Gems of Motherhood

A lifetime of hard work and dream chasing has made actress Gigi Orsillo the newest “overnight success” story. A homeschool mom turned working actress. Today we're going to talk about Living Out Your Dreams.  Gigi shares her story about God restoring her dreams. In a very surprising way, God showed up unexpectedly for Gigi. 

We've all seen other parents "lose it" ― at a restaurant, the mall or in the grocery store. Sometimes we wonder why the parents don't have better control of their emotions (and their kids); other times we're just thankful that it isn't happening to us. Today my guest Becky Kopitzke shares about Identifying Your Cranky Triggers. So many of us have cranky triggers yet we don't bother to take a deep dive into discovering what they are and how to better understand them. To better understand cranky triggers, we must identify what triggers us, whether we feel cranky with our self, our kids or our husband. The root of this is sin and it is all rooted in the heart. It's interesting that many of us don't even know what triggers these behaviors, but we know something is wrong.  “Understanding your triggers is a spiritual exploration. What is the root of it?”  Becky likes to think of triggers in terms categories. For example, spiritual, physical, emotional, and environmental triggers. There are so many things to consider before we point the finger at others. However, if we don't intentionally explore our feelings and emotions what happens next is a sweltering of anger and frustration. Becky warns that not digging deep into our emotions allows anger to take over, and further isolates us as moms.

When it comes to core worldview subjects, such as, life, marriage, race, gender and materialism, should it be Christ or culture that decide our convictions? My guest Dr. Carol Swain shares her thoughts about how we should live a Countercultural existence. Dr. Carol shares about growing cultural trends in our society, like Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Critical Queer Theory, which are anti-Christian, anti-Civil Rights, anti-Constitution and unAmerican. People have compared CRT and Critical Queer Theory to a religion. They're very dangerous ideologies which have taken our country by storm.  “The Bible created one human race. Any group can be racist and evil toward another group. And it doesn't have anything to do with the color of our skin.” She explains that such ideologies teach our children to be conscious about differences, like race and sex/gender which they're not naturally inclined to process like adults. She says that, “It is teaching our children the wrong message about race and [gender].” In addition, Dr. Carol shares how many public school systems are pushing Critical Queer Theory to children as young as five years old. These children are being taught that they can choose their own gender. This indoctrination is demonic and shows an aggressive liberal agenda in school. As a result of the societal pushes of these ideologies, we can see the consequences in our children and their behavior. We have a class of children who are now questioning whether they were born in the wrong body and are feeling inordinate guilt or resentment simply due to their racial group.

Today we're going to focus on the subject of prayer. Does teaching your children how to pray feel overwhelming? There are some families who pray consistently and others who may be not even know how to pray. My guest Stefanie Schindler shares about Praying for your Children and Teaching Them How to Pray. Stefanie shares about the power of praying over our children emphasizing its importance as a change agent. The enemy knowing this actively tries to distract moms, cause to fall into prayerlessness and we need to recognize that. If we don't recognize it, then our children will be blindsided by it. Because of this reality, Stephanie taught her own children how to stand up against the Prince of Darkness because she did not want to fall victim to his schemes.  “We have incredible influence over our children's lives especially when we stand up in the spirit for them.”  Stephanie encourages moms to pray for their children to have their own faith. She also shares how important it is for moms to pray for God to give our children discernment and be light in their darkness.  “I want my kids to have a lot of hope and that their lives have a purpose.”

The Word says honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. This is a commandment with a promise. Today my guest, Dr. Scott Turansky shares about Teaching Children to Honor and Respect their Parents. God has designed honor to be a valuable tool that every child must learn. The word “honor” is used in nine specific commands in the Bible. It speaks volume of how much children must be taught and learn this lesson. But, where do they learn it? It starts at home.  We sometimes use respect and honor interchangeably, yet there is a difference. Respect comes from the Greek word “fabas” and it's where we get the word phobia from. When we teach respect, we teach them manners. Honor on the other hand comes from the Greek word “time” which means to value someone. The idea of honoring centers on adding value or valuing a person. When we teach children to value something, we must emphasize ways where they can do more to add to value to their parents — that means you and I. The key word is initiative. And the key concept is contributing to others. In other word, honoring and respecting parent simply adds value to our children's lives as they experience God's purpose in establish parental order.  “One of the definition of honor is that children are looking for the extra thing to do.”

If you look at culture right now, it's no secret that families are under attack. With so many families struggling, we want to equip you to build a healthy Christ-centered family. Today my guest, Erin Davis is back on the show. She will be talking about developing a Christ-Centered Family Calendar. What is the one thing you can pull out of your home? How do you spend your time? How we spend our time is a really strong indicator if we're building your family around King Jesus.  Erin shared about the 7 feast in Leviticus. She discovered the feast years ago. She felt beat up and exhausted towards the end of the year during the holiday. And she felt like she would miss Jesus. When she began studying the Jewish traditions, she realized that there's something to those sacred rhythm. She shared about observing and celebrating just as the children of Israel did.  “Each feast really correlated to the Gospel. It's an interruption on our of our regular business and our regular rhythm.”

Sometimes we need to dream, make plans and take steps forward. My guest, Annette Trucke shares how as moms we need to step out of our comfort zones in order to freely pursue our God-given dreams. Annette shares her story about finding her God-given dream while weaving in the complexity of her journey. She honestly relies how scary pursuing our dreams can be at times, but how we have to trust God in the process. In her own journey, she learned the importance of having godliness with contentment.  "We have a collection of things in our hands. We can see God's touch on everything. We have to trust God and the process.” Annette also shares how to wisely and honestly discern what we're good at, and eliminate the things that were not good at. The comparison game is extremely not beneficial. Instead, we should recognize who God made us to be. She shared her experience finding her way and what God showed her in the process.  “Trust God in His timing. There are ways to prepare when you're in the wait. Appreciate where you are at.”

We all have been through some crazy times the past 2 years. But it's never too late to start believing in your dreams and looking forward to a what you want to accomplish in the coming, days, months, and year. My guest Kathleen Hardaway, is an inspirational speaker with a passion to encourage and equip people to live out their God-given dreams.  Kathleen shares about her book Dare to Believe. In her book, she gives a step-by-step guide to realizing our dreams in accordance with God's ways. According to Kathleen, people usually give up on their dreams because we live in a culture embedded with “instant gratification.” Most people are unwilling to sit and wait for the Lord, and instead refuse to realize the full purpose of God. She also shares about the importance of knowing and living out ones spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts, your talents and your temperaments are key. Those three things are who we are, that's how God made us. If you understand those three things about yourself then you should be pretty confident to move forward. And if you're walking in your gifts, it will give you joy.  “Spiritual gifts is key to walk in your spiritual walk.”

