you just don't feel like you can yet, this one is for you. It was never about the math.

In the episode we mention a family assessment with a QR code on screen. Here's the link: https://www.ourhouse.faith/assessment

CHAPTERS

00:00 Money fights, and what ended ours

02:02 What a Bible study did to our budget

02:28 Everything is God's, even the scary parts

04:59 Not the CEO of the money

05:45 The 10% pay cut question

08:03 An investment with infinite return

11:35 "The tithe is the bare minimum"

12:28 Tithing 10% when the math doesn't work

13:44 Wants, needs, and the consumer trap

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn

Our episode with Ashton, the young Bible student who followed God to Peru

FREE FROM US

Join the Peaceful Home Challenge waitlist: https://ourhouse.faith/challenge/#waitlist

Take our 4-minute family assessment: https://ourhouse.faith/assessment

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ourhousefaith

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesmylies

Sponsorship: [email protected]

We're Jason and Malia. Four boys, almost 16 years married, helping families bring God to the center of their home every week.

As for our house, we will serve the Lord. Inspired by Joshua 24:15

Most of us think a rescue is the end of a human trafficking story. Our friend Jess has spent years inside what actually comes after.

Jess leads True ID, a Las Vegas ministry that walks with women rebuilding their lives after trafficking and exploitation. We asked her the questions most people are afraid to ask. Why do rescued women so often go back? What does it take to rebuild a life when the record, the name, and the trust are all broken? She says the studies show it can take seven rescues before a woman is finally free. And what happens the first time a woman steps into a safe bedroom of her own?

Then, in the middle of the conversation, Jess told us about the season she calls the dark night of her soul, when hearing these women's stories made a lifelong believer question everything, and the single sentence in a sermon that brought her back. Jason cried on camera for the first time in 31 episodes.

If you have ever felt God tugging on your heart to help but thought you had nothing to offer, this one is for you. Jess would tell you that showing up is the whole job.

SUPPORT TRUE ID

Website: https://mytrueid.org

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trueid.lv

Bowling for Restoration fundraiser, November 7 in Boulder City, details at their site.

CHAPTERS

00:00 INTRO

03:14 What reintegration really means

05:54 Why she goes back

06:08 Seven rescues

09:30 The first safe bedroom

14:03 Why it's called True ID

24:44 Jess's testimony: the dark night of her soul

48:21 How to actually help

FREE FROM US

Take our 4-minute family assessment: https://www.ourhouse.faith/assessment

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesmylies

Sponsorship: [email protected]

We're Jason and Malia. Four boys, almost 16 years married, helping families bring God to the center of their home every week.

As for our house, we will serve the Lord. Inspired by Joshua 24:15

#humantraffickingawareness #antitrafficking #christianministry #christianpodcast

We keep having the same fight over and over. A week after saying we'd never quit this podcast, that fight almost made us quit.

This one is just the two of us, days after one of the bigger blowups we've had in a while, walking through exactly how the same argument keeps finding us after almost 16 years of marriage. Because what couples fight about is almost never what the conflict is actually about.

So we get honest about our pattern. Where the tension starts before either of us says a word. What happens when one spouse shuts down and goes quiet while the other pushes harder to connect. How our anxious and avoidant attachment styles turn a stressful week into a blowup. Why Malia said "I can't be his Holy Spirit," and what she does instead. And the iceberg picture our coach drew that showed us what's really underneath, and why resolving conflict in our marriage used to take a week and now takes less than a day.

Which one of you goes quiet? If you know this loop, this episode is for you. There is a way out, and it's not learning to argue better.

Not sure where the fighting is actually coming from? Take our free 4-minute family assessment: https://www.ourhouse.faith/assessment

CHAPTERS

00:00 We almost cancelled this episode

03:52 Why couples have the same argument on repeat

07:23 Where the fight starts before it starts

08:28 When one spouse shuts down and one pursues

09:29 The moment stress becomes a blowup

12:45 “I can’t be his Holy Spirit”

19:17 The iceberg under every fight

22:27 How the fight finally ends

WATCH NEXT

Why You Keep Having the Same Fight (Attachment Styles): [LINK]

Marriage and the 5 Love Languages: [LINK]

FREE FROM US

Take our 4-minute family assessment: https://www.ourhouse.faith/assessment

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesmylies

Sponsorship: [email protected]

We're Jason and Malia. Four boys, almost 16 years married, helping families bring God to the center of their home every week.

As for our house, we will serve the Lord. Inspired by Joshua 24:15

#christianmarriage #marriageadvice #resolvingconflict #attachmentstyles

Every parent wants their kids to do chores without being asked. We wanted more than that, so we made up The 4 Levels of Service to change their hearts, not just their habits.

