With You in the Weeds: Where Faith Meets Mental Health

In your experience, this term may feel like an oxymoron. But we believe that there are indeed blessings that come from cultivating and being a part of a healthy Christian family.

Since we live in a (western) culture where Christianity often gets a bad rap and is frequently the butt of jokes and unflattering caricatures, we thought it was worth slowing down and reflecting on the lasting impact that a healthy Christian family can have on future generations.

Austin, John, and Shay discuss specific Harvard research and evidence of the positive influence that healthy Christian families can have both personally and more broadly in society. They also identify the solid pieces that should make up the foundation of your family so that it's a refuge from the storms of life.

After listening you’ll have a better idea of what a healthy Christian family actually looks like. We know that these things are easy to say on a podcast, but much harder to do them in real life. That's why we want to remind you why it’s a worthy pursuit.

As we close our our Managing Your Dysfunctional Family series, we hope that you have new insight, practical tools and greater resolve to break the cycle of dysfunction in your family.

We would love to meet you at our Open House on Friday, March 1st! You can meet the team, enjoy a relaxing evening and be strengthened by a community of listeners that are seeing the benefit of this Christian mental health resource.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at withyouintheweeds.com and follow us on Instagram @withyouintheweeds. If you liked this episode leave us a review to let us know!

Open House RSVP!

https://thecrossingchurch.com/Events/Detail?EventOccurrenceId=1333

Have you ever been in a construction zone? It's messy and chaotic, and you can't wait for the project to be finished.

Building your blended family is a bit like being in an ongoing construction zone. The timeline is longer than you had predicted, and the progress you had hoped for seems to be at a standstill.

This episode covers the territory of the challenges that a blended family may face. If you are a child in a blended family, or in a remarriage yourself, you will want to listen as John and Lynn explain what this construction zone may look like and how to manage it.

Based on principles found in Ron Deal's book, The Smart Stepfamily Marriage, this insight will provide you with perspective and hope as you work towards building your blended family.

You're invited to our Open House on Friday, March 1st from 5-7 pm for a fun evening with John, Lynn, Shay & Austin. We'd love to meet you!

Open House RSVP!

https://thecrossingchurch.com/Events/Detail?EventOccurrenceId=1333

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at withyouintheweeds.com and follow us on Instagram @withyouintheweeds. If you liked this episode leave us a review to let us know!

The story of the prodigal son is the emotional journey of a child who has gone away, reached the bottom, and eventually returned to his father's loving embrace.

Yet many prodigal stories do not seem to carry the hope of reunification. If you love someone who has gone away but not yet returned, then the pain of loss that you feel is very real and runs very deep.

This episode explores a topic that may hit a nerve: what to do when someone you love is no longer in your life because they've walked away from a relationship with you.

Shay and Lynn discuss 6 principles from the book Reaching Your Prodigal by Phil Waldrep that can lead towards hope and healing as you love your prodigal.

Whether it's a child, family member or friend, this journey can be isolating and confusing, so we hope that you find comfort in these guiding principles.

Reaching Your Prodigal: What Did I Do Wrong? What Do I Do Now?

A Practical Guide for Praying Parents

You're invited to our Open House on Friday, March 1st from 5-7 pm for a fun evening with John, Lynn, Shay & Austin. We'd love to meet you!

Open House RSVP!

https://thecrossingchurch.com/Events/Detail?EventOccurrenceId=1333

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at withyouintheweeds.com and follow us on Instagram @withyouintheweeds. If you liked this episode leave us a review to let us know!

Before we dive into sibling relationships, we want to invite you to an Open House on Friday, March 1st for a fun evening with John, Lynn, Shay & Austin. We'd love to meet you!

Now here's a look at today's episode:

Difficult, strained or broken relationships among siblings are more common than you think. The root of these conflicts can seem elusive, but it's actually not a mystery.

If you've ever wondered, 'Why do they get that much of the inheritance?" or thought, "I’ll speak to her when she apologizes first" or decided, "I'm not going to Christmas at their house anymore", then this episode will pull back the curtain on the source of your sibling rivalry.

First, Shay, Lynn, and Austin discuss some external dynamics that create and continue sibling rivalries.

Second, they focus on the internal dynamics that fuel the rivalries (spoiler alert: it’s sin).

Finally, they end by offering practical and specific ways to manage your sibling rivalries in the here and now.

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter at withyouintheweeds.com and follow us on Instagram @withyouintheweeds. If you liked this episode leave us a review to let us know!

Open House RSVP!

https://thecrossingchurch.com/Events/Detail?EventOccurrenceId=1333

Have you ever spoken honestly about your mom, only to wonder if she heard what you said, and worry what the consequences might be?

Over the years in counseling, we've noticed that your mom takes up a significant amount of real estate in your head. Whether it's things she has said or done, you may notice that your relationship with your mom has left a lasting impression on you for good or bad.

In this episode Lynn and Austin first address the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to mothers.

