The Homemaking Foundations Podcast

Welcome back to season #2 of the podcast. We are back with a practical and exciting new series on the podcast all about The Productive Household. Listen in to hear how we can recapture joy and meaning within our homes. Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Find out and join our new 12 month course at myhomemakingmentor.com Check out the shownotes and join me email list at FindingJoyinYourHome.com For 50% off your first Care/of order, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code home50 Go to HelloFresh.com/homemaking16 and use code homemaking16 for 16 free meals across 7 boxes AND 3 free gifts! Announcements:  Tickets are going on sale for our 2023 Finding Joy in Your Home Online Conference in early November We have something fun coming up in October for those interested in non-toxic home products and how to make your own!  My cookbook is slated to come out in the Christmas shop as well as Sterling Spectacles #5 and #6! My Homemaking Mentor is kicking off a 12 month program called The Productive Household starting Sep 15th What is a Productive Household?  Jason and I have been listening to a podcast we loved called Bright Hearth. In it, the shows hosts Brian and Lexi go through each room of their house and share how we can bring glory to God within those different rooms and realms of raising a family.  They use this phrase a lot: A Productive Household. I love this term because I think it encompasses so much of what we talk about and share here at Finding Joy.  So what is a Productive Household?  When we look to God's Word, we see that we are created for work. Good, hard work is deeply satisfying and we see that man was tasked with work before the fall, not as a result of the fall.  Throughout Scripture we see men and women working hard and diligently. We see all throughout the call to cast aside laziness and to work hard unto the Lord.  Colossians 3:23-24“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.”  1 Corinthians 15:58 - “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”   Proverbs 12:11 - “Whoever works his land will have plenty of bread, but he who follows worthless pursuits lacks sense.”  We are encouraged to be lazy in our culture  We live in a hustle culture. We are far too busy and far too distracted. I agree with that. We pack our lives too full and take on too much and hustle to make it all work.  So many well intentioned voices out there push back against this hustle culture by shouting that we must rest and have balance. I totally get that those voices (at least the ones in my inbox) are coming from a good place. They don't want to see another mom get burnt out or overwhelmed. I get the sentiment.  However, I also think that an over reaction to the hustle, busy culture has sent us in the opposite direction. That we see work as bad. That when things get tough or overwhelming, that we must be doing something wrong. That a full schedule and a full life is automatically wrong.  What I want to argue for today is this: That God created us for hard work. That we are designed to work hard throughout the week and that God has built in very strategic good moments for rest. And that what we really need to react against are the wrong priorities.  If you think of every civilization throughout history, except for the ultra rich and nobility, people worked far harder than most of us do everyday. Hard, back breaking work. Working from sun up to sun set, working hard for the Lord.  The kids and I have been studying the pioneers this past semester in school and we are reading the little house on the prairi...

Are you struggling to find Sunday's restful? Do you desire to make Sunday about Church and fellowship but end up just feeling burnt out and even more tired? Do you sometimes wonder what the purpose in our rest is? In this practical episode, Jami tackles the important question "What if I don't find Sunday's restful?" Let's dive in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. I got a question in our group this week about Sunday's and it being a day of rest. Her question resonated with me because it's something I've had to give a lot of thought to and I've heard repeated a lot. Her question goes along the lines of: "I wasn't raised in a Christian household and Sunday's were a slower catch up day for us. With church and other activities, it can feel more draining than it is relaxing. Where is the "recharge" on Sunday? Help!" In today's episode we cover a few Spiritual + Practical applications for this discussions. Finding a new church IS exhausting. Before we dive into any practical take aways, we need to first ask the extremely important question “What is the Sabbath? What IS Sunday for?” Bible verses referenced: Dt. 5:12-15, Isaiah 58:13–14.  What are our goals for the sabbath day? “The distinction in Isaiah 58 is between doing what is pleasing to God and doing what is pleasing to ourselves in opposition to what is pleasing to God. Presumably, what is in view in the prophetic critique is God's judgment against the Israelites for violating the Mosaic law with respect to the Sabbath day, particularly regarding involvement in commerce. There were Israelites who wanted to be able to buy and sell seven days a week, not simply six days a week. Therefore, they violated the Sabbath commandment by seeking their own pleasure, which was to do business on the Sabbath rather than to do that which was pleasing to God.” - Ligonier.org article: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/defining-debate Practical Help for Sunday: If we are viewing Sunday as a catch up day, then adding in Church + activities will be seen as a burden. Plan ahead Friday + Saturday so that Sunday isn't your catch up day. Life as a mom who serves, is just a little different - but that doesn't mean bad Links & Resources: Great follow up episode: Moms (and dads) get those little ones to Church – Hf #310 How the Gospel Shapes Our Everyday Responses – Hf #306 Our Sponsor: Go to HelloFresh.com/homemaking16 and use code homemaking16 for up to 16 free meals AND 3 free gifts! --> Join our FREE COMMUNITY: Finding Joy Community

We got such a great question in our Finding Joy Community this week. The discussion that ensued was so rich that I figured it was a great one to share here on the podcast. We dive into some hot topics within healthy living: taking care of our families for God's Glory, making an idol out of healthy living, what's the point to it all, and so much more. Join us! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Join our FREE community: Finding Joy Community MEGA Mother's Day Sale through May 11th: My Homemaking Mentor Our Sponsor: For 50% off your first Care/of order, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code home50 Our Sponsor: Go to GreenChef.com/homemaking130 and use code homemaking130 to get $130 off, plus free shipping!

Welcome back to the next episode in our practical homemaking series. We haven't had an episode on marriage in a while, so today is a fun one (and maybe a much needed discussion)! We are chatting about how to keep (or reestablish) fun in your marriage. I'm also sharing a couple of fun announcements. Listen in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: INCREDIBLE things coming for My Homemaking Mentor, our online training academy for Christian Women...you are going to want to be part of this! Join our FREE community to follow along with the podcast and more: Finding Joy Community. As a reminder, we will be taking a Summer hiatus as of June 1st until September. You can still find up to date content and more in the community all summer!  

We are not expert movers yet, but we have had our fair share of moving, downsizing, deciding what to keep, and unpacking into new homes. Today I am going to share my 6 tips for moving! Listen in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. My tips we discuss today: Invest in tubs + buy a label maker Downsize EVERYTHING. ONLY invest in pieces for your new house that are 100% favorites. A place for everything - even if that means getting creative. Unpack immediately. Don't wait 6 months. Make the place YOUR HOME, even if it's temporary or a rental.

We are diving head long into our new mini series here on the podcast: A Practical Homemaking Deep Dive! We've got some fun & practical episodes coming up to help all of us in the practical parts of running and managing a home, but of course, all for God's Glory! We are going to dive into cleaning routines, time management, hospitality, morning & evening routines, and so so much more. I'm also hoping to have some fabulous guests for you too coming up soon :D Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Practical Homemaking Q&A: As we dive into this series, many of the episodes will be a deep dive into specific questions and topics. But today, I put together a list of questions that we are all shorter that we can dive into. In today's episode we discuss: Bringing your children into "big Church" - and ideas for training toddlers! Our new laundry routine (and how it's going) Ideas for what to do with toddlers while homeschooling olders Balancing between kids and chores Starting a garden - where do I begin? How I do it ALL? Our sponsor today: For 50% off your first Care/of order of $40 or more, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code home50. I'd love for you to come over and join our free community. There we can discuss this episode, what series you would love to see in the future, and more!! Join our free community here!  

Looking for ways to cut costs has been on all of our minds this year. Rising gas prices, rising food prices, and a supply chain that feels unstable as led many of us to ask, "what else could we be doing?" In today's episode, I'm sharing some FUN life updates for the Balmet family as well as sharing 5 things I'm actively doing this year to cut costs, but not quality in my home (especially when it comes to food)! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. 1. Focusing on building my bulk pantry  Examples: Real salt prices, bulk beans, and bulk spices. 10oz shaker of salt is: $6.35 26oz refill pouch I usually pay: $8 ($0.31 an ounce) 25lb bag for $99.99 (I got on sale for $85 + free shipping). $0.21 per ounce ($0.10 per ounce savings!) 25lbs = 400 ounces. Which comes out to a $40 savings!! PLUS, now I have bulk salt on hand and don't need to worry about any kind of supply chain issues, prices going up for a while, etc. If I can, I'd like to order a second bag early when this bag gets to be about half full. Then when that first bag runs out entirely, I'll order another bag. This way I've always got a full extra bag on hand. But I'm not sure how fast we will work through this bag or what my other bulk needs will be, so we'll see how it goes this year. Another example is bulk spices: Another area I'll slowly be working on adding to again is bulk spices. When you cook entirely from scratch, and you want flavorful food, you end up going through a LOT of spices. Since RV living, I've pretty much just been buying single use containers of spices which get so expensive at $3-9 a bottle. I'll be adding a few different spices at a time to my monthly Azure order while I slowly build this up. For example, I can get an Italian seasoning mix from Azure for $8.89 for a pound! A pound of dried herbs is a lot. Now I can just refill my seasonings as needed. The trick to this, is really keeping track of what bulk spices you have on hand, because you can easily forget and lost track. 2. Building my at home Emergency and first aid kits  Example: Slings, butterfly bandages, bleed stop, and over the counter things to help so we don't have to go to urgent care. I want to brush up on my skills so I have the knowledge to help in a situation. 3. Growing a garden I'm starting with SEEDS this year, instead of going the easier route of plant starts. And I'm not getting fancy. I'll be focusing on the produce my family actually uses: tomatoes, potatoes, onions, squash, watermelons, all manner of herbs, etc. When I look at the seed catalogs, there are so many fun and fancy things I could grow. But I'm trying this summer to just focus on the needs that will really help my family! I just need to get on the planning part of it all now! ;) 4. Cutting out the grocery store Example: We will be purchasing a whole cow sometime this year to put in the freezer, I'd like to do a couple of pigs as well. We don't have the ability right now to do chickens or eggs, so we will do what we can! Another example: We finally are able to find raw milk from a local farm again. We just picked up our first 3 gallons today! With the ability to get raw milk, I can make so many things from home that I either can't buy in stores, or that is ridiculously expensive. I love making cultured butter, maple syrup sweetened whip cream, a gallon whole yogurt, kefir, and so much more. This eliminates the need to buy hardly any diary products from the store and they are way healthier and higher quality than I could get elsewhere. Also cuts out the need from buying expensive and processed nut milks or alternatives. Here's what my ideal pantry will look like over the coming year: Bulk grains + dried goods from Azure each month (while building up a pantry so I'm not buying 3-5lbs a month of each thing but rather 25-50l...