For years our nightly kitchen cleanup was a fight. Somewhere along the way it stopped being one, and in this episode we walk through exactly what changed. The four levels we teach our kids, and the level most families never get past. What a study of nearly 10,000 kindergartners found about chores that surprised us. The Post-it note trick that got our whole house clean in 20 minutes with worship music on. And the laundry rule that means we never remind anybody about laundry.

We also get honest about the part that had to change first, and it was not the kids.

If it feels easier to just do it yourself, or you would settle for them doing it without complaining, this one is for you. The goal is a servant's heart, and it starts with ours.

Get The 4 Levels of Service one-pager: https://www.ourhouse.faith/4levels

CHAPTERS

00:00 Every Parent Wants This

02:06 “It’s Easier to Just Do It Myself”

03:13 What the Studies Actually Say

04:42 The 4 Levels of Service

06:06 The Level Most Families Live In

07:52 From Nightly Fight to Actually Helpful

12:14 The Post-it Note Power Clean

18:19 The Laundry Rule

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Take our 4-minute family assessment: https://www.ourhouse.faith/assessment

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesmylies

Sponsorship: [email protected]

We're Jason and Malia. Four boys, almost 16 years married, helping families bring God to the center of their home every week.

As for our house, we will serve the Lord. Inspired by Joshua 24:15

#christianparenting #choresforkids #raisingkids #servantheart

Six months ago God nudged us to start a podcast with no plan and no paycheck. It has not made a dollar. We are not stopping

We get into what it costs, in money and in time we do not have. What we do when the numbers say stop. The rule we made so this never consumes our family. And the one sentence our pastor said that settled whether we would ever quit.

If God has put something on your heart and you keep waiting until you feel qualified, take the leap. This episode is for you.

Timestamp:

00:00 Intro

01:28 Six Months of Our House

02:13 Malia’s Layoff and What Came Next

07:57 Why the Podcast Is a Ministry

12:35 Obedience When You Feel Unqualified

17:56 Following God Without Knowing the Plan

20:25 Protecting Their Family From the Work

22:16 The Advice That Helped Them Keep Going

FREE FROM US

Take our 4-minute family assessment: https://www.ourhouse.faith/assessment

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesmylies

Sponsorship: [email protected]

We're Jason and Malia. Four boys, almost 16 years married, helping families bring God to the center of their home every week.

As for our house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

#christianpodcast #leapoffaith #calledbygod #startingapodcast

Erica LeMarr was having her best year in business while her marriage quietly fell apart. What saved it is the last thing our culture wants to hear.

If your life looks successful on paper and feels empty at home, this conversation is for you.

She sat down with us and held nothing back. The night her husband finally said the thing that woke her up. Hear how a wife who says "I just obey my husband" ended up with more peace, more friends, and a business that doubled.

We asked her the questions you are probably yelling at the screen right now. Isn't that weakness? Where is the line between obedience and being walked on? And what does she say to the strong-willed woman who hears the word submit and wants to say nope!?

Timestamp:

00:00 Introduction

01:40 The last straw

03:59 “What could I learn from a stay-at-home mom?”

06:09 “This is weird. Who are you?”

09:27 The phone call she can't explain

22:07 “I just obey”

31:54 The Bible as a constitution

44:05 Letting Jesus be the CEO

CONNECT WITH ERICA

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ericalemarrhomes

Her podcast: Intentional Improvement

FREE FROM US

Take our 4-minute family assessment: https://www.ourhouse.faith/assessment

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesmylies

Sponsorship: [email protected]

We're Jason and Malia. Four kids, almost 16 years married, helping families bring God to the center of their home every week.

As for our house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua 24:15

#christianmarriage #godlywife #marriageadvice #christianpodcast

There is a way to start a gospel conversation without needing the right words. Scott Edlin found it the day before a Super Bowl.

Jason was an atheist three years ago, and he still freezes when a stranger asks about his faith. So we sat down with Scott, founder of the Luke 2 Project, and asked what we actually wanted to know. What do you say when you do not have a verse ready? Why does he believe Christians push more people away from God than they bring in? And what does a box of t-shirts in his trunk have to do with any of it?

He also told us something about getting saved that we had never heard anyone say out loud.

If you believe but go quiet the second somebody asks you why, this one is for you.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Intro

04:44 What happens when you wear one

10:22 32 years in the flesh

12:52 The day before the Super Bowl

25:41 The part of getting saved nobody talks about

29:14 Why Christians push people away

31:46 Just plant a seed

39:45 “Dad, I’m bored” on December 26th

THE LUKE 2 PROJECT

Website: https://luke2project.org

Connect with Scott: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottedlin

FREE FROM US

Take our 4-minute family assessment: https://www.ourhouse.faith/assessment

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ourhouse.faith

Sponsorship: [email protected]

We're Jason and Malia. Four boys, almost 16 years married, helping families bring God to the center of their home every week.