Are your children ready for school? This is a question most parents often contemplate yet don't realize the complete answer until years later. Truthfully speaking, a child's social, emotional, and behavior skills are equally critical to school success; however, too many children in this country are starting kindergarten without them. My guest, Mary Duncan talks about school readiness in young children.  Mary explains what school readiness means and how to identify it in your own children. Simply put, before a child enters kindergarten, they should be able to recognize shapes, count one through ten, take turns in a play setting and more.  “There's so many aspects to preparing our children for school. Attention span and bonding is very important, building vocabularies and including new words during specific time of the day is just as important.” Mary shares how important play is to a child development. And how play is work for children. She also suggests different activities that moms can do with their young children to enhance school readiness. Mary likes to break the five main subject areas which is pre-math, pre-science, pre-social studies, pre-writing and pre-reading. She breaks those down into each of the years and then work on what to build in those foundation pegs. Her timeline for child preparedness is instructive and helpful to cultivating an environment of learning.

Mom Fatigue Syndrome is real. It's pervasive. And it creeps into every facet of a mom's life. My guest, America's #1 Mom Coach, Hannah Kelly will talk about the Mom Fog. “I kept on having failure after failure. Whatever could go wrong went wrong. I realized I was struggling with mom brain.”  Hannah shares about what she was like when she first became a mom. She struggled mightily remember simple day to day tasks and she wondered why. She finally realized that she was going through a mom fog. After seeking God for His intervention, He stepped in to guide and help her find her way through the fog.  “As moms, we have this thing where we call categorical thinking where we believe if we get one area of our life successful, all the other areas will implode. We subconsciously sabotage ourselves.”  Hannah wrote a book called the Mom Fog. She shares about why the average programs and techniques do not usually work for moms. She also shares some tips on how to work on being a better mom starting with rewarding yourself with self-love and self-care. 

God ordained families from the very beginning. Mothers are used as a metaphor to describe the ways God loves and cares for His children. My guest Laura Booz talks about expecting something beautiful in motherhood, is motherhood good?  “Look for the gift of Jesus being right by your side. And envision Him holding your child close to His heart even closer than you can.” Laura shares from her book, Expect Something Beautiful: The Essential Gifts of Motherhood. In her chat, she highlights some essential gifts of motherhood, like prayer, God's word, and Jesus being by our side. She touches on the biblical principles found in Isaiah 40:11 to encourage mothers to strive for their higher calling. Naturally, moms are self-sacrificial people, yet true satisfaction is simply found when we put all our weight on Jesus or as Laura calls it “a free fall entirely on Jesus.” “I turn to Him with confession, I mourn what must be mourn, I ask Him for help in areas of weakness and sin, and then I look for blessings that I have overlooked. We must thank Him for that and it changes the lens that we're walking through.”

Seeing young girls become movers and shakers for God in today's culture is incredible. As Christian parents, God encourages us to embolden our children's faith and when you witness it can be earth-quaking. My guest Amy Debrucque chats with us about emboldening our daughters to greater things.  Amy shares her story about how she grew in her faith. Her fears led her to trust in Jesus. She was diagnosed with cancer and this experience emboldened her faith and walk with God. Her personal battle convinced her that she needed to teach her own daughter about divinity, conviction, spiritual tenacity and perseverance.  “Raising a gutsy daughter is having them stay convicted in their faith.” The importance of modeling our walk as Christians to our daughters will be a life-size example to them. Encouraging them in simple things like, joining small groups, getting involved in the community and finding a mentor, are crucial for their spiritual journey. Talking about the latest cultural phenomenon and current events will push our daughters to be well-versed in the happenings in today's society, and in turn, will let them become change agents for the future.  “It's really important to talk to your kids about the issues that are going on. If you don't, someone else is going to!”

The relentless pressures of motherhood don't afford much time to nurture your personal identity, and it can become easy to let yourself slip away. In our culture, mothers are told that anything we do for ourselves takes something away from our kids. Today my guest Mara Measor will be talking about rediscovering self.  Mara shares about her fears and insecurity of being a mother. However, after having her daughter, she realized that the world is very simple which helped stripe away her insecurity. Looking at the World through the eyes of her child, helped Mara rediscover herself she expressed.  “As I was around my daughter, I was affected by the way she was. She was full of life and vivacious. And it brought me back to a place to rediscover who I am under the layers of fears and insecurities.”  She also shares how she took full advantage of the little time she had. Due to the limited time she had to her self, she spent her time songwriting while her baby napped. Although her time was limited, she felt a little more free, thus, simplifying the process.  “One of the things I decided to do was to make music a very controlled outlet. I just gave myself a ton of limitations. All I have is two hours to write music and I can't get perfectionist about it.”

Our legacy is a continual expression of love, value, faith, and belief. Our investment in the bright future of our kinds inspires hope that whatever we have taught them will live on after we're gone. Jan Silvious speaks to us today about building legacies based on God's strength and graciousness that our children can easily follow.  “I never liked the uniformity of church. My dad insisted I attend church three times a week. We have to work with children with the way they are bent.” Jan challenges us to be creative and recognize the bent of each kid in order to encourage them to raise a banner of godliness in their generation. Some children are very creative, some are shy and some are outspoken, yet each can be reached in unique ways. Jan suggests ways we can reach our children creatively and how we might adjust our approach to meet their needs graciously. “When I see graciousness, I see women who are strong, and they offer to people around them what they do not deserve.”  Jan further shares practical advice on how to be gracious and how to leave a legacy of strength. Graciousness is shown by giving. Our sacrifices models a framework for our children to grow into their own people — with strength, grace and commitment. 

Motherhood is the hard, but it is also very rewarding. It is overwhelming and under appreciated, yet many mothers wouldn't have it any other way. Add a 9 to 5 job to the mix, and you may find yourself feeling stretched. Our guest is my personal friend, Jenn Gotzon who will be sharing about how she started a business around the same time she gave birth to her son and how she is managing it all as a first time mom.  Managing a business as well as being a mom involves having good time management. Jenn shared how she has leaned on her mentors to learn ways of dealing with the stresses of motherhood while balancing work and career. She talks about the filming of The Farmer and the Belle, which she stars in, and managing her business franchise. Jenn also experience with anxiety shortly after having her baby, and she shares freely how she sought professional help to overcome what she was going through. This support helped tremendously to see the need for rightful balancing, true connections and community.  Jenn regiment starts with time with God, going to Him for everything, to find peace, tranquility and sense of purpose. Her daily routine with her baby and what she does with him, inspire her to pursue her dreams without sacrificing time with him. 