We are continuing our Family & Culture series today with an important chat about finding (and creating) peace in our home in unstable times. Instability can come in the form of emotional, every day instability and larger, world instability. How do we protect our homes in the midst of instability? Join me to discuss 5 ways we can begin. Let's dive in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Learn how to manage your own attitude Do what you can to preserve peace in instability (in wisdom) Trust what you can't do, or what's not in your control, to the Lord Find the tension between being aware and the need for prayer, and neglecting your own duties in your home Build your home in JOY. I'd love for you to come over and join our free community. There we can discuss this episode, what series you would love to see in the future, and more!! Join our free community here!

Do you ever feel like you open your mouth and out comes complaints? Do you feel like you too often dwell on the negative and want to focus more on the positive? Today Jami will dive into 6 ways we can turn from being a complainer into a praiser! Listen in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Talk often comes out of what is already in our hearts. —> What is our internal monolog doing? We often get stuck in a rut of complaining (even when it's not out loud). Focus on GRATITUDE and THANKSGIVING “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” - 1 Thess 5: 14-18 4. When in conversation, THINK about some things you can say beforehand, instead of letting complaints just come out. THINK through some things you can specifically say you are thankful for, share something interesting you hear this week, etc. 5. In a world that sometimes feel crazy, learn to meditate and talk about different subjects. 6. Learn how to LISTEN better in conversations. “Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;” - James 1:19 For further study on this topic, I have a few recommendations. Trusting God by Jerry Bridges if your complaining comes out of fear and anxiety Learning Contentment by Nancy Wilson Comparison Girl by Shannon Popkin Past podcast episodes: Are you feeling discontent? 3 questions to ask yourself… – Hf #198 The Key to Finding True & Lasting JOY – Hf #315 Hf #33: Anxiety, Worry, and the Biblical Response Hf #35: Practical Ways to Trust in the Lord More (and Deal With Anxiety) Hf #36: Finding Joy in All Aspects of My Life Hf #270: Facing anxiety and the unknown On battling anxiety with Phylicia Masonheimer – Hf #328 Hf #323: Cultivating a Serving Heart

I've loved tackling some BIG issues in our family and culture series this year. Things like fear, anxiety, social media, a good perspective on the future...but today I want to turn a little more practical. I want to discuss some ways we can put our heads down and get to work. And I'll be kicking off the discussion by sharing 4 personal things I want to work on in our family this year. Let's dive in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. 4 things we are working on: Cutting our dependency on supply chains where we can Stocking a depression era pantry Growing a garden Increase family devotion time As a reminder, we do not do any of these things out of fear. We don't become dooms day preppers or such. But there is wisdom in preparing solidly for the future. And for some many of us, we are concerned with inflation, rising food prices, rising gas prices, and possible disruptions to the global supply chain. So in wisdom, many of us are looking for ways we can make that supply chain more local and how we can be wise with our finances and food in the future! I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this topic and some goals your family has. PLEASE come over to our free community and share your thoughts on any of my 4 goals or other goals you have for yourself! Join our free community here!

We need some real talk this week ladies. Who else is feeling overwhelmed with ALL the news going on? I've had a heavy heart the past 2 weeks and it can be a struggle to get online. SO we are having an honest chat today about where we draw the line with social media, when it's right to carry other's burdens, and when it's not actually our responsibility. Let's dive in (it's encouraging, I promise)! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Family & Culture Series Pt 1: The Joy & Duties of the Christian Household  Family & Culture Series Pt 2: Learning how to be BRAVE women Family & Culture Series P3: Learning how to be BRAVE families Jon our free community to discuss this episode (and more): Finding Joy Community  Our sponsor: Get an awesome intro deal from HelloFresh.com/homemaking16 and use promo code homemaking16  

This is a fun and (hopefully) inspiring episode. Whether you find yourself homeschooling or supporting your child's education while they attend another form of school, one thing is certain, moms play a vital role in their children's education. I want to inspire a love of learning in my kids that lasts a lifetime. So in this episode, we are going to talk about ways we can make their education fun AND exciting. Instead of chiding you to do more, I am going to encourage you to approach it all from a place of rest. Let's jump in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. How to make school so much more fun and exciting 1. First thing to remember - you don't have to be a crafty Pinterest queen mom to accomplish this. 2. Ditch the Textbooks that aren't working Education is so much more than a textbook think outside the box with things like math. (Simple Charlotte Mason offers a really cool 1 year math program that teaches math through the kid running a fictional pet shop! So cool!!) They offer a pet store edition, book store edition, and sports store edition. Grades 3-6 Ideas: Ditch the science textbook and drive four hours and spend time at the tide pools. Ideas: Buy the kids some kites ad spend time learning about real world gravity and how things fly. Ideas: Ditch the astronomy textbook, let the kids stay up late, make some popcorn, and lay out under the stars identifying constellations. 3. Let each kid choose an area of interest This year I have a kid who wants to learn all about wood working. And another child who wants to learn how to fly a plane. 4. Other good skills are educational too Our cooking experiment A dad taking his kid along on his construction sites Our Christmas present to the 4 older boys this year: their own tool sets to build a playhouse with their dad Links & Resources: Our sponsor: Need help with your meal planning? Let PrepDish do it for you - they are giving you 2 weeks for FREE. That's 2 full meal plans for free. Sign up here. Our sponsor: Get $130 off plus free shipping at GreenChef.com/homemaking130 and use coupon code: homemaking130 at checkout! Join our FREE community here: FindingJoyCommunity.com

THIS is an important topic for me right now as I'm 11 weeks pregnant and TIRED. I've done a version of this talk in the past, but each time I feel like it gets better as I go through more stretching and busy times. Does any else feel like each passing year just gets faster and faster? I've felt this from around the time I turned 20. It's always so important to evaluate our use of time. Are we squandering it on social media? Are we feeling exhausted and burnt out? Are we using rest the way God intended it? Today we are going to dive into how we can make sure we are using our time for God's Glory! Let's jump in! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Our sponsor: Organize365.com/minicourse for a free 7 day course and check out their Sunday Basket Organization system!! Our sponsor: Go to HelloFresh.com/homemaking16 and use code homemaking16 for up to 16 free meals AND 3 free gifts! Join our FREE amazing community at FindingJoyCommunity.com You can purchase access to our entire 2022 Finding Joy in Your Home Online Conference here  

Well the title of this episode kind of gives it away! We are expecting our 7th child in September 2022 and as I'm in the throws of the first trimester, I thought I would share a little bit of the journey with you. Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Favorite Pregnancy Books: Taking Charge of Your Fertility The Mama Natural Week-by-Week Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth Awakening Fertility: The Essential Art of Preparing for Pregnancy Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way Husband-Coached Childbirth Betsy Bosom's Baby Book: A Girlfriends Guide to Using Essential Oils From Bellies to Babies Gentle Babies: Essential Oils and Natural Remedies for Pregnancy, Childbirth, Infants, and Young Morning Sickness Remedies:  Sea Bands – Motion sickness bands High amounts of vitamin b – my two favorite Vitamin B complexes are Dr. Axe's Vitamin B complex & the one I use now is Super B by Young Living (it's AMAZING!!) NEW in this pregnancy: A cell salts protocol from Her Homeopathy. Her website is a wealth of information!!! Heartburn remedies:  The only thing that has ever worked for me for heartburn is: Alkalime supplement by Young Living Genexa Pregnancy tea: Mama's Red Raspberry brew – My favorite pregnancy blend!! Mama's Milk tea – Great for lactation and milk production! Earthley also makes a great pregnancy tea Pregnancy workout dvd: Lindsey Brin's pregnancy workout DVD set Vitamins and supplements: Take a good prenatal – I use Master Formula + Super B as my prenatal vitamin (both from Young Living). You can read about this combo here. Dr. Axe also has a great prenatal I recommend I also take a good probiotic. I switch between Young Living's Life9 and some of Dr. Axe's probiotics. It's a good idea to switch up your probiotic from time to time to get different strains. Dr. Axe has a bunch of good ones but I recommend his Women's once a day as well as his SBO probiotic. You will also want a good omega/fish oil supplement for pregnancy. No surprise here but I recommend one of Dr. Axe's Omega's but all four are currently sold out. The one I take now is Young Living's OmegaGize. A good omega supplement is crucial during pregnancy, but a GOOD one from a good source is going to be expensive. Just keep that in mind. I usually take mine 3-4 times a week instead of every day just to lesson that expense a bit. I also take Magnesium and iron – see my favorites below Other supplements I LOVE: TriLight Health has an entire line of pregnancy herbal blends that are affordable and rock! Their ingredients are outstanding. I recommend getting their Pregnancy essentials kit for everything you need. Earthley is my next favorite store to recommend. It's owned by a mom who has a passion for providing home remedies at an affordable price. Here are a few of my favorites from Earthley: Pregnancy tea -a Premade blend for pregnancy Fertili Boost herbal extract – Want help getting pregnant? This tincture might help. Post Partum balance – I am SO getting this tincture for this time around – helps balance things out after pregnancy Mama's tummy relief – I wish I had seen this during my first-trimester sickness Nourish her naturally – Another possible option for a prenatal Magnesium Lotion – Another great one for pregnancy! I use this every night. Dr. Axe has a good supplement if you want a pill instead of a lotion. Iron supplement  – I LOVE Earthley's iron supplement. Make sure to look for an herbal iron supplement though if using a different brand. Meal Planning Help for Eating Healthy: I am really excited to share with you the sponsor of today's podcast episode: PrepDish! If you ever feel like you wish you had a little help in your meal planning, then I highly encourage you to check out PrepDish.