As for Our House, we will serve the Lord.

#sharethegospel #sharingyourfaith #evangelism #christianpodcast

Jon and Danielle Mackin were already Christians, but looking back, they realized God was not truly at the center of their home. Their kids had seen conflict, their marriage lacked grace, and faith was mostly something they practiced on Sundays.

In this episode of Our House with The Smylies, Jon and Danielle share how that began to change when they surrounded themselves with people who lived out their relationship with Jesus every day. Prayer, worship, grace, and repair slowly became part of their marriage and parenting.

Now their kids still see disagreement, but they also see forgiveness, restoration, and a marriage they can feel secure in. Jon also shares how putting God at the center changed the way he approaches his business and trusts God with what comes next.

If you want faith to become part of everyday family life, this conversation is a practical place to start.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 - Intro

04:08 - Finding Peace in a Chaotic Home

05:22 - Raising Four Kids

08:34 - Discipline, Consequences, and Self-Control

14:57 - Why Repair After Discipline Matters

18:00 - Bringing Faith Into Everyday Family Life

22:10 - Helping Kids Build Their Own Faith

30:54 - Putting God at the Center of Marriage

35:38 - From Sunday Christianity to Everyday Faith

38:31 - How Grace Changed Their Marriage

41:09 - Letting Your Kids See Conflict and Repair

44:11 - Why Marriage Comes Before the Kids

53:49 - Putting God at the Center of Business

59:27 - Praying Over Clients and Surrendering Work

1:05:36 - The Importance of Christian Friendship

Want to know where you can start bringing God to the center of your home?

Take the 4-Minute Home Assessment

Find out what’s quietly stealing the peace in your home, and discover the first step toward something healthier: https://www.ourhouse.faith/assessment

Start Your First Faith-Filled Family Meeting This Week

Download your free guide here: https://www.ourhouse.faith/

SUBSCRIBE for new episodes every week:

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We're Jason and Malia Smylie. We've been married over 15 years, have 4 boys, and we help families bring God to the center of their home, their marriage, and their business.

#GodCenteredHome #ChristianMarriage #ChristianParenting #FaithAndFamily #ChristianFamily #MarriageAdvice #PuttingGodFirst #OurHousePodcast

For eight years, Desi and Steve hoped and prayed for a child. When doctors told them pregnancy was no longer likely, they had to face the possibility that becoming parents might look completely different from what they had imagined.

Then, during an anniversary dinner, Steve said the words Desi had been trying to avoid: “We’re being called to foster care.”

In this episode, Desi and Steve share their honest journey through infertility, foster care, adoption, grief, faith, and learning to trust God when life did not go according to plan.

They talk openly about the fear of becoming attached to a foster child, the heartbreak of reunification, the strain foster care placed on their marriage, and the moments when they questioned whether they could continue.

Desi also shares a painful moment when a court decision left her angry with God, only to discover later that He had been working behind the scenes the entire time.

Timestamp:

00:00 From infertility to foster care

02:45 Desi and Steve’s faith journey

10:35 Eight years of infertility

11:39 Feeling called to foster care

18:12 Beginning the foster care process

20:07 Receiving their first placement

21:49 How foster care affected their marriage

25:27 Reunification and saying goodbye

31:06 Audrey’s adoption journey

32:26 Wrestling with anger toward God

36:06 Years of uncertainty in foster care

38:28 Loving a foster child as your own

42:00 The unexpected call about their son

46:39 How faith and community carried them

58:13 Supporting foster families

59:23 Creating peace in their home

This episode is for couples facing infertility, families considering foster care or adoption, foster parents navigating uncertainty, and anyone learning to trust God when His plan looks different from their own.

Your journey may not look the way you expected, but that does not mean God has forgotten your family.

Watch the full episode to hear Desi and Steve’s powerful story of how foster care made them parents.

WANT MORE PEACE IN YOUR HOME?

Take our free home assessment at https://ourhouse.faith. It takes only a few minutes and will show you where to begin bringing God to the center of your home.

ABOUT OUR HOUSE

We’re Jason and Malia Smylie, married for almost 16 years with four boys. We’re not pastors, just parents sharing what we are learning about building a God-centered home filled with more peace, contentment, and joy.

New episodes every week.

Subscribe: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVv_2EP7ghi1VLKcFIceslA?sub_confirmation=1

Website: https://ourhouse.faith

Email: [email protected]

#Infertility #FosterCare #AdoptionStory #ChristianParenting #ChristianFamily #FaithJourney #FosterParents #GodsPlan #MarriagePodcast #OurHouse