Mothers play a huge role in helping their children become leaders. Cultivating values in your children creates individuals with strong beliefs, empowers them to follow their convictions and focuses their eyes on issue-based value systems. My guest Karen Hetzler speaks about shaping children into culture change agents. “There's no higher calling if God has gifted you with children. Seek the Lord about timing when you should be home with them. Life is full of seasons.” Karen shares about her experience of staying home with her children during the early years. God stirred up new dreams in her heart while she prepared for when it would be the appropriate time to allow them to live freely. She envisioned herself transforming the culture by encouraging her children to be difference makers, and to stand firm in their beliefs. “We have an obligation for civil disobedience. Sometimes it's not the right time to stand, sometimes we may need to listen and at other times, we have a moral obligation to stand.”

My guest Arlene Pellicane, author of Screen Kids, shares about raising kids in a world of screens. In her house, Arlene and her husband have a “no phone, no gaming, no social media” policy for their kids. They have a practical reason behind this decision and she shares her research with us.    “Kids who are raised constantly with screen, don't know how to honor or talk with their parents. They are not spending enough face-to-face time with them.” Today, the majority of American children spend five to eight hours a day in front of a screen and less than an hour playing outside, reading a book or interacting with family. This means a child's sleep quality, attention span and stress level is negatively affected by the tight grip of modern technology. Arlene challenges parents to think more critically about using devices, instead of just accepting the notion that a device is a necessity. She stresses the importance of delaying giving kids a device for as long as possible.  “When a child is playing a video game, their body is thinking fight or flight. So naturally all the blood goes to protect the major organs except for the prefrontal cortex. And if this happens everyday, that prefrontal cortex will be malnourished.” Things we talked about Digital vegetables vs digital candy Reconsidering phones for younger kids Building real world skills for our kids instead of just digital ones Setting digital boundaries.  How to reset from the digital world

Certain conversations should be non-negotiable in your house. But when should you have them? And how? Tough conversations are just that—tough. Either way, we still need to have it. My guest Bev Berrus will be talking about how to have hard conversations with your children. “We have to prepare our kids for the world to live in the world and not being of the world. While I want to protect them, I also want to prepare them.” As mothers we're constantly being challenged. It's not easy consistently training up our children in the way they should go. Bev shared about handling the different discomforts in motherhood. 

A homemaker is defined as “one who manages a household, especially a wife and mother. This career is important enough to demand a woman's diligent preparation, commitment, full energy, and great creativity. Today my guest Beverly Berrus talks about the high calling of a wife and mother.  “As wives and mothers, we're in the business of shaping and preparing the next generation.”   We want our children to be both mighty in the Word and mighty in the Spirit! Beverly shared her own story about how she came to know Jesus and how she wished to raise her own children in Christ. Her examples were Lois and Eunis in the Bible whose sincere faith helped them raise their son and grandson, Timothy in the faith.  “I've learnt over the last decade, there is an inexhaustible grace, mercy and strength that comes from God to do the work of being a mother.”  While being mother has its challenges, you experience many ups and downs and you face discomfort, these things are simply challenges which point us back to Jesus. We have a choice to see these challenges for what they are, opportunities to allow God to manifest Himself in our circumstances. His will is to makes us more like Him, so that His spirit can be poured out. As God breathes life into every creature, motherhoods mirrors this call of being life giver too. 

Now we all want well behaved children, but kids often misbehave. Having difficult conversations with children is hard. Yet, In today's podcast, Stacy Bellward talks about The Power of Questions.  She shares concerning the importance of asking questions. The opposite of asking is telling. And telling does not work. We often get into these patterns in our homes where we just tell… and telling turns into nagging and sometimes even into yelling. And sometimes it's almost like a tug of war.  “If we were to boil down our job raising our kids, the two important things that we want them to exercise is wisdom and responsibility.” Stacy talks about breaking patterns of defensiveness and how the power of curious questions creates productive conversations. She also talks about asking effective questions as well as type of questions to avoid in an effort to get the best results in correcting our children's behavior.  What we chat about The power of questions Effective questions Bad questions Setting our kids up for success Teaching our children to cooperate Building our children's character

Every child learns differently. While some children strengths are reading or writing, others learn more effectively through hands-on activities. There are three primary defined learning styles: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. This week's podcast, my guest Melinda Ledman will talk about identifying your children's learning style.  Melinda is a full-time homeschool mom and she shares about the importance of learning your child's learning styles. The purpose of figuring out your child's learning style is to make sure you teach them in the way they love to learn. Melinda's concept of learning your child's learning preference is similar to Gary Chapman's The Five Love Languages. Learning what motivates your child's learning reaps huge benefits.  “Take time and experiment what they like whether it be visual, audio or kinesthetic.” For a visual learner, you'll want things with more pictures, graphs, or bold colors. Auditory kids can do really well in a lecture setting. And if they are musically inclined, they can even compose their own songs to remember the facts. For your kinesthetic learning, these children like movements. Melinda shared how her daughter was memorizing facts while jumping up and down a trampoline which really helped with her learning style.  “It takes them more concentration to sit still and they can't learn because they are so focus on sitting still. If you really do want your kinesthetic learner to be sitting, then do it for a short period of time.”

My guest Pastor Michelle Soto continues in Part 2 of “Mothers Arise.” Pastor Michelle shares how her ministry was birthed through prayer. Whatever your situation is, nothing is too small or too big for God.  “Don't ever think that your prayers are not heard by God. Your prayers are mercies stored up.”  Michelle also shares practical ways to teach our children to pray diligently and expediently. Seeing children experience the AHA moments when they realize their prayers have been answered! Those moments is when, as mothers, we must press in with our children to make them realize what God can do and does for them. 

Standard Christian parenting isn't getting the job done. This is a call to all Christian mothers, we need RISE UP. Today my guest Pastor Michelle Soto will be speaking in Part 1 of 2 series entitled “Mothers Arise.” Michelle shares about the role of mothers and she uses Deborah from the Bible as an example of a Godly mother. Searching deeper into Deborah's attributes brings Michelle to realize biblical nuggets which are more necessary now given the pandemic. The pandemic threw everyone for a loop causing despair and hopelessness. It was during this time the Pastor Michelle sought God in her time of prayer, and He brought her to Jeremiah 31:15-16.  Michelle shares how she sensed God lovingly telling her about the importance of training up children to be prayer warriors. She immediately decided to model prayer to her grandchildren in everyday things and purposed in heart to take up the holy war God was calling her to, and by extension us. “We show them the power of prayer. We show them that nothing is too mundane and too small that God is not involve in it.”

A healthy identity comes from understanding how truth gives us insight into ourselves. Truth told, our deepest yearning is to understand where we came from, and what is our purpose in this World. Our significance comes from the Creator. In this week's podcast, my guest Quina Aragon will talk about Helping Kids Recognize their Identity in Christ.  There are so many ways we can help our kids with their identity in Christ. Quina talks about how we should go about pointing out sin in our children without making them feel condemned. If we use the biblical principles to instruct and coach our children in truth, we will see them react better to our discipline since it is focused on getting to their hearts. “If we're not treating our children with love and compassion, then I think talking about sin and the fact that they are sinners, becomes somewhat hypocritical and something that can be even more damaging to them.” Quina shares about her two books Love Made and Love Gave, what drove her to write them and how she's learned about God's love through writing them. We'll be giving away her book Love Gave. Tune in to IG @gemsofmotherhood to see how you can win her book. 

The Bible is the most important book ever written in history. And what could be more important than teaching kids to read the Bible? Teaching kids the Bible is the single most important experience in guaranteeing your kids are successful. Today my guest Erin Davis will be talking about helping children fall in love with the Bible.  Erin shares that to create a passion in your kids for the Bible, moms have to incorporate it as part of our everyday life and model it. As moms, we need to first let biblical precepts work in and through us so that our kids can see the impact of the Bible on our lives. The deeper our commitment to reading the Bible, the more our relationship with the Lord will grow. Growing in Christ is incredibly important for kids to observe and mimic.  “If your children see you daily with your Bible, that is a teaching opportunity. I try to be intentional to have my Bible on me rather than using the Bible on the phone.” Jesus used stories when he taught the most important truths in the Bible. He used this approach to help people understand what He was telling them. There are unforgettable moments when God used this approach, like the lady at the well, the feeding of the 5,000 and Zacchaeus. These stories are timeless. Erin shares practical examples of how she discusses the Bible with her kids to get them to understand what it says and to fall in love with the Bible for themselves.  “Just sheltering my children is not going to work. The world's volume is getting too loud. So I don't mind bombarding them with scriptures.”

Disability is a subject which is confounding and difficult to reconcile. If you live with a disability you often think why did God allow this in my life. If you have children with disabilities, it can be even more gut-wrenching trying to safeguard your child and at the same time trying to make sense of it all. Each circumstance comes with its distinct challenge, and neither is easier than the other, yet no matter what the situation is there are things you can do to lighten the load you might be carrying. Today's guests Mary and Krista Horning will be talking about God's Good Design in Suffering. Mary shared her story about Krista's life and her struggle with her disability. Three days after birth, Mary and her husband found out that Krista was born with a rare genetic disorder called Apert Syndrome. The defect is mostly in the skull, hands and feet, yet it was difficult to deal with all the ups and downs of caring for a child with a disability. As a young child, Krista always knew she had a disability, and as she was getting older, she realized that she was different. Krista commented, “I didn't really have any friends in school. I wondered why God made me this way. Why did I have to be different.”  Distraught and confused, Mary shares she cried out to God for wisdom and He, as He does, sent help from Heaven. Mary realized that as God was stretching Krista, He was creating a new spirit in her too. She embraced the challenges presented by Krista's disability learning to talk to Krista about her disability in order to loving walk her through her life. “God was entering our hearts and He was feeding us.”

There are great spiritual lessons from God's Word about the concept of a lasting legacy. For many of us, we know that if we don't intentionally pass along our beliefs and values to our children, it will be filled by our culture's beliefs and values instead. Today we're going to be talking with mother-daughter duo, Teresa Conlon and Kate Hughes about Family Legacies. They both share examples of traditions and legacy inherited from their own parents which have made tremendous differences in how they have raised their own children.  “I actually inherited a legacy of prayer and I saw the power of it,” said Teresa Teresa shares about the legacy of prayer in her family and how God challenged her when she had Kate. She recalls how easily Kate made friends, but how she was concern about her choice in friends. Teresa's anxiety about Kate's friends led God to convict her about judging those friends challenging her to instead pray for them. Kate also opens up about her own concerns for her children, but how God has constantly reminded her of His goodness and His faithfulness towards her and her family.  “It's also healthy to remember that your children are in the hands of God and that He has them. When you're able to fully surrender your children to the Lord, its huge. You can then parent from hope and love instead of fear,” said Kate Both Teresa and Kate share about aspects of their emotional, social and spiritual legacies and how the Lord has used key building blocks in those areas to create a more wholesome person, mother and friend to their children.  What we chat about Legacy of prayer Emotional legacy Social legacy Spiritual legacy

When people become parents planning for the future becomes a priority and requires a greater level of accountability, responsibility and wisdom. Today we're going to be talking with mother-daughter Chrystal Evans Hurst and Kariss Farris about Leaving a Legacy that will Outlast You.  Coming from a family with an incredible legacy, they both share examples of traditions and legacy inherited from their own parents and grandparents which have made tremendous differences in how they have raised their own children. Chrystal shares her personal experience concerning her modeling the character of excellence and how she sees the fruit in her children. She confesses that what she saw modeled for her helped her daughter Kariss in her adult life because she was equipped with tools for life. In turn, Kariss noted, “My mom and my grandmother and great grandmother did a really good job of not only telling me what to do but also grabbing my hands and showing me what to do. It has helped me to navigate my own life.” Chrystal also encourages us — moms — that when we work with our children we have to have a holy conviction. As she put it, this simply means that when we feel convicted about something which our children need, we pray and act on what it is that GOD places on our hearts to do for them. We might not get it right immediately or all the time, but if we do the best we can allowing the Holy Spirit to lead and convict we'll be more than conquerors. Why? Because God loves our children more than we can love them.  “I just have to do my job and realize that we're all fallen. I'm not going to get it all right and know that God is going to catch whatever that I missed,” said Chrystal  Chrystal and Kariss both share that who they are today is attributable to the legacy of their late mother and grandmother, Lois Evans. Her fingerprints are everywhere and her footprints are what mark the path for their own lives. 

Kids are very different, the world and culture are extremely different and normal Christian parenting isn’t getting the job done. As Christians parents, we need to start thinking outside the box about our parental role. My guest Denise Mira discusses Revolutionary Parenting and what it means.  To be revolutionary means to take drastic and far reaching steps to effectuate change. If we look at what’s happening all around us, its high time for a revolution. We need to have a revolution in Jesus, the hope of glory. And we need to bring that revolution into our homes.  “From day one, we need to nurture our children in the word of God. Christianity is discipleship under the Lord Jesus Christ.” Denise shares the story of Jochebed, her life as a mom and how she navigated challenging times. Jochebed was the ultimate example of sacrifice. She refused to be a victim and was determined to trust God. However, she had a baby at the worst possible time. Yet, she knew her son, Moses was special and this helped her overcome her natural fears knowing that God would see her son’s journey would be completed. “Fear is one of the biggest monster of motherhood,” and Jochebed was strong and powerful.  What we chat about  Strength of Jochebed Revolution and revelation Helping our children in this day and age Helping our children with the pressures of society

Kids are very different, the world and culture are extremely different and normal Christian parenting isn’t getting the job done. As Christians parents, we need to start thinking outside the box about our parental role. My guest Denise Mira discusses Revolutionary Parenting and what it means.  To be revolutionary means to take drastic and far reaching steps to effectuate change. If we look at what’s happening all around us, its high time for a revolution. We need to have a revolution in Jesus, the hope of glory. And we need to bring that revolution into our homes.  “From day one, we need to nurture our children in the word of God. Christianity is discipleship under the Lord Jesus Christ.” Denise shares the story of Jochebed, her life as a mom and how she navigated challenging times. Jochebed was the ultimate example of sacrifice. She refused to be a victim and was determined to trust God. However, she had a baby at the worst possible time. Yet, she knew her son, Moses was special and this helped her overcome her natural fears knowing that God would see her son’s journey would be completed. “Fear is one of the biggest monster of motherhood,” and Jochebed was strong and powerful.  What we chat about  Strength of Jochebed Revolution and revelation Helping our children in this day and age Helping our children with the pressures of society

Kids seem to be in constant transition so much these days. And parents are just trying their best to keep up. Sometimes it’s really difficult to tell how a child is doing, especially if we’re not being extra aware of what is happening in their lives. My guest Michelle Nietert talks to us today about the warning signs to look for to ensure our kids are okay.  “Talk to your children about small things and ask them good questions.” Michelle recalled when she asked her daughter, during a revealing conversation, “When was the last time you cried,” and her daughter’s response was “everyday for the past two weeks.” You don’t always know what goes on in a kid’s mind and heart especially if they think you’re going to worry about them. “I am seeing kids with anxiety problem who cope with it by being distracted.” We have to be careful, look at our kids and what they are doing. We’re not only looking at whether they are happy, but also trying to observe them when they’re unhappy. Good mental health looks like a peaceful state even when a kid is going through tough times.  “Some of the other symptoms of warning signs is to ask if they are sleeping. When kids can’t fall asleep there’s potentially some mental health issues going on with some worry and anxiety” What we chat about Good questions to ask our children Warning signs of anxiety Physical and emotional symptom to look for  Potential stressors

This world has a completely different point of view about gender identity than the Christian worldview. This difference causes hesitancy in many when the subject is broached. To be honest, it is such a difficult topic to talk about with adults, now think about how difficult it is to talk about it with our children. My guest Denise Shick addresses the issue of gender identity speaking about Understanding Gender Confusion.  Denise shares her personal story on how her father told her he wanted to live as a woman. She was a young girl. Needless to say, she didn’t understand why and didn’t know how to process it. She only came to deal with it much later in life when she could start wrapping her mind around what her father’s decision meant.  As Denise grappled with her father’s decision, she began to understand that she had to speak to her own children early and often about God’s rightful plan for men and women.   “Speak to your children in a safe environment. Talk about God creating two genders in God’s plan”  Parents should share that we live in a fallen world with lots of confusion, yet God’s plan is perfect. Sharing can be difficult, so using age appropriate language is essential to getting the correct message through to our children. That message, however, has to be well studied and researched because gender confusion is not just a couple of people who don’t know God’s plan for their life, but rather it is a movement to turn God’s plan on its head.  “If the parent becomes educated and understands that it comes from a Biblical perspective, they are able to explain it.” What we chat about Talking to children about different genders Helping children and parents understand gender confusion

Motherhood is one of the most fulfilling journeys life offers, but it is exhausting. Add work outside the house to the mix, and you may find yourself stretched very thin. Today my guest Lila Rose shares her experience balancing her career with motherhood.  Lila shares how intense a career can be routinely, yet when you add the wrinkles, like events, conferences and travel it becomes very challenging. She personally realized when she became a mother that she would have to adjust her career to serve her family. She learned different lessons, including the freedom of saying NO.  “When I entered motherhood, I wanted to do it very intentionally. Overall it’s a journey and I learned how to prioritize, and to make sure I’m getting that quality time with my son on a daily basis.” Lila’s day-to-day is unique to her; however, her prioritizing is not foreign to other mothers. Her time with her son is not just about quantity time, but quality time living life fully invested in his nurturing and growth. It’s not always easy, yet it is satisfying and spiritually healing. “Motherhood is a full-time job and we need to start appreciating it. Each mom is different. And we need to give ourselves grace as mom” What we chat about Pressures that moms face Helping mothers to gain a sense of self Importance of motherhood Balancing career and prioritizing time Motherhood penalty

As mothers we all struggle one way or another because the juggle is real! Today my guest Jill Savage will be talking about no more being perfect. What we chat about The pressures of needing to be the perfect mom The comparison game How does the pressure affect children emotionally and mentally Expectations vs realistic hope

In this week’s podcast, my guest Melissa Vande Kieft shares her story about eagerly waiting on God while coping with infertility. Infertility is not an easy situation; you feel social pressure to have kids and you feel judged by well-meaning friends, family members, or even strangers. It is a journey, even if it is lonely and grounded in fear. “This whole process of navigating infertility was something I wasn’t prepared for and shook who I was.” Melissa’s journey dealing with infertility was her first God test emotionally and spiritually. She saw her experience similar to climbing a mountain; she was just climbing and climbing and not seeing the end. She had to get up everyday to experience the identical result while having to accept waiting on God. What she couldn’t imagine is that her wait would take 2.5 years before she would fully receive what God was trying to tell her.  “When you are going through infertility, you are doing things that are right, but yet it never happens. And you don’t know why. And it can be so frustrating.” Melissa also shares some tips on how to support someone who is going through infertility. When someone is going navigating infertility, they want to know that someone cares, that they are seen, that they are heard and above all they want authenticate relationship. Authenticity is the bridge between God and us, and Melissa surmises that it is no different between us and others!  What we chat about Living in the wait Be educated about infertility Preparing the challenges Reason infertility exists

In this week’s podcast, my guest Mo Isom Aiken shares about the secret of having true intimacy with our first love based on her third book, Fully Known.  A mom’s job is hard and important work. And the only way we can perform this work is through God’s spirit and His love. His spirit is already poured out for us to receive. And His love is a function of His sacrifice on the Cross. These truths act as reminders that being a mom and wife is a beautiful thing, and are to be cherished and experienced fully on intimacy with Him. When we embrace the truth, a mom’s true beauty is revealed by our time and frequency in His presence, we can let our guard down.  “We were made for intimacy—spiritual intimacy with God that brings oneness and bears powerful fruit. We were made to know Him and be known by Him, fully.” Intimacy with Christ is different from intimacy with our husband. Intimacy with Him is both intentional and ongoing. We can experience this intimacy while performing mundane house chores or in the shower or going out shopping. It is a privilege to be able to commune with Him daily.  “I don’t have to fight for His presence. I can talk with Him and commune with Him all day long. We can cease from the striving.”  Mo shares that Fully Known is for people who feel disconnected from God, burned out, and desire to understand what it means to actually have a relationship with God. What we chat about Motherhood and intimacy with God Intentional and on-going intimacy Actionable tips for burnt-out moms True intimacy

In this week’s podcast, my guest Ruth Graham shares about the miracle of forgiveness. When we live with unresolved anger or hurt, the result is nearly always bitterness, broken relationships, and unhealthy behaviors. Unforgiveness if left unresolved can sabotage our entire life from the spiritual to the mental to the physical.  Ruth Graham shares her personal journey to finding forgiveness in her heart for individuals who hurt her. God is about forgiveness. However, we often can’t imagine the depths of forgiveness until He demonstrates it to us. Ruth learned the truth and the meaning of forgiveness when she visited Angola prison in Louisiana. “Forgiveness is Holy. It is an opportunity to participate in the nature and character of God.” We have a choice to forgive people who have hurt us. Yet, once we make the decision to forgive, be prepared to feel all sorts of emotions because we have an Enemy who desires to make us feel like we haven’t truly forgiven. And we cannot allow that to happen.  “When we know our place in Christ. We need not hold ourselves in condemnation. We want to be working for the Lord in the freedom of forgiveness.” Ruth also shares how forgiveness is vitally important in other areas of our lives, like marriage and parenting. Her mother always said that a good marriage is made up of two good forgivers since we’re always asking for forgiveness. This habit of forgiving and extending forgiveness is played out each day is only saturates our children with the learned behavior of expressing forgiveness as well as accepting forgiveness.  What we chat about Ruth’s journey to forgiveness The meaning of forgiveness Tips for those struggling with forgiveness

The Bible is the most important book in history. In this week’s episode, Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright talks about how to make the Bible come alive to our children. She shares how she presented her daughter with the Gospel from the moment she was born and talks about Bible stories with her children at all times.   “I try to always tell them stories. I wanted it to be relevant all the time and not just reading it during one set time.” Playing fun games to focus children on Bible stories and characters grows their interest. It also gets children to learn different people and different places highlighted in the Bible. Rachel-Ruth shares her experience of playing Bible charades with her children to ensure her children stay in their Word and live it out. “Making the Bible come alive to your children is so important. If you’re dead about the Bible and you don’t know those stories then your kids will be that way too. The key is to have it in your own heart.” Helping children to uncover the Bible’s big ideas and good values only encourages children to see that God is interested in their personal development.  “If my kids did something wrong, I will try to talk them through. I always try to present the Bible in a positive light so they don’t have a negative view of scripture or of the Lord.” What we chat about Ways of telling Bible stories Instilling scripture in the dark days ahead Uncovering big ideas and applying to life Grace Being transparent with children

There are so many incredible moms in the Bible. Yet, there is one mother who rarely grabs any acclaim — that’s Moses’s mom, Jochebed. In this week’s episode, Maria Durso talks about empowering moms by using Jochebed’s life as an example.  Jochobed lived in dark and challenging times. Pharaoh wanted to kill every Jewish boy two years and younger. Yet, Moses’s mother had a plan. She had an anointed eye, a gift of foresight. The moment she saw her baby, she was determined to fight for his life. “We need an anointed eye… What do you see when you see your child” Today’s children are born in dark times. As moms, it’s one thing to see when things are going great, it is another to see when things are turning dark. Maria encourages moms to wash their children with words of affirmations and prayer in order to see them through these perilous times. Maria reenforces what the Bible challenges us to do … which is to put on the full armor of God. Why you might ask? Because there’s an invisible war being waged in the heavenlies and right here on earth. “Prayer for our children doesn’t stop. It’s ongoing. So many of us don’t know that the armor is already ours. It’s already hanging in our closet and perfectly suited for us to put on.” What we chat about Moses’s Mom Covering our children with words of affirmation Prayer Armor of God  Preparing for life’s opposition

Today’s episode seems more critically important today than ever before. The role of mothers is slowly eroding blocked out by competing interests and societal priorities, yet it doesn’t mean a mother’s value has changed. In this episode, Mo Isom Aiken shares her heart on the importance of a mother using the example of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Mo points to Mary’s perseverance, tenacity, and above all her humility, as the mother of Jesus to make her point about mother’s privilege.  “When I think of motherhood, I just weep. After I had my first, I just thought of Mary, and the pains of her labor and the reality of bringing forth life and what a privilege it is…” Mo shares that when people look at the word of God, they instantly are faced with the truth about a women’s worth and true beauty. She opines that she needs to be constantly reminded of this and keep it locked deeply in heart while aligning it with God’s will for her life.  “If we look at the word of God, we can see the role and value of woman. It is a beautiful and miraculous thing. And the gift of motherhood is truly an honor and of kingdom importance.” To showcase a mother’s importance, God allows what we’ll term as “sovereign shaking.” That means He allows disruption and shifting to enter our lives, but not to harm us but to squeeze out the very best. Mo has seen the excellent results of “sovereign shaking,” especially during the pandemic. God wants to open our eyes to our weaknesses and wake us from our slumber to let us see our true identity. Why you may ask? Mo answers it: He wants us to take up our mantle. “Right now God is raising up a generation of kingdom warriors. He is the general and we are the ranks right beneath Him, following His orders and raising the kingdom army that is to come.” What we chat about Role of motherhood The importance of motherhood Kingdom importance Raising up kingdom children Preparation in times of adversity

Postpartum depression is something seldom discussed, but which affects many people. Mental health can mean different things to different people, depending on individual experiences. In this week’s podcast, my guest Carly Graham shares her postpartum depression story.  Carly speaks about the different signs of postpartum from loss of interest of things to decrease mood to trouble sleeping or sleeping too much to eating habits. "When you have postpartum depression it’s hard to see into the future with excitement, hope, and expectancy.”  While 7 out of 10 mothers who go through postpartum, surprisingly 3 out of 10 fathers also experience it. Carly explains how different hormones in women and men affect the onset of postpartum and dissects scientifically the reason why women go through it more frequently and with greater impact on their daily function.  “Be aware of patterns and behavior that doesn’t feel like the real you. Self awareness is key. Know yourself and how you function.” What we chat about Signs of postpartum Being aware of yourself How can husbands be more supportive Actionable tips for moms to take when going through postpartum

In this https://gemsofmotherhood.com/podcast/ (podcast) episode, Nancy touches on a very important subject matter. It’s important to teach our children to love their bodies. If we don’t, they may pick up misperceptions and wrong teaching from the culture. Issues, like homosexuality and transgenderism, are infiltrating school curriculums starting as young as preschool. As Christians we need to stay on top of these hot topics and equip our children with knowledge about their body to be able to combat the destructive teachings (i.e. secular ethics) readily accepted in schools around the country. The best way to talk to children about sexuality is to stay positive. It is easy for Christians to be negative, launch into stereotypes and be easily typecast as judgmental, yet it is always better to present the Christian ethic free of “christianese.” Simply saying something is wrong or sinful is not helpful. Rather, Nancy shares if we explain, using examples, how secular ethic demeans the body it can serve as a bridge to understand Christian’s foundation of authenticity and love. a bridge to understand Christian’s foundation of authenticity and love.  “Kindergarteners are being taught that their bodies tell them nothing about who they are, it’s not authentic self. And that’s when as Christians we have a wonderful opportunity to say, God made your body and what God makes is intrinsically good.” Nancy shares that gender dysphoria, the technical term when you feel out of sync with your body, starts at a young age and is currently especially prevalent in teenagers also known as rapid gender dysphoria. “Genuine gender dysphoria is a long painful haul. It’s truly a deep psychological issue. But with God’s help, we can let our child know it’s okay for them not to live according to the stereotypes.” Nancy encourages Christians to change the language they use to exude positivity which allows our children to see who God created them to be and gives them a glimpse into God’s intelligent design for their identity.  “We are meant to respect our body, to live in harmony with the creator’s design. We are meant to live consistently with our biological sex.” What we chat about Gender dysphoria Rapid gender dysphoria Examples of stories – Interviews with parents of transgender teens, homeschool parent, and more Impact of social media How to speak to children about loving their body The impact of school and gender identity Preparing children about loving their body Darwinism Connect with Nancy WEBSITE: http://www.nancypearcey.com/ (Nancy Pearcey) FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/nancy.pearcey.7 (Nancy Pearcey) LINKED IN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-pearcey-6286a226/ (Nancy Pearcey )

Beauty… a subject matter that is hardly addressed especially when it comes to motherhood. Anytime moms are around something that delights our senses it reveals what captivates to our soul. This is further proof of God’s vast array of images and what is true beauty. Abbie defines true beauty as something that awakens us to God. “The message of beauty comes from the stamping of God’s image from the beginning and the continual attraction that draws us back to His beauty”  Abbie shares that the definition of kingdom beauty is something that we can’t purchase or bargain for, it simply flows from the beauty maker. At its core it resides in each of us from the moment we’re born. It can’t be masked or hidden. “Beauty can be overused at times… I’m not sure if that does a service to God because the World’s beauty is more external than what God calls beautiful.” She also shares her story, struggles with accepting her beauty, and in turn, how to teach our children to be confident understanding their true beauty and affirming them in it. What we chat about True beauty/Kingdom beauty Challenges that girls face Tearing down lies and deceptions  Affirming children on true beauty

The rate of depression and suicides continues to climb. And anxiety is now considered an epidemic in children. My guest Sissy Goff tackles this topic in How to Help Kids Handle their Emotions.  Sissy shares that there is a tremendous difference in how children of different sexes deal with anxiety. While girls experience anxiety twice as much as boys, boys are more likely to be taken to therapy. “I have never seen girls face as much pressure as they do now. I think they are feeling pressures from all areas to excel.” Sometimes parents end up inadvertently reinforcing the very things that are symptoms of children’s anxiety and missing what really going on. How a child develops emotionally often dictates who he becomes as a spouse, friend, co-worker, and even, someday, a parent. Sissy emphasizes that children lack coping skills and this has only been exacerbated today by the isolation. In her book, Raising Worry Free Girls, Sissy breaks down the coping mechanism of understanding, help, hope and encourages parents to teach children how to cope with their emotions while still young. A list of emotional milestones helps us gauge if children are where they need to be emotionally, spiritually and socially to thrive into adulthood. What we chat about Anxiety How to help children cope with their emotions Understanding emotional milestones 

Do you find yourself threatening, repeating your instructions or raising your voice in an attempt to get your children to obey? We’re glad you’re joining us today as Ginger Hubbard talks about 6 Discipline Mistakes Parents Make. Her talk encourages us to take a more biblical, heart-oriented approach to training our children. “Children should be taught to obey because it’s right and it pleases God.” We must remember our goal is not merely get our children to outwardly obey, but to reach their hearts with the gospel of Christ. When we adopt faulty child-training methods aimed at behavioral modification only, we miss the heart issues and the point of biblical discipline in the first point.  “Use heart probing question to help them to evaluate their behavior for themselves.” Ginger shares examples of different scenarios based on the six discipline mistakes. Here are a few pitfalls we must guard against: Bribing Threatening Appealing to their emotions Repeating or going back on instructions Counting to Three Reasoning with small children What we chat about How to reach a child’s heart 6 discipline mistakes Effective parenting

Being a mother is no easy task since we are natural caregivers. And balancing marriage, motherhood, and ministry is no small task. In this podcast, Esther Ibanga will speak to us about Balancing Motherhood. “It wasn’t easy. A lot of times, I found myself torn between my family and ministry.” Pastor Ibanga shares about her calling and how she has had to navigate it between her family and ministry. While she has always been a church leader, she made sure that she honored her husband by displaying respect both publicly and privately. This required lots of wisdom from God and submission to God’s order.  She also shares about the importance of leading by example. Her children were her greatest test tools. She imagined being their friend and not portraying a supermom who did it all by herself. No, Pastor Ibanga honestly speaks about having plenty of help at home and not falling into the trap of many women who try, in vain, to juggle everything at home and ministry.  “What helped me navigate those tough waters was actually alot of help that I received.”  Pastor Ibanga further talked about Proverbs 31 and how even the Proverbs 31 woman required a community to survive. Without the Holy Spirit, women fall into the hype of supermom and performance. The supermom mystique puts incredible pressure on women to perform and causes them to stop depending on the Holy Spirit. Instead of relying solely on God — and the community of believers He provides to help — moms rather struggle keeping the facade up when they can relax knowing God got them covered. What we chat about Challenges of motherhood and ministry Core values to exercise as mothers Balancing marriage and family Proverbs 31 woman

Adversity! We all go through them. Naghmeh Panahi has experienced many storms in her life from persecution to abuse, yet she always knew God was with her. In this week’s podcast, Naghmeh talks about keeping close to Jesus during the storms of life. She shares that problems may persist, turmoil might worsen over time, but God is in control working in the midst of the storms! When Naghmeh first had her children, her biggest fear was raising them by herself. Her struggle with this persistent fear made her anxious. When it happened that she became a single mother, she was struck by the loneliness of having to do it alone, but her personal suffering drew her closer to Jesus. “As a mom, I don’t know what’s ahead for my kids… They’ve already gone through a lot. But learning how to stay close to God and finding lasting peace and exemplifying it to my children is important.” Rather than focus on her abuse, anxiety, fears and loneliness, Naghmeh instead chose to trust God each and every day. Even as she felt like a shell of herself while experiencing abuse at the hands of her ex-husband, she never questioned God’s plan for her life.   “I was an empty shell. I was broken. I felt sorry for myself. I wasn’t mad at God. But I realize I found myself caught up in idolatry.”  Instead, she knew God was there for her, and uses these traumatic experiences to teach her children to keep close to Jesus.  What we chat about Handling adversity What happens when you don’t see God in the midst of the storm Teaching children to handle adversity Life verses

Now we all want well behaved children, but kids often misbehave. Having difficult conversations with children is hard. Yet, In today’s podcast, Stacy Bellward talks about The Power of Questions.  She shares concerning the importance of asking questions. The opposite of asking is telling. And telling does not work. We often get into these patterns in our homes where we just tell… and telling turns into nagging and sometimes even into yelling. And sometimes it’s almost like a tug of war.  “If we were to boil down our job raising our kids, the two important things that we want them to exercise is wisdom and responsibility.” Stacy talks about breaking patterns of defensiveness and how the power of curious questions creates productive conversations. She also talks about asking effective questions as well as type of questions to avoid in an effort to get the best results in correcting our children’s behavior.  What we chat about The power of questions Effective questions Bad questions Setting our kids up for success Teaching our children to cooperate Building our children’s character Connect with Stacy WEBSITE: https://connectedfamilies.org/ (Connected Families) INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/connectedfams/ (Connected Families) FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/ConnectedFamilies (Connected Families) LINKEDIN: http://www.linkedin.com/in/stacybellward (Stacy Bellward) YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/c/ConnectedfamiliesOrg (Connected Families) LINKS MENTIONED https://connectedfamilies.org/questions-oc/ (The Power Of Questions Online Course) **GEMS20 gets you 20% off

Most parents think that their strong-willed child may be deliberately driving them crazy. Sometimes disciplining them can become a challenge. However, having a strong willed child may not necessarily be a bad thing.  Karen Stubbs shares her experience with a strong-willed child and provides some positive ways to discipline them. She encourages moms to teach their children how to be good leaders, not dictators.  “It especially helps when you give a strong-willed child choices. All your strong-willed child want to feel like they are in control. Always give them choices.” Karen also shares that mothers should be consistent, equitable, set clear boundaries while avoiding a battle of wills with their strong-willed child. A strong-willed child’s core desire is to control his or her environment because they are natural leaders, yet if you give them something to control they won’t control you — mom! They need to have a sense of control, loyalty, appreciation and credit, but simple interest in them by asking a question makes them stop, think and get a sense of self.  These are the four key needs of a strong willed child.  What we chat about Positive ways to discipline a strong willed child Key needs of a strong willed child The importance of questions Teaching them to listen Connect with Karen WEBSITE: http://birdsonawiremoms.com (Birds on a Wire) INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/BirdsOnAWireMoms (Birds on a Wire) FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/BirdsOnAWireMoms (Birds on a Wire)

God refers to Himself as our Father and the Word teaches that we can see God as our father. God relates to us - His children through grace. And we know grace is simply unmerited favor; getting what we don’t deserve. Karis shares from her experience of teaching children about obedience, and dissuading children from lying. How do we parent from grace? By first understanding that God pursues our hearts in order to teach and correct us.  “This relationship that we have with God, is one where He has standards and He expects us to obey, but He knows we won’t. But He still pursues our hearts even when we don’t.” Karis shares that like us our kids will never perfectly obey, yet moms need to love their children through discipline. Godly discipline is grace-based, and not fear-based. And it strives to let go of unfair unrealistic expectations.  “We need to release the tyranny of perfection on ourselves and our kids.”  Grace doesn’t necessarily mean being nice or being easy going or being a push over or having an absence of rules and consequences, it simply means approaching it God’s way. That boils down to upholding God’s standards and rules, modeling His authentic love and expressing His love in everything we do. What we chat about Meaning of Grace Grace Based Parenting  Obedience, Spanking, Lying Actionable tips on grace based parenting

In this week's https://gemsofmotherhood.com/podcast/ (podcast), we reflect on the most downloaded episodes of 2020 to see what we learned. https://podcasts.captivate.fm/media/de58c4a1-fbfd-4ba4-a2ac-73c673576cc0/ep14-being-a-purposeful-mom.mp3 (Being a Purposeful Mom with Rachel-Ruth Wright) https://podcasts.captivate.fm/media/29708cd4-5ba7-45e0-8e23-4efa82ae7d97/ep19-talking-to-children-about-sex.mp3 (Talking About Sex with Children with Mo Isom Aiken) https://podcasts.captivate.fm/media/212993f3-2fe4-4ffb-bb79-9afdaae347b0/ep6-finding-hope-in-despair-kfarris.mp3 (Finding Hope in Despair with Kariss Farris) https://podcasts.captivate.fm/media/65af4d94-ceac-41cb-9f70-af3843b02c7d/ep10-strength-in-identity-mrobertson.mp3 (Strength in Identity with Missy Robertson) https://podcasts.captivate.fm/media/a77fff14-fa3f-4379-84ae-4fe902c07fd4/ep20-how-sexual-intimacy-in-marriage-affects-your-children.mp3 (How Sexual Intimacy in Marriage Affects Your Children with Robyn Mckelvy) https://podcasts.captivate.fm/media/c91386e3-6239-4c33-b39b-cbc35c726ccf/ep7-how-your-marriage-affects-your-children-nwakefield.mp3 (How Your Marriage Affects Your Children with Noline Wakefield) https://podcasts.captivate.fm/media/beb8dcca-2db9-4c2c-b48b-e36f0ca9480d/ep16-tearing-down-strongholds-freedom-in-motherhood-andia.mp3 (Tearing Down Strongholds : Freedom in Motherhood with Andi Andrews) https://podcasts.captivate.fm/media/91ba321a-6f27-4cda-a0f0-332e88263d5b/ep9-stand-up-radical-prayers-for-your-children.mp3 (Stand Up : Radical Prayer For Your Children with Maria Durso) https://podcasts.captivate.fm/media/ed7c9f0c-ee86-4897-b914-db7aca9d3cdc/ep8-i-cant-believe-you-just-said-that-ghubbard.mp3 (I Can't Believe You Just Said That with Ginger Hubbard)