I love setting goals for the new year. It usually happens for me in December, but better late than never! If you haven't set goals for the year yet, don't despair, let's jump in together! Listen in to my 12 goals for 2022: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. For the first time ever, I've picked a theme for my year instead of a word. My theme this year is: The Year of Transition. It's shaping my intentionality as I approach some new projects and things this year. You can listen to my podcast episode on the topic above, but my goals for this year are coming out of this theme for the year. I've got 3 main areas that I'm setting goals in this year: Transition in my Personal goals Transition in our family goals Transition in our business & ministry Transition in my Personal Goals: I love setting personal goals for myself. I know for some people it stresses them out, but for me, it helps motivate me. My biggest part of my personal theme this year, is working on transitioning into more solid routines. In 2021, we survived working in the margins of a busy year. This year, I'm working on making more solid routines all around for more transitions to come. Read 104 books this year (I transitioned this down from 130 books) Establish a solid morning routine that becomes easy to stick to Read the Bible twice this year (A big part of better morning routines) As a result of better routines, take nights and weekends off Transition in our Family Goals: Teach the older boys 20 recipes they can cook entirely on their own (cook 20 recipes with the middle 3 kids) Play more board games (together and as a family) Read more fiction series with the kids (better routines to find the time for this) Take the children out on one on one dates monthly Transition in Business & Ministry: THIS is the area, that if we can really solidify, will help us in the other areas of goals. We are so thankful for a small business that we run with just an internet connection, but it's also easy to take over all corners and margins. I want to transition from a soloprenuer idea to a small business owner over seeing a team. It's a BIG transition for us. I'm both nervous and excited about it. Hire 3-4 people over the course of the year Find a shipper for our store launches Relaunch My Homemaking Mentor all brand new! Create solid weekly content routines

Welcome to our kind of annual life and ministry update! Jason is joining me on this episode. Today we are debriefing about all our travels and business projects from 2021. And looking ahead to all that we are planning for 2022. Join us for a fun and exciting chat! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Purchase the recordings from the 2022 Finding Joy in Your Home Online Conference from last week Join our free community: FindingJoyCommunity.com Check out our new sponsor: Organize365.com and check out their amazing Sunday Basket system! (AND try their 7 day free mini course!!)

We have a tradition around here. Each year when our annual online homemaking conference launches, I always share the first session for free here on the podcast. I always pour my heart and soul into that first talk and I love being able to share it with everyone here on the podcast. Well, today launches our 8th online homemaking conference so today's talk is the opening session titled: Homemaking in Light of Eternity - how do we make Christian households that point to Christ? Listen in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. What we are going to talk about today: WHY this entire topic is so important What does Scripture say about the household? What wisdom from Proverbs do we see for our households? It has never been more important to critically think through: The purpose of the household, our duties as Christian women, how we sold use our time, how we can glorify God in mundane moments, how we persevere through hard times, and what our joyful Gospel purpose should be n the days ahead. It's not acceptable, before the Lord, to carry on normal life, accepting the world's standards as our own. Thinking through our priorities: The world tells us to seek our own pleasure eat all costs. --> Christ tells us to deny ourselves and live a godly upright live in these present days (Titus 2:12 says, “training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age) The world tells us to leave our husbands the moment our needs are not being met (or even, never to get married at al because you'll be oppressed). --> Christ tells us to love our husband and our children and to lay down our lives for others. The world tells us that the things worth pursuing are bigger houses, nicer cars, a magazine worthy $50,000 kitchen or you are doing something wrong and all the strappings of a successful life. --> Christ tells us that a successful life is to take up His cross daily and follow Him. For those in Europe, Australia, and other places around the world, you've been living in a anti-Christian culture for a good 10 years or more. Here in the U.s. and Canada, its finally coming as well. We no longer are part of the dominant culture. We now have sesame street having a transgender story house. We have phedophelic shows on Netflix, being applauded by the critics. We have governing officials saying that parents shouldn't be in control of, nor even being aware of, what their children are being taught in schools, medical procedures, or even hormone therapies and sex changes for children as young as 7 or 8. We live in a culture that is hostile to Christ. And instead of this making us fearful and fretful of the future, instead of making us anxious about the world our kids are growing up in... It should be an exciting time to live. We finally get to take all of these lessons from Scripture and really put them into action. There's nothing like a little adversity to wake us up to how friendly with this world we've become and the immense joy we can have from serving the Lord, even under persecution. It's a time where living set apart for the Lord can truly shine. It's a time that instead of hiding in insane fear, we can proudly display the hope we have in God and be ready to share that hope we have. 2 Timothy 4:2 says, “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.” James 1:2-5 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you encounter trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Allow perseverance to finish its work,

For the past several years, I've picked word for my year. This word kind of revolves around all of my goals for the year and helps to give me some direction. But this year, I've chosen a theme for my year instead of just a single word. Listen in to find out what my theme is, how to pick your own, and some ideas for incorporating it into your year! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. 8 years of themes: 2012: Intentional 2016: Joy 2017: Create 2018: Refresh 2019: Faithfulness 2020: Cultivate 2021: Kingdom And now, my 2022 theme for the year: The Year of Transition.  What has gone into choosing this theme: We've got a LOT of transition going on around here. 2021 was a FULL year, but mostly a stable one. Lots of travel as we looped the country 1.5 times. We went to the southernmost part of the lower 48, we visited the hottest place in the USA, and spent time in the highest capital city in the USA - among a million other things. It was a wonderful, full, and busy year. But as I started thinking to 2022, I realized that this is going to be a pretty major transition year for our family - and our ministry here - in many ways. And while "transition" isn't the most fun work to pick, I thought it worked well as more of a theme. The year of Transition. I feel like this is an important distention, because transition can be hard. I'm already a tad exhausted thinking about the decisions coming up for us this year and the possibilities. It's truly a year of transition in many ways, and that could be bad. But instead, we know that God has great things in store for His Kingdom and His People. So for me, it's a positive. I'm walking into 2022, knowing it's going to be chocked full of transition. I'm expecting it and therefore excited to see what God does. For me, The Year of Transition theme has a few helpful distinctives: With many of our very necessary upcoming changes, we don't totally know what the end step will be. We have some vague ideas or even plans, but only God knows truly what will come from this year. So The Year of Transition helps me to remember, that as we walk into the unknown, God is making a path ahead for us. And we don't need to see every step of the way. Transition can be hard, daunting, and even scary. As someone who actually likes change, I already feel a bit overwhelmed at all this year is going to pack in. I feel overwhelmed with research and decisions. And so, The Year of Transition reminds me that it IS a transition year. And in transition, I can find great joy. So as I look forward to 2022, The Year of Transition reminds to me 1) Trust in God's sovereignty in all things 2) let go of the need to control all decisions and 3) walk in Joy - even when it's an uncomfortable season. A few verses I've been looking at as I pray through my to do list has been: A Time for Everything 3 For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: 2 a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3 a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6 a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7 a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8 a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace." - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 "He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding" - Daniel 2:21 "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and ...

It's finally that time of year again: We are here today to announce the 2022 reading challenge and chat about this year's reading. We will discuss our goals, making new goals, and some exciting changes to the 2022 reading challenge (it's going to be so much fun)!! Listen in here: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. What's New This Year In an effort to inspire more reading, and to do it as a community, we are introducing a community aspect for the first time ever! We've always wanted to do this, but now is our year!! The community group will kick off on January 1st. You can join our community in the meantime here ---> FindingJoyCommunity.com In the community, we will all be able to update on our progress, share new favorite books and ask for book recommendations in categories. Jason and I will also be publishing detailed book lists throughout the year and posting our book reviews of our books we read throughout the year!! Next exciting change: You will determine your goal for the year and then compete against yourself for some fun little prizes. If you hit your quarterly goal, we'll have stickers, magnets, and bookmarks you can win for free and add to your next store order!! It's going to be super fun. I'll be unveiling quarter one's prize soon! BONUS: I'll have a reading planner PDF to download for FREE as part of the challenge. I'm almost done with it and will release it into the community as soon as it's done!! It has places for book summaries, tracking your reading goals, favorite quotes, and more. Jason & Jami's 2021 Reading Goal: We both set big goals for this year, and neither of us are hitting it! But that's okay because I feel like we both had great reading years. And that's really all that matters. Jason's read (so far): 93 books for the year Jami's read (so far): 97 books for the year 2022 Christian Reading Challenge Here's how it works:  You will find the reading challenge below. You'll see that we've given you two tracks – 13 books or 26! This is either reading one book every four weeks or one book every two weeks. If you want to do 52 books (one a week) you can easily adjust for that as well. A note about fiction: This year we've included fiction categories per your request! I think fiction is hard because all of us are going to have different tastes in what fiction we prefer. You can find some of our favorite Christian Fiction books here. But feel free to substitute any fiction books or series that you enjoy. Pick Your Level: I know each of us has different reading levels and time for reading, so I created two different tracks you can follow. 13 Books a Year – This works out to 1 book every 4 weeks. If you have no habit of reading right now or have no idea you will fit reading time into your busy schedule, then this is a great level to begin with. Pick one book every 4 weeks and commit to getting it down within that time. 26 Books a Year – If you want to tackle a bigger challenge, then this level will get you reading 1 book every two weeks throughout the year. It's still a very doable reading track but will challenge you to stay on track! If you want to follow this plan, read one book from each list every month. So in January, read book #1 and book #14! This way everyone can read through and follow along with books #1-13 together. Here are the categories:  Christian Living Marriage Parenting/Family Life Theology Fiction Biography/History Spiritual Disciplines  Christian Classics Church History *If you are not a parent or are not married, then scroll down and fill in those spots with other fantastic book suggestions from the other categories. Book Recommendations Per Category: Christian Living:

Are you ready to get planning for 2022? Maybe you are like my guest today who has already done all her 2022 planning, or maybe you are like me and you've done zero planning yet

Welcome back to the 3rd episode in our mini series: The Family & Culture: How to bring glory to God within our households in a hostile culture. Last week we talked about how we can learn to be BRAVE women in our current age (And why it's so important to do so)! Today we are doing the second part of bravery: How we can take examples from Scripture to see how to be brave. Bravery is something that isn't built into our culture. For the most part, we haven't had to be brave in our lifetime and don't know how to prepare the next generation for what may be coming. So let's journey into Scripture to get bolstered up that we CAN be brave through the Holy Spirit - and how that impacts our households. Let's dive in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Our culture is becoming increasingly hostile to Christians. I think we've all seen this building in the past 10-20 years but many of us have been left shocked at how quickly it has ramped up in the past 2 years. I'm raising 6 young kids in this world and as I look into the future, I can be fearful for the world that they will be handed and what it will look like for them raising my grandkids. I know so many have felt this fear that I've heard time and again from women questioning if they should even have any more kids or even from young couples wondering if they should have children at all. But we are NOT living in unprecedented times It's been the thing to say the past 2 years that we are living through unprecedented times. Well no, we aren't. Plagues and pandemics are nothing new, in fact this is an extremely mild pandemic. Political strife and unrest is nothing new, in fact, it's been far worse at many times in our own countries history. Riots and looting are nothing new, in fact, our parents and grandparents have lived through many riots in their days. Very generation thinks they are unique, but the truth is, what we've been going through will hardly be a blip in history. In fact, the only reason I think anyone will read about the past 2 years in the future is how egreasgously the whole thing has been handled. I don't downplay the loss and devestation that many have suffered the past 2 years. There has been real grief and heartache. But because of social media especially, it can all feel a whole lot worse than it is. And is a constant presence every single second. In episode 19 we talked about how and when we should carry each other's burdens. And in that episode, we cover a good talk on social media and how it's caused a lot of problems for our generation. And then in episode #15 we take a look at the Christian responses to the Black Plague, early Greco-Roman plagues, and Emperor Nero. It's a good one if you need a dose of perspective. And in episode #16 we take it further to see how we should be looking into the future. If you need some more encouragement after this episode, dive into those two! Now turning to Scripture SO, today we are going to look at some brave acts in Scripture. But the real hero we are going to see, isn't Daniel or Abraham, it's God. Too often, we focus so much on the Bible characters. We focus on their story instead of what their story tells us about God.  So let's see how acts of bravery are actually acts of our gracious God. When we can understand that, and walk boldly knowing that God is sovereign and is making a path ahead of us and that nothing will happen outside of His will, then we can be BRAVE women and build up BRAVE families. Learning from Daniel  "Purpose of Writing: In 605 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon had conquered Judah and deported many of its inhabitants to Babylon – Daniel included. Daniel served in the royal court of Nebuchadnezzar and several rulers who followed Nebuchadnezzar. The Book of Daniel records the actions, prophecies, and visions of the Prophet Daniel."

Welcome to the second part in our new series: The Family & Culture: How to bring glory to God within our households in a hostile culture. Last week, we took a deep dive into the joys & duties of a Christian household and it was a good introduction to this topic. We've got some terrific topics coming up in this series. But today we are tackling a really important lesson for all of us today: We need to be brave in faith before the Lord. We need  to lead and love our families with Bravery. We need to teach and train our kids to be brave. And it starts with us. Listen in today: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. We need to learn how to be brave. We need to be brave women. We need to be brave mothers. We need to help inspire our men to be brave. And we need to instill bravery in our children as they grow. We need to be brave, in order to follow God's leading. Especially in an increasingly hostile culture. If we don't cultivate bravery, we may very well bow the knee to false gods and idols. Learning how to be brave in a hostile culture Something that the past 2 years has brought to a lot of our attention is how hostile our culture is against Christians. We've become so use to comfort and ease, that with the world getting a little shaking, we don't know how to respond. We need to become braver. We need to become brave Christians. And THIS is going to heavily affect how we respond now and especially into the future. We've seen this shift in the western world over the past 20 years. Those perhaps in the UK or Australia have been feeling this shift for a decade. And those of us here in the US are finally feeling it now as well. "This world is not my home, I'm just a-passing through. My treasures are laid up Somewhere beyond the blue. "In reality, for us in the English-speaking West this world has tended to feel very much like home and our treasures have been right before our eyes. But now we are finally facing the fact that this broken, sinful world in which we live is not actually our home - that what the Bible says concerning believers in this world is really true: That we really are aliens and that we really are strangers. The fact of the matter is that it has been true that we are strangers in and to this world. It has just been clouded, obscured by the size and influence and legal protection of the church in most of the Western world. But this world is not actually our home. We're not supposed to be treating this life the way other people treat it, as if this is the be-all and end-all of everything, or as if as Christians we can have a comfortable, respectable, prosperous life here and look forward to even more of those things in eternity. "Secularism pushes back again and again against what the Bible says about sexual ethics, about salvation, about education, about the role and reach of the state, or about matters of public welfare. Public opinion has turned against Christians." - Brave by Faith We've become so comfortable in our world, that we are not ready or willing to make sacrifices. I can't even begin to count how many times those around me (and myself) have uttered the past 2 years "I just can't wait until things get back to normal." But what if God is teaching us some profound truths through all of this. What if he is exposing the true Church, cutting the wheat from the chaff and teaching all of us in the Western world how to stand firm in the Lord once again. But God is Sovereign.  He is in control. He is foreseeing all that is happening and He is working it all out to His Glory (and for our good to those of us in His Church). We freak out at the slightest inconvenience. We fear for the future and what kind of society our kids will inherit. I'm not saying it's wrong to speculate about what's coming and it's certainly not wrong to be proactive in protecti...

Welcome to my new series here on the podcast: The Family & Culture: How to bring glory to God within our households in a hostile culture. We are at a time, as a society and as the Church, where we need to be thinking really critically about our families, our households, and the larger culture. We need to figure out how and when we are going to interact with the culture and what it means to share the Gospel and also protect our families. This is a BIG and incredibly important topic, so today kicks off an entire series on this topic. In this series that will span into 2022, we will cover topics like: Equipping our family to be brave for the coming future, How to prepare your family to weather the storm in a hostile culture, how to prepare your home to nurture your family, The mother's role in developing a family culture, The father's role, The children's role and responsibility, defending our faith, and more! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. So today we are kicking off this discussion first by discussing the household. After all, that's what this podcast is for, Finding Joy in Your Home...all for God's Glory! So then, as we jump into these even greater topics, I want to first make sure we see how essential the household is. In the past 50 years or so, Christianity in the West has become progressively more individualistic. We've wanted to shed any ideas of religion in favor or a "relationship". We want to emphasize our own personal walks with the Lord over corporate walks. We've lost how community oriented the Christian life is suppose to be and this has deeply affected our households and how we teach our children about Christ. We need to fight for the households again. We need to fight hard for time as a family, time with our kids, time to slowly teach them about Christ. We've become a very individualistic society that goes a thousand separate ways. And in some ways, I think this has been made worse the past 2 years. We need to start thinking to our great grand children.  What are we building for future generations? How are we training up parents and grandparents. Over the course of the next couple of hundred of years, I cannot even begin to calculate how many descendants that Jason and I will have. The Whole Armor of God 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, 19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak. Ephesians 6:10-20 There are great joys in a Christian household. There is fellowship and intimacy. There is working through problems and conflicts as Christians. There is the deep love and support of a life lived for Christ. There are male and female,

In between series here on the podcast, we are sneaking in a holiday episode. Are you READY and excited for the holidays? Or perhaps dreading the effort and the time coming up? Whether you feel excited or are dreading the upcoming holidays, we can all use a good dose of perspective for finding Joy in the Lord this year! Listen in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. A call to be generous & servant hearted "In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.' ” - Acts 20:35 We can witness to unsaved family and friends this way and be a good model for our kids. "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." - Matthew 5:16 We are called to use the life and resources that God has given us to serve. "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh ; rather, serve one another humbly in love." - Galatians 5:13 Examine our expectations  With this in mind, let's be ultra clear on what our expectations are for the holidays. Many of us go into the day with grand ideas and an agenda. We have a picture of how this family get together will be and what we will do. Plans don't always go our way. So plan for the day, expect God's glory to be shone, and let all the little things go. If we have unrealistic expectations, the holidays will never be fun and we will probably be upset or angry. Let's remember to serve and glorify God with these days. Remember those who are hurting this holiday season  I never understood how hard the holidays could be until my mom passed away. My eyes were opened to the fact that the holidays can be incredible for so many and incredibly sad for so many others. Look out for who you can serve. Who needs some encouragement or a hug this holiday season? Who doesn't have any family to spend the holidays with? Watch for ways that you and your family can serve. Make the holidays about Christ  I love November and December. I adore putting up Christmas lights and walking down the oldest street in town, hot chocolate in hand, and ooing over all the lights and houses. I love Christmas carols and sitting by the fire. I love the ambiance and the time of year. But above all of those things, we love Christ. And as in everyday life, we should seek to make the holidays firmly about Christ. Let's make sure to center our celebrations and our joy around HIM. Christmas carols: https://uribrito.com/optimism-christmas-carols/ I have a few goals as I head into the holiday season: Recognize that this is a busy season. This is not the time for mama to kick her feet up and have the perfect holiday. It's the time we can serve and love our families in the best possible way. Adjust your expectations accordingly. If you go into this season with the right perspective, it can change everything. I want to have a servants heart - and look for ways I can serve Bring my family together. More family time, not less, is my goal during the busy holiday season. For our young ages, this sometimes looks like saying no to friends things so we can just be home as a family of 8 together. Finally and most importantly: Bring glory to God. Make our mission about Christ in all we do. From thanksgiving praises, to working hard in the kitchen, from thinking ahead as to how we can be a blessing at relatives houses, to being the first to offer to clean up, from focusing on Scripture to singing joyful Christmas caroles together: We can aim to be bring glory to God in everything we do. Cleaning House for the Holidays sermon series: Gaining a clear consciences before God Finding relief from regrets

Whew! We are here. Today we are wrapping up our 25 foundational episodes to kick off the relaunch of my podcast. These 25 episodes are to stand as the foundation of the idea of Finding Joy in Your Home. Go back and catch up on the ones you missed. Next week we are kicking off our NEXT 25 episodes. The theme for those? The Family & Culture: How to bring glory to God within our households in a hostile culture. It's gonna be good

As a newer Christian, I often struggled knowing how to have a deeper prayer life. Even a 3 or 4 minute prayer could get boring and I didn't know how to make it deeper or what a truly rich prayer life looked like. In this episode, we are going to discuss a few ways we can approach prayer, how we can have a deeper prayer life, and what that means to mature in our Spiritual walk with the Lord. This is a hands on and practical episode, so let's dive in!! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Book recommendation: Everyday Faitfhfulness – my current read Book recommendation: Praying the Bible by Donald Whitney My interview with Donald Whitney Check out the 2022 homemaking online conference here!! This year's theme is: Homemaking in Light of Eternity!  Join our FREE Community!! All kinds of great things going on AND a Bible Study through James in October Our book store is open November 8-15th! Grab any books and Christmas presents you want before our shop closes until March 2022

In this episode, we are going to dive into some practical ways to be in God's Word more. But first, we are going to discuss WHY it's so important to be in His Word often. Let's dive into this practical episode! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Bible verses mentioned: 2 Timothy 2:15, Romans 15:4, Psalm 119:105, 2 Timothy 3:16 Book recommendation: Everyday Faitfhfulness - my current read Book recommendation: Women of the Word - a great book on studying God's Word! My interview with Jen Wilkin on Women of the Word Podcast recommendation: The Verity Podcast with Phylicia Masonheimer (a podcast on theology!) Website recommendation: Katie Orr has some fabulous resources for deeper Bible study Podcast recommendation: Household Hermeneutics with Jason and Jami (our new podcast on deep theology - made fun and engaging!) Podcast episode: Going deeper when you have no time (episode 115) Podcast episode: A Bible Study Q&A (Episode 116) Podcast episode: Help, I can't find the time to read God's Word (episode 241) Our sponsor: Go to MoinkBox.com/HOME right now and listeners to this show get FREE bacon for a year!. Check out the 2022 homemaking online conference here!! This year's theme is: Homemaking in Light of Eternity!  Join our FREE Community!! All kinds of great things going on AND a Bible Study through James in October

Being faithful in everyday life can be tough. Add in a busy or exhausting season and it can sometimes feel impossible. Today's episode is meant to give you encouragement in those busy seasons, while also directing you to getting into God's Word more! Listen in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. I love this encouragement from the book, Everyday Faithfulness. She says, “As you press forward with regular faithfulness admit a mountain of laundry, a rotation of diaper changes and nighttime feedings, or basic acts of care for an aging parent, the Lord sees you. He knows you are weary, and he is working good from it. He has compassion on you when you struggle to pick up your Bible or sleep through prayer. Christ is your example, but he is also your helper as he intercedes for you to keep following him in faithfulness (rom. 8:34). Links & Resources: Check out the 2022 homemaking online conference here!! This year's theme is: Homemaking in Light of Eternity!  Join our FREE Community!! All kinds of great things going on AND a Bible Study through James in October Our sponsor: Go to GreenChef.com/homemaking125 and use code: homemaking125 to get $125 off including free shipping! Our sponsor: To get 15% off your next gift, go to UNCOMMONGOODS.com/home

Welcome back to the second part of our everyday faithfulness mini series. Last week we talked about becoming a student of God. Now we are chatting about finding joy in God's Word with our special guest, Brittany Ann from Equipping Godly Women. Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer.

Today we are kicking off a mini series on Spiritual Disciples & drawing closer to the Lord. We will dive later on to practical Bible study tips and a deeper prayer life. But today we are talking about what it means to practice everyday faithfulness. I might step on your toes a little bit in this episode, but listen in anyway! ;) Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Check out the 2022 homemaking online conference here!! This year's theme is: Homemaking in Light of Eternity!  Join our FREE Community!! All kinds of great things going on AND a Bible Study through James in October For 50% off your first Care/of order, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code: home50  

This is an encouraging episode, I promise! Something I've been wrestling with a lot in my own life, is how much input from social media, news, and other sources that I'm letting in. Today we are chatting about when it's Biblically appropriate to carry each other's burdens and when it's okay to not. This has been on my heart a lot lately, listen in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Links & Resources: Tickets go on sale for our 2022 online homemaking conference at noon PST on Tuesday. October 5th. You can find out more here. Get $10 off StoryWorth.com/Homemaking

Anyone else feeling like you need some encouragement in your parenting? Anyone else feeling like you are struggling with connecting with your kids or making sure you are meeting their needs? If you need some Biblical grace filled parenting encouragement, I want you to join me in this episode today with Crystal Paine from Money Saving Mom. Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Crystal's book is one of my favorite books I've read in the past 2 years: Love-Centered Parenting. It was not at all what I was expecting in a parenting book, but in the best possible way. It challenged me and encouraged me. But not only in my parenting, also in my own personal heart and outlook. Crystal is incredible honest and open in this book and I highly recommend it. Links & Resources: Book recommendation: Love-Centered Parenting We have a new free Bible Study challenge through the book of James starting October 1st! Join our free community app for it. Also starting October 1st is a brand new theme for our Kitchen Collective: Crockpots and instanpots. Trainings, videos, and loooooots of recipes! Join (and get instant access to September's month (30 Minute Dinners) and October's month (breakfasts)! JOIN HERE Mark your calendar: October 5th!!! Tickets go on sale for the 2022 homemaking online conference. The theme this year is Homemaking in Light of Eternity. Our Sponsor:  Join the Moink Movement today! Go to MoinkBox.com/HOME and listeners to this show get FREE bacon for a Year (A pop up will come up with the offer.  

Family worship and family discipleship are two areas in our home that we've always wanted to be intentional about. But in the beginning of our marriage, we struggled knowing what this looks like. It's been a journey through the years developing this culture in our home. And while we have a long way to go still, in this episode, Jason and I are sharing what this looks like in our home right now (and what we are still learning): Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. In this episode, Jason and I share our brand new podcast we launched in August called Household Hermeneutics. It's been a passion project of ours in 2021 and we are so excited to share that you can listen to it for FREE wherever you listen to podcasts. There has never been a more important time in history to make sure we know what we believe, why we believe it, and be able to defend our faith. And it's vital that we teach these same things to our kids. Join Jason and Jami as they dive into Christian theology, starting with the basics in an easy to understand way. But they won't stop at the basics or a high level overview. They will dive deep, right into the very heart of God's Word and how we can know Him more and glorify Him with our whole lives…and pass this down to future generations. This podcast is truly unique and our prayer is that it will help you facilitate family worship and growth in your household in the Lord.  The podcast is released every other Thursday. On release day each week, we release two episodes back to back. Episode #1 is the full episode meant for adults and teens (the whole family can listen in, it's just on a deeper level). Episode #2 for that week is the Family Discipleship portion that is usually around 10 minutes long. This is meant to be played for the whole family and contains: 1 5 minute lesson, Scripture memory verses, catechism, and singing hymns together. You can listen to all the episodes here! Visit our sponsor for today's episode: Go to HelloFresh.com/homemaking14 and use code homemaking14 for up to 14 free meals, including free shipping!

I've gotten some really random questions lately that didn't build into an entire episode themselves and so I decided to turn them into a little stand alone episode. I love when Allie Beth Stuckey does this! So let's jump in. Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. In this episode, we will go over a few fun and random topics: What our plans are after travel life. Teaching our children to swim How do you know when God is calling you to something verses your wish or desire for something. How to become more like minded with your husband when it comes to planning and goal setting. Training your kids in chores (and an encouragement) How do you handle the fear of being out alone with your kids? Our sponsor: For 50% off your first Care/of order, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code home50.

If you are needing some encouragement for where is our world headed? Then tune into this second part series of A Theology of Hope. You can listen to part 1 here. Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. C.S. Lewis gives us some good encouragement for right now: “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.” In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty. This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds. — C.S. Lewis, “On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948) FIRST THING: God is good. All the time. "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!" - Psalm 34:8 Second: He cares deeply for his children. "“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" - Matthew 6:25-34 Third: We can trust Him with our lives, our futures, and our kids. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7 ---> God will work all things out for his glory and our good. A look at eschatology I am not going to get into a huge eschatological debate here, but we do need to address something. By and large, the American or western church has become very complacent about the future. With the dispensational premillenial view point of the end times being so prevalent in American Evangelism (think: left behind and sudden rapture), it has left so many of us feeling very apathetic and lazy about the future. I think we've adopted a very fatalistic viewpoint of the end times. The dis-premill position is that things will just keeping getting worse until bam, Christ's Church is raptured. While it's not true for all churches, it does seem that when we look at the past year and a half, the church has become apathetic. We look around and see the world going down hill and kind of give up. We become apathetic.

Anyone else feeling super stressed and overwhelmed with everything going on? I've seen countless posts this week about how heavy everything feels and all of the stress of this world. But how do we, as Christians, face this present age, and the future to come? Join me in this two part series on a Theology of Hope. Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. The Problem of Being Hyper Aware Social media has become a plague to these current generations. We see and know all (or least we think so). And instead of taking comfort in God's sovereign plan, we stress and fret and fear. In the episode, we take a little jump into picturing what it would have looked like to live in the first half of the 1900s with smart phones. And compare that to how it feels now. Studying a Christian Response to: Black Plague Early Greco-Roman Plagues Emperor Nero Our Takeaways: Don't be ignorant of what's happening in the world, but largely stay in your circle Develop a robust prayer life You don't have to know all the answers TRUST In the next episode, we are going to get into the next part: The Theology of Hope for the Future Age Links & Resources: Songfinch is offering an additional $20 dollars off ALL personalized songs at SongFinch.com with code: HOME Go to GreenChef.com/homemaking100 and use code: homemaking100 to get $100 off including free shipping!

When I began looking into hospitality about 12 years ago, I felt totally overwhelmed. It felt like such a big thing to be, because I just didn't know what it looked like or how to practice it. So in today's last episode of our hospitality mini series, we are going to chat about how we can get practical with practicing hospitality. Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Getting Practical 1) Make a list of 4-5 wonderful hospitality recipes to make Don't try and reinvent the wheel each time. Create a few go-to staples you make and do those each time. The more you practice, the easier and more second nature it will become. Make sure to come up with at least one great gluten free meal and one great dairy free meal in the rotation. 2) Start inviting Seriously, just do it. The first time you blurt out, "Would you like to come to our house for dinner?" might feel awkward! But keep doing it. It becomes easier. 3) If you don't have kids Please invite the families over with kids. Go to the thrift store and have one small box of toys that you can pull out when kids come over. And don't be offended if the family with kids instead invite you over to their house. 4) Plan Ahead I know the first few times we extended hospitality to people we didn't know very well, it felt like it took a week to get ready. Things I don't normally notice (such as cobwebs and dirty mirrors) were suddenly obvious to me! I felt overwhelmed and I was exhausted after the first few people came over. But as time went on, I became more comfortable with the routine. We started practicing hospitality so often that I was always planning ahead to the next get together. This way the house never got too out of hand. After one night of hospitality I knew I had better stay on top of the house and cleaning because a new family would be in our dining room the following week! 5) Think outside the box with hospitality, it doesn't have to cost a ton Practicing hospitality doesn't have to cost a lot of money! Many people feel that they don't have room in their budget to have families over. But don't stretch yourself. Start with a commitment of having a family over once a month and serve pizza! Everyone loves pizza; your meal doesn't have to be complex or fancy. Many families will offer to bring something to dinner. LET THEM! If they ask, let them bring a dessert or side dish. Try out freezer cooking and make all your meals ahead, it can save a lot of money! 6) Learn from others As you start extending hospitality, just wait and you will get invited over to other's houses as well. Learn from what they do. When you get invited to other's houses, make a mental note of what they do from the moment you walk in the house. Do they have music playing? What kinds of questions did they ask? Did they get a card game out or offer coffee after dinner? This is the best way to learn new tips and tricks. Offering coffee at the end of a meal is a great comfort to offer, but if you never drink coffee past 10am then you might not think about it. Glean from other's experiences and wisdom. 7) And ASK When practicing hospitality, ask, ask, ask. Many people that we have invited over to our house, we felt nervous about asking…will they want to come over? We barely know them…do they even know who we are? But everyone loves to be invited over. So just ask! Ask about food allergies or preferences. You don't want to make a big meaty lasagna only to find out that one kid is allergic to tomatoes and Mom is a vegetarian! Ask other women for their hospitality tips. Many women like to share what they do to make their home welcoming, so ask those around you how they do it! Remember, it's not about your home, it's about your heart At the end of the day your candles don't matter.

We are doing a little mini series right now on hospitality. In the last episode, we took a look at hospitality in the Old Testament and why it was important to them. We have to start first with the Old Testament because their view of hostility greatly influenced those in the New Testament and the early church. In the next episode, we will dive into practical ideas for hospitality but first, let's do a little deep dive into the New Testament! Listen in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Any discussion of Biblical hospitality, must first naturally start with the Bible. Yesterday we dove into the Old Testament to find out what it has to say on hospitality and now today we will find out how the early Church in the New Testament practiced and modeled hospitality. While Biblical hospitality is not a high priority for most modern western churches, it was vital to the growth, stability, and daily life of the early Church! “Hospitality is becoming an almost forgotten Christian virtue in our style of life today, particularly in big cities with their rampant crime on the streets, their locked-in apartments and all their affluent, urban and bourgeois devices which attempt to create privacy in our homes and our lives. In the New Testament, however, hospitality was a distinctive mark of Christians and Christian communities.” ~ Hospitality Commands, pg 6 Hospitality in the New Testament The Greek word for hospitality that is used in the New Testament is philoxenia which literally means “Love for Strangers“. Each time we are commanded to practice hospitality, God is literally commanding us to have and show love for others! Love is a central theme of the Bible. We are to love God {Deuteronomy 10:12}, love our neighbors {Luke 10:27}, and kove strangers {Philippians 2:3-4}. And at the root of hospitality is love. By practicing hospitality we are showing love for those in God's Church, love for strangers, neighbors, and unbelievers, and most of all, love for God by obeying his commands. “The Christian practice of hospitality was not viewed simply as a means of overcoming a practical problem. Theological statements by different authors in the New Testament show that it was frequently viewed as the concrete expression of Christian love.” ~ Hospitality Commands, pg 16 Serving those in the Church We have a clear call from Paul to serve those within our Church and practice hospitality. “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.” ~ Romans 12:13 Practically, this serving and contributing to the needs of the saints can take on many different forms. It can mean bringing a meal to a family who just had a baby. It can mean inviting new people at Church to your home for dinner. It can mean donating money and time to the Church's emergency fund. Later in this series we will get into practical ways we can serve through hospitality. Serving Unbelievers & Strangers While one component of hospitality is serving those in the Church, another aspect is serving unbelievers and strangers! As Abraham found out, you should never neglect to show hospitality because you never know who you are serving! Here is a clear command to practice hospitality to strangers “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” ~ Hebrews 13:2 Serve Without Complaining God surly knows our hearts! He wants us to serve Him with joy and humility. He is not merely concerned with our external actions but also the state of our hearts. He knows that we can tend to act selfishly or serve while complaining. So he issued this command: “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” ~ 1 Peter 4:9 We must be careful to not complain when extending hospitality when you think about the cost of food and extendi...

In the last episode we discussed ways in which we can serve within our homes. Today we are going to kick off a little mini series on hospitality. When looking at practicing Biblical hospitality, lets begin at the beginning, in the Old Testament. Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Hospitality in the Old Testament The Old Testament culture is very different from ours. As people traveled through the land {and often through very dry desert areas} there were no McDonald's or Starbucks' to stop at when they got tired or thirsty. When their feet were caked with mud and dried dust, they had nowhere to turn expect to houses they passed. Travelers often relied on the kindness of strangers for survival and they took the call of serving strangers seriously! “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who sojourns with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” ~ Leviticus 19:33–34 In no uncertain terms, God commanded the Israelites to care for and love the strangers and travelers among them! Maybe they didn't understand why God would issue this strong calling but all they knew was that God commanded it…and they should obey! “For the people of God in the Old Testament the duty of hospitality came right from the center of who God was. I am the Lord your God who made a home for you and brought you there with all my might and all my soul. Therefore, you shall love the stranger as yourself. You shall be holy as I am holy (Leviticus 19:1). Your values shall mirror my values.” ~ Strategic Hospitality fromDesiring God Blog Learning From the Father of Our Faith Abraham, the man called righteous because of his faith {James 2:23}, was a great example of hospitality that we can follow! Often the focus of this scene from Genesis 18:1-16 is that of Sarah who is promised to bear a son. While that is a profitable teaching from this passage, something else is illustrated as well: Abraham's willing and eager heart to extend hospitality to these three men {who turn out to be angels & the Lord}. *Note: I recently heard a fantastic sermon on this scene that really describes Abraham's willingness to serve. I highly recommend you listen to it as Pastor Phil Layton can describe it much more effectively than I can. You can hear the message HERE {and in fact, he is currently going through a fantastic series on Genesis right now}.* A few things to notice from this passage: Abraham Ran “When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and bowed himself to the earth” ~ Genesis 18:2b This was an unusual thing for a middle eastern man of that time. He “girded his loins” and RAN to greet these strangers approaching their homestead. Abraham and Sarah were old by this point and in fact Sarah was past menopause. It's would have been very unusual to see an old grey haired man pull up his robe and literally run to greet strangers on the road – but that is exactly what Abraham did! He was eager to share hospitality with these strangers! Abraham Called Them Lord Calling someone Lord was a sign of respect. Abraham was a wealthy man and yet he called himself a servant to these strangers and ran to wash their feet – a humbling act of service! To wash someone's feet was to make yourself lower in status to that person {which is one reason it was so shocking that Jesus would wash the apostles feet {John 13:1-17}. “O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant. Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree” ~ Genesis 18:3-4 Photo by paukrus Abraham's Hospitality Was Generous “And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick!

We spent the first 10 episodes of our 25 Foundational Episode series chatting about routines, habits, and how we can find joy in our homes all for God's Glory. The last part of what we want to focus on in our homes, is serving! Today we are going to talk about what it looks like to serve within our homes and then we will jump into a 2 part mini series on hospitality. After that, we will kick off a series on PLANNING out all of these habits and routines in our homes. Let's jump in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. I did a deep dive into this topic in my new book, She Laughs Without Fear. So as I was planning out the notes for this episode, I started pulling stuff from that chapter but realized I basically just wanted to give you everything from that episode. So instead of reinventing the wheel, today's episode is just going to be the audiobook Chapter 7 of my new book! If you are loving this topic, you can hop over to FindingJoyShop.com to purchase the full eBook or Audiobook on the Proverbs 31 woman! “She opens her hands to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.” - Proverbs 31:20 Often in seasons where we are home a lot (like being a stay at home mom and/or having lots of little kids), it can feel like our ability to serve within our homes isn't much. But in this episode, I hope to show that while God has us all in unique seasons, we are still called to serve. In fact, we can use our homes as a powerful form of ministry...it might just look different from season to season. Some ways we can serve that we discuss in this episode: Through hospitality Tithes & offerings And other forms of ministry Ministry to our own families So I will leave you here on that note. What season does God have you in right now? What are some ways you can serve in the season you are in? Empty nesters, you might find yourself with more time on your hands and the ability to serve outside the home more, but lack the energy to do so. Pray that God would direct where you should serve and use the restrictions and freedom that God has given you in this season. Likewise, young moms, you might feel so squeezed for time, yet you are home a lot. Use what God has given you in this season to serve! Don't discount the small ways you can serve the Lord right now. Take this lesson from the wise woman and plan and prepare for ways you can serve the Lord while serving your family. Links & Resources: Get my full book, She Laughs Without Fear here Get TWO full weeks of meal plans and learn how to prep ahead with PrepDish.com/Homemaking Join our new community to discuss this epiosde and so much more! --> FindingJoyCommunity.com

We've been really working on routines around here. It's been one of those seasons where I need to tighten up our routines and habits for the whole family. In episode 9, we discussed a solid morning routine which will make your day go so much smoother. But the KEY to a solid morning routine is a very practical evening routine. That's what we are going to discuss today, let's dive in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. A practical evening routine for my house: Helps me to close out today and prepare well for tomorrow. If I can successfully do my evening routine, it's so much more likely that tomorrow will start without a hitch. It's kind of like a vicious circle in my household. When I stay up too late and am not intentional, my morning is rocky which throws off my whole day. Then we get to bedtime and I stay up too late again trying to either capture a little productivity or finally sneak in some rest time. Which of course, means TOMORROW is rocky or messed up. Thus the circle. But in a positive way, if you can get on a rhythm of good routines: closing out your day well, getting a good nights sleep and getting up and getting productive: a very good circle can start. That's our aim with a practical evening routine. A Practical Evening Routine for Me Includes: Shut down the house and my day: Create a routine that you step into each evening Set the coffee make to start Make sure kitchen is clear & I know what's for breakfast Review my dinner plan for tomorrow: does anything need to go in the crockpot or pull out of freezer Review my plans for tomorrow: school plans, doctors appointments, etc. The most important part: Get to bed on time I have a brain that likes to never stop. I have the tendency to get into bed exhausted but my brain is wide awake. So in some stressful seasons, it's very important for me to intentionally wind down before bed. If I try to go straight from working on a work project, watching tv with Jason, or scrolling IG on my phone to sleep, it just doesn't work. So I like to: Take a detox bath: Epsom salt + essential oil Take Mary Ruth's nighttime multi mineral (magnesium) Read a book before bed to relax Links & Resources: Our Sponsor: MoinkBox.com/HOME for a FREE year of bacon!! Our Sponsor: HookedOnPhonics.comHOME, and receive your first month for just one dollar Join our amazing free online community app (you can access it from anywhere): FindingJoyCommunity.com Sign up for the Finding Joy in Your Kitchen Collective. Our first month we will be breaking down BREAKFAST! Come join us Titus 2 Minute Podcast Season 2 is LAUNCHING TODAY!! Go listen.

For the past couple of months, I've been focusing on meal planning and getting my kitchen under control. And while there are so many fantastic practical things we can talk about when it comes to meal planning, the biggest thing I want to talk about is the spiritual aspect of meal planning. Dive into today's episode to find out what I'm talking about: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. The kitchen has gotten a bad rap the last 50 years or so. We want to be in and out of the kitchen as fast as possible. Then we find out all these processed foods and fast food are actually causing a lot of health issues so we try and cook a little healthier all while spending as little time as possible at it. We get frustrated and angry when we end up spending more time in the kitchen than we want to.  But what if we instead looked at meal prepping and cooking for our family as a ministry? Now I'm not saying you need to start cooking everything from scratch or that your version of nourishing your family needs to look anything like what it does for my family. But what if instead of viewing the kitchen merely as a place to build up the physical parts of our family, what if we viewed it with a ministry mindset and saw how we could use food to minister as well?  In her book,Eve in Exile, Rebekah Merkle looks at what it means to work within the home. I love what she says about food: I read the quotes in the video but if you have the book she chats about it on pages 152-154. What if we used this opportunity in the kitchen to get creative? To serve our family? To help heal bodies with food. And used it as ministry?  Food has been a central gathering place in every culture around the world. Good food and meals around the table should be celebrated. It can become the heart of the home. It can be used to ministry to our husbands and our kids. It can be greatly used to minister to others through hospitality or bringing them meals. As we head into the rest of this series, and fight to make our kitchens run smoother, let's remember this: That the kitchen can be used to greatly serve the Lord. so let's be women that use this rather large area of our lives, after all we have to make 3 meals a day plus snacks day in and day out, to serve God's Kingdom. To teach our children the art of cooking and to use what time we have well. “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31 So today I want you to reflect on what your attitude has been about the kitchen?  Do you complain often, either outlaid or to your kids, about having to make another meal? Da you whine and put off having to do the dishes? Da you anguish that this is a task that has fallen to you? Take a few minutes to really examine how you've maybe had a sinful heart in this area of your home and pray and ask God to change your heart and your attitude when it comes to this task. Join our brand new Kitchen Collective! If you are excited about this concept of using your kitchen as a ministry to your family, but you don't know how to actually make that happen, then I want to invite you to join our brand new Finding Joy in Your Kitchen Collective! Each month we will tackle a different area of our kitchen so that in one year, you will master your kitchen! The first month we are tackling Breakfasts!! It's going to be incredible. Jump in today to join us: FindingJoyShop.com/kitchencollective Links & Resources: Our Sponsor: Get free shipping on your kids play kits at Lovevery.com/HOMEMAKING Our Sponsor: Go to HelloFresh.com/homemaking14 and use code homemaking14 for up to 14 free meals plus free shipping! >> Join our new Kitchen Collective!!

I have become very passionate about establishing a solid morning routine in my day because it makes such a huge difference in the work I can get done in a day but also attitudes! Tune into this episode to hear about my morning routine and how I use it to really set the tone for my day. Listen in: Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. We've been talking a lot about priorities and a solid morning routine helps to make sure your 1-2 top priorities for each day happens. A good morning routine to me: Start off with: Bible reading & prayer Then: Get Ready This helps with: Making sure my own attitude is prepared for the day Make sure to: Review dinner Also: Review days plans This all: Kicks off our work and school day well In the next episode we are going to dive into a solid evening routine and how this is actually the key to a good morning routine and that is when things really start clicking! Links & Resources: Our Sponsor: For 50% off your first Care/of order, go to TakeCareOf.com and enter code home50  

In the past episode, we discussed redeeming our time for God's Glory. Next we are going to dive into developing good morning and evening routines. But before we do, I want to pause and take a little look at the Proverbs 31 woman and something she can teach us about using our time well. And don't worry, I'm not going to leave you with a massive to do list that includes learning how to make your own clothes or grow a giant vineyard. Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. We are celebrating this month because my brand new book: She Laughs Without Fear: Wise & Joyful Living with the Proverbs 31 Woman launches this week. Preorders for the physical copy of the book already closed, but keep an eye out for future bookstore openings when we may offer it for print again. In the mean time, you can get the eBook and Audiobook version in our digital store. You'll get access to both versions! eBook launches Wednesday and audiobook is coming Friday! Order here. "What we are going to see throughout this book is a woman who is filled with joy. A woman who laughs, works hard unto the Lord, and personifies wisdom. All of this leads to a rich, full, and joyful life. And the heart of all of this is not how much she does, or what she accomplishes. It's not about her worth, or her output, or her social media account where people can follow how beautiful and perfect her home is. The heart of it all is her relationship with God. We will see things we do want to emulate from the Proverbs 31 woman. We might be convicted and see places we can work harder. We might even start a little to do list of things to work on after reading this book. But all of it will be under the umbrella of knowing God more and serving Him with joy." - Introduction from my new book There are two parts of Proverbs 31 that are very relevant to our discussion today. The question is, how do we use our time well? The heading to the Proverbs 31 passage is titled "The Woman Who Fears the Lord" and then the chapter is concluded with these final 2 verses: "Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." We also see up in verses 25,  "Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come." So how do we learn from this wise woman? In my book, we go into the concept of wisdom, what it is and how we can attain it. And then verse by verse we go through the final chapter of the book of Proverbs to see what the real lessons are there in it. But today I want to just look at these few verses. We are on a journey with these 25 foundational episodes to discover how to use our time well in the pursuit of finding joy in our home. And so many of us are plagued by stress and anxiety in our homes. Not a lot of extra room for joy or peace when you are plagued by anxiety. But we see that the wise woman of Proverbs laughs without fear of the future. How could this possible be? How can she be so secure in the Lord that she takes delight in what is to come? This speaks of a woman who has found joy and purpose in her day. Well we see the entire reason for it in verse 30, "but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." What does that fear of the Lord possible mean? The point of the book of Proverbs is to help us understand what God considers wise and righteous living. It helps us take the Law and apply it to daily life. Through the book of Proverbs, we see some powerful glimpses into the heart of God, and it helps us to learn His character more. One such powerful lesson is earlier in the book: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”  - Proverbs 9:10 he book of Proverbs is all about this concept - the wise person versus the fool.

As we kick off our next mini series on productivity and routines, we first need to start with the concept of our time. How do we use our time to serve the Lord? How can we redeem our time all for His glory and in finding joy in our homes? Let's dive into this episode to find out! Listen to the Podcast: You can find all the links and notes for this episode below! And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Redeeming our time for God's Glory We can view the time we have as a gift - or we can grumble and complain that we don't have enough of it. Do we thank God for the time we have? Or do we constantly grumble and complain about what seemingly little time I have? God gave us 24 hours in a day and of those hours, we are not meant to be productive 24 hours a day. In fact, we "waste" roughly 1/3 of those hours every single day in sleep! God has given you the right amount of hours to accomplish all that he has for you. You won't get to the end of your life and God is like whoops! So with that in mind, are we scheduling in the big priorities that God has given me? Am I making sure that HIS priorities are #1 and that I'm not filling my time with my priorities. We glorify busy and productive. And often, God's big priorities are not often the ones that we feel good sharing on social media or checking off a list. Our big priorities in our life:  God Marriage Kids Business Other important things: homeschool, eating healthy, my own health, reading, etc. What do you need to say not to right now in order to use your time well? I think for many of us, it's getting more wise with our technology use. Tim Challies  shares "They are questions I receive often: “Do you ever sleep? Do you work all the time? Do you ever stop?” There seems to be this impression among certain people that either I am an unrepentant workaholic or that I am remorselessly neglectful toward life's other responsibilities. The truth is far less sordid: I have invested a lot of effort over many years in learning how to simplify life and how to maximize productivity. I love to make the best use of my time and energy, and I am constantly fine-tuning the systems that allow me to remain that way." His very helpful article: https://www.challies.com/articles/how-to-get-things-done/ Links & Resources: Our sponsor: Get free shipping on the kid play sets at Lovevery.com/homemaking Our sponsor: Get 12 free meals and free shipping with HelloFresh.com/homemaking12 and coupon: homemaking12

Ever year, I do a recap of our homeschool year to share what has been working well and sharing all the resources we used. Listen to to a fun homeschooling convo today. Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both  And don't forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. This year we had 2 2nd graders, 2 kindergartners, and a 4 year old who wanted to be in Kindergarten and do everything her big brothers were doing. So it was our first year really with 5 kids in school. Our biggest focus this year: READING. I had a big focus with all 5 kids on getting everyone to the next reading level. Which I am so glad because I feel like my 2nd graders are really walking into 3rd grade with good reading under their belt now. And the two kindergarteners are doing fantastic. They will be reading early readers on their own by 1st grade. The 4 year old in betweener will be there soon as well. We spent a lot of time reading this year and the pay off has been so worth it! I've taught all 5 of my kids so far to read using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons. Best $14 investment for all 5 of my readers. Our Main Curriculum this Year: The Good and the Beautiful Math We used their level 2 and level K this year. This is our 2nd year using TGATB for math and we love it. They are releasing an all new math program August 2nd and we are very excited about it. I'll update you when we start using it. Gather Round Homeschool for all other subjects We switched to Gather Round in July 2020 after 2 months of heavy research into it (I did NOT want to switch curriculum again lol). But I am so glad that I did!! You can read all about why we love Gather Round in this blog post. Units we've done so far:  Oceans Asia North American Birds Europe Space Africa Earth Science Artists - Year 2 Mini unit: Christmas mini unit: Government We will finish up: Human Body & South America by September. Extras we added in: Notgrass - Our 50 States Random lesson pages from TGATB language arts (they are free to print grades 1-5) Lots of books & art crafts Some books we read this year: Boxcar children Looots of magic tree house books Growly series I survived Series Star Wars Jedi Academy Wingfeather Saga Next year I will have 2 3rd graders, 2 1st graders, and a Kindergartener. So it'll be a full year. I will share exactly what we are using and studying as we get closer to September and I've had a chance to actually plan and order all my stuff! ;) Links & Resources: Our Sponsor: Check out storyworth.com/homemaking for $10 off your first purchase. PERFECT gift for Father's Day! Our Sponsor: Get 50% off your first order of supplements and herbs! Go to TakeCareOf.com and use code home50 at checkout!

In the last episode, we talked about the Biblical idea and encouragement behind Biblical REST. God wants us to rest and in fact, we need to rest in Him. Resting in Him will produce more rest in our life overall. What how do we go about cultivating true rest in our busy too full lives? That's what we are diving into today! Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Build better routines for your life. This might not happen overnight, in fact, it might be a long road to setting better habits in your life. We are so use to living at break neck speeds in our society, it can be SO hard to reframe our concepts of what a productive life looks like. Today we are going to chat about a few things: Getting more sleep, getting OFF social media, being intentional with your rest time, and MAKING the time for rest. Get MORE sleep. "One study highlighted that we are sleeping between one and two hours fewer per night than people did sixty years ago, and two and a half hours fewer than a hundred years ago. However, ultimately the practice of getting a good night's sleep is rooted in the outworking of our theology. We believe God has made sleep an integral part of our humanity (Ps. 127:2), but as with all good gifts from God, we have a sinful tendency to refuse or misuse it. While some may struggle with wanting too much sleep, many of us struggle with wanting to make do with too little. In our productivity-mad society, we idolize activity and minimize the need for sleep. We can even pride ourselves in how little sleep we seem to need. Stories of famous Christians throughout history who reported getting by on very little sleep fuel the idea that less sleep is more godly and an example of great faith. What is often forgotten is that many of these Christians also suffered terribly ill health, and others dies young. That's why I want to make the case that adequate sleep is a far better example of great faith." - Refreshed, page 52. I have struggled deeply with this concept. I feel like I need to constantly worry about the next step and pushing myself harder. As Ive grown in my journey, I've learned that often, I need to just go to sleep and be wise with my time. God will meet our needs. "I believe God will look after my family, my work, or my studies. I refuse to believe the lie that everything depends on me. I believe in God's sovereignty and trust that he does not need me to overwork and under sleep to get all of the work done (Ps. 127:1-2). I believe God created my humanity, and I need to follow his guide for maintaining it. I refuse to believe the lie that I'm unique. I'm no stronger than others and therefor equally in need of his gift of sleep (Ps 3:5, 4:8). I believe my body and soul are so closely bound together that each impacts the other. I refuse to believe the lie that if I neglect my body, my soul and mind will still flourish. I believe my sleep is one of the best illustrations of my rest in Christ. I refuse to believe the lie that I must be known for my sacrificial service to Christ rather than by my resting on him. I believe in God alone and refuse to worship idols. I refuse to idolize work success and belittle sleep. I refuse to idolize late night entertainment and neglect sleep. I refuse to idolize service at the expense of sleep. I refuse to make impressing my boss more important than sleep. I refuse to idolize a perfect home at the cost of damaging the temple of my body. Our sleep patters reveal our idols." - Refreshed, pages 53-54. How do we get more sleep? Discipline "We need God's help to translate this conviction into action. Ask him for the willpower to make the necessary schedule adjustments and lifestyles changes."

Rest is a topic that Christian women are not talking enough about. In fact, we tend to glorify busy. We glorify perfection, and doing more, and sometimes we even glorify a too full messy life over a more restful life. Today we are going to dive into what rest means from a Biblical perspective and why it's so important for the Christian women today. Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Physical Warning Signs of Lack of Rest "Just as running too fast round the track will eventually result in physical problems, so running the race of life at too fast a pace will have physical consequences. Over 70 percent of Americans experience stress-induced symptoms such as headaches, stomach cramps, sore joints, back pain, ulcers, breathlessness, bad skin, an irritable bowel, chest pain, and palpitations. I certainly had some of these symptoms, and I also remember many female patients who came to me with multiple and varied bodily pains for which no physical explantation could be found, no matter how many tests and scans they had. Their lives were simply too fast and full for their bodies and minds. It's called "burnout" for a reason: All the stress causes chronic inflammation, a sort of fire in our cells that burns all the hotter, further, and longer the more fuel we add to it with our hectic lifestyles. Feeling tired, exhausted, and lethargic all the time are early warning signs that should be heeded." - Refreshed, page 26 PUSHING ourselves too hard: "We are not only creatures; we are complicated creatures. We have not only incredibly complex bodies but also remarkably intricate souls. And when you put these together in one person, you have multiplied complications as each part interacts with the others. That was one of the key areas I forgot. I was pushing myself physically in many different ways. God has blessed me with a strong will, and when I decided to get something done, I just kept pushing until it was accomplished. "Yes, at times I could tell that such determined pushing was taking a toll on my body but I ailed to see that it was also taking a toll on my mind and my soul. I seemed to think that I could push and exhaust the physical part of me, and the mental, emotional and spiritual parts would be unaffected. I was not seeing myself as God has made me - a limited creature and complex creature. I was not only underestimating my limitations but underestimating the impact of an exhausted body on my mind and my soul. And I'm not talking here about exceptional times in life when we have to push ourselves much harder, such as when facing exams, work deadlines, or nursing babies. I'm talking about this becoming the norm, the default, for extended periods of time. Verses such as Phil 4:13 - "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" - do not override our basic need to eat, drink, and sleep." - Refreshed, page 39. I've found in my life, that knowing I need to rest more, isn't the same as truly believing it. And I've found that my inability to rest was very much tied up in feeling like I needed to do ALL THE THINGS all of the time. This is still something I can struggle with time to time, but by God's Grace I've come a long way. Here are some truths to keep in mind when we are struggling with this Biblical concept of REST: Stop striving  - your worth is in Christ "A grace-paced life? What's this? It's a pace of life that's constantly refreshed by five different wells of divine grace. First, there's the motivating well of grace. We used to be driven by money, family perfection, beauty, careers, or earning God's favor. But instead of filling and fulfilling us, these motivations drained and dried us. Now though,

We are on a quest here with this ministry...to find joy in the everyday. And that's no easy task. We've talked about. 1. The Ministry of Home 2. How the Gospel Impacts Our Homes. 3. Finding Glory in the Mundane Moments. And now, practical ways to find joy. Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. This episode is based today on this article published in 2016. If you want to read along to everything we discussed, you can hop over and read it here. In this episode we discuss: Finding Joy in the Early Morning Hours Fill the House with Worship Music Open the Bible Count Your Blessings Keeping a Joyful Heart in the Mundane Tasks of Home Keeping Pray Over Your Home Listen to Something Inspirational Have a Plan Create Room for Fun In the next episode we are going to jump into the importance of REST in our homes and lives. Links & Resources: 2016 Article on Finding Joy My Spiritual Disciplines Notebook Set Hf #143: Cultivating Gratitude in Everyday Life Hf #141: Growing in Gratitude with Mary Mohler Hf #50: Choosing to be Thankful in Troubled Times Our Sponsor: Go to HelloFresh.com/homemaking12 and use code: homemaking12 for 12 free meals, including free shipping! Our Sponsor: Get 20% off your smart subscription for shampoo and conditioner for Gemmist with code: HOME  

In episode #1 (of our new relaunch of the podcast) we talked about the ministry of home and #2 focused on how the Gospel impacts all we do. Today we are chatting about finding glory in the mundane moments. Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Most of us spend our days in the mundane. You see, I struggle sometimes with finding worth in the mundane. I struggle finding glory in the ordinary. I sometimes struggle knowing how the second load of dishes or sweeping the sidewalk is worth anything. Do you ever struggle with this? Do you ever struggle knowing how our work in the home matters to God? I feel like I’ve gone on a similar journey as the author has in Glory in the Ordinary. I love how she’s open about her struggle with this as well: “Like all major changes, my early days as a stay-at-home mom rocked me to the core. I had gone from days filled with fruitful conversations to days filled with crying and blank stares from two needy babies. Over time I began to see that being home had inherent value, but what I couldn’t immediately see was how the work at home had value as well. It was not merely about staying home to take care of the children (which made sense to my exhausted brain); I had to learn there was value in the laundry and cleaning too.” – Glory in the Ordinary page 25 This is the impactful part, she goes on to say: “What I’ve learned is that God is glorified in the mundane work as much as he is in the magnificent. In fact, it is in the mundane moments, the moments where we live each and every day, where we come to see the true greatness of God and his love for us.” – Glory in the Ordinary page