Recognizing how your mom may have hurt you seems like dangerous territory, but we will help you learn how to manage your difficult mother by:

1. Calling a spade a spade

2. Taking ownership for your healing

3. Setting boundaries

4. Grieving and forgiving

Mother's Who Can't Love: A Healing Guide for Daughters

If you would like an episode recap, subscribe to our weekly newsletter at withyouintheweeds.com. If you liked this episode, text it to a friend!

You can also follow us on Instagram @withyouintheweeds for more great content and message us with your topic suggestions for future episodes.

What role has your father played in shaping who you are today? It's an important question to ask yourself, especially if you have grown up with a difficult father.

This episodes explores "the good, the bad and the ugly" when it comes to fathering. There are dads with good intentions who aren't perfect, but there are also bad fathers whose actions hurt and wound their children in powerful ways.

In this episode, John Shay and Austin explore the difference between good fathers, bad fathers, and ugly fathers.

No matter what your relationship with your dad currently looks like, this discussion will provide you with insight that you may have never considered. If you're a dad yourself, this content will help you think through the legacy you will pass on to your own kids.

After listening you’ll realize that even if the wounds inflicted by your difficult father never fully heal, you can take intentional steps in your life that will bring growth, acceptance, and perspective.

The Toxic War on Masculinity by Nancy Pearcey

Father Hunger by Robert McGee

Have you visited our website yet? Go to withyouintheweeds.com and subscribe to our newsletter for episode recaps, highlights and free resources.

If you liked this episode, text it to a friend! And please consider rating WYITW on your podcast player and leave the team a review. You can also follow us on Instagram @withyouintheweeds for more great content!

You're ready to break free from hurtful patterns in your family, but where do you begin?

John, Lynn & Austin talk through 5 practical steps you can take to forge new patterns in your family:

F igure out what’s going on

O wn your own stuff

R ealistic expectations

G et help

E stablish healthy boundaries

Listen as they provide examples of each step and how these might look in your everyday experience. Taking these steps isn't easy, but is the path to freedom from destructive family dynamics.

Check out our website withyouintheweeds.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter so you can get podcast episode reminders, recaps, free resources and more!

Connect with us on Instagram @withyouintheweeds and let us know what topics you'd like us to address.

Do you feel frustrated, hurt or misunderstood in your family? Do you have family relationships that are strained or broken?

There may be some underlying forces at work in your family that you didn't even know were there.

The 3 rules that guide the interactions of a dysfunctional family are:

- Don't Talk

- Don't Trust

- Don't Feel

These rules may not be posted on the refrigerator for all to see, but they are actively at work behind the scenes.

This first episode in our new series Managing Your Dysfunctional Family is all about helping you make sense of rules you grew up with and how they've shaped the relationships in your family.

John Tinnin, Austin Conner and Lynn Roush explain these rules as outlined in the book "It Will Never Happen to Me" by Claudia Black.

Once you know the rules that govern your family, you can begin to break the generational cycles that may be keeping you stuck.

Check out our new website withyouintheweeds.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter so you can get podcast episode reminders, recaps, free resources and more!

Connect with us on Instagram @withyouintheweeds and let us know what topics you'd like us to address.

Happy New Year!

We know that emotions tend to run high around the holidays, so we decided to recast our most popular episode, "Your Emotional Dashboard" because we've heard first hand how much this information has helped our listeners.

This episode contains the foundational principles for Managing Your Emotions, which is something that requires a lot of practice and needs to be rehearsed over and over again.

To follow along with this episode, we now have a FREE DOWNLOAD called Managing Your Emotions that you will find on our new website: withyouintheweeds.com.

This free Managing Your Emotions guide is a great companion as you listen to this episode, and it includes notes on all the other emotions we covered in the series: anxiety, depression, sadness, grief, anger, guilt and shame. It also has a user-friendly feeling word sheet that's great for parents, teachers, journaling and self-reflection.

Check out our new website withyouintheweeds.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter so you can get podcast episode reminders, recaps, free resources and more!

Next week we will launch our new series Managing Your Dysfunctional Family that you won't want to miss.

The WYITW team is excited to help you manage the weeds of life in 2024, so stay tuned!

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter: withyouintheweeds.com

Follow us on Instagram & Facebook:

@withyouintheweeds

Hiring a financial advisor to help you make good investments for your future is praiseworthy and encouraged. So when your relationship is in trouble, why is seeking advice often looked down upon?

Daniel & Alex Moore knew their marriage was in trouble when they were arguing at 3:00am about "whose life is harder". Knowing that they were stuck in a bad pattern pushed them to take the plunge into marriage counseling.

What they found was that being honest about their struggles and learning to say scary things out loud was actually the first step to building a friendship that would last the test of time.

Stories in the Weeds is a real life look into how the process of how counseling can bring hope and relief when the pressures of life get overwhelming.

Life is messy, but having someone with you in the mess can make all the difference in the world.

If you liked this episode, text it to a friend! And please consider rating WYITW on your podcast player and leave the team a review.

You can also follow us on Instagram @withyouintheweeds for more great content and message us with your topic suggestions for future episodes.