Living Our Vocations

Living Our Vocations, Season One, Episode 4: "Talking to Children About Death and Loss" with Allison Kieselowsky. Recently my son asked me, "But Mommy, what did Jesus save us from?" It's a tough question. The answer doesn't make any sense unless I talk to him about death. Yet death is a very uncomfortable subject. In this episode, Allison Kieselowsky--a pastor's wife, teacher, and mom--shares some wonderful, theologically-driven examples of how she talks to her kids about death and loss. You can listen-in here in this post or head over to iTunes, Libsyn, or Stitcher. As always, we are grateful for reviews (more reviews on iTunes will allow more people to find our podcast).  Links Singing About Death

Living Our Vocations, Season One, Audio Article 2: "Four Ways Women Can Support the Vocation of Fatherhood." In this episode, we provide an audio version of Anna's article on ways women can support dads (even--and especially--when they don't parent exactly like us) .    Links Four Ways Women Can Support the Vocation of Fatherhood Dads being Dads from The Lutheran Witness

Living Our Vocations, Season One, Episode 3: "Teaching Children to Participate in Church" with Ruth Meyer.   Have you ever heard the saying, "children in church are the devil's instruments?" Yet children, too, are part of the church; and children, too, need God's Word. In this episode I chat with Ruth Meyer about the theological basis for bringing kids into the Divine Service as well as practical ways to help them learn to participate. The questions we talked about include: Why bring a potentially noisy bundle of cute distraction into church in the first place? Why is, "How can I keep my child quiet in church?" the wrong question for parents to be asking? What are practical ways to help kids behave well and listen to what is going on around them? What about older kids who once participated with gusto, but now have lost their enthusiasm? How can people without kids help support parents in the pew?   Links: Getting Kids to Behave in Church Four Reasons It Is Good Your Children Are Being Too Loud in Church Whisper, Whisper: Learning About Church (a helpful picture book by Mary Moerbe)

Living Our Vocations, Season One, Book Club Episode 1 (The Book, Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child, with Anna Mussmann)   In this episode, Kaitlyn talks to Anna about the introduction and first chapter of the book Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child by Anthony Esolen. Anna shares her insights into education and discusses how we can expand our children’s (and our own) imaginations. We consider questions like: How can we help engage our children in learning history and teach them to respect those who have gone before us, instead of just accepting the politically correct stereotypes commonly taught today? Why is memorization useful, especially when so much information is just a Google search away? How can we teach our children to appreciate nature, and spark their imaginations with time spent outdoors? Links: Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman Beauty in the Word by Stratford Caldecott Some great articles from Anna at The Federalist about engaging stir-crazy toddlers, understanding the nature and purpose of education, and recognizing “ideological kidnappers”

Living Our Vocations, Season One, Audio Article 1: "Read Aloud: Sex, Romance, and Choosing Books for Teenage Girls."   In this episode, we provide an audio version of Anna's article on the three different kinds of romance novels.    Links:  Sex, Romance, and Choosing Books for Teenage Girls (includes list of suggested books for teenage girls) Suzannah Rowntree (quoted in article). An article of Anna's about teaching your kids to read with discernment.   An article of Heather Judd’s about the need for literature that isn't "safe".   A piece from The Federalist about why teens need books that stretch them.

Living Our Vocations, Season One, Episode 2 In this episode, Anna talks to Alison Andreasen about fostering togetherness as a family by rejecting age-segregation and instead inviting our children to learn alongside us. We chat about questions like: Why invite our children to work and play with us when this makes everything take twice as long? What are ways to involve children in daily household work? What about playtime? What should a mom do if she likes this idea of togetherness, but is desperate for some alone time? Links:  Alison's article, You Come Too: Inviting Children to Learn with Us  Monty Python's Ministry of Silly Walks

Living Our Vocations, Season One, Episode 1   In this episode, Anna talks to Cheryl Magness about her article “Walking the Cultural Tightrope.” We look at the Benedict Option and whether or not a conscious retreat from popular values and culture is likely to lead to self-righteousness. We discuss: What happens when our emotions respond to entertainment that our intellect disagrees with? What are the three ways in which most Christians parents respond to a hostile culture? Which is healthiest? How can we pursue truth, goodness, and beauty in our daily lives?   Links: Cheryl's original piece on Sister, Daughter, Mother Wife (access it here), and two related pieces from Cheryl at The Federalist (access them here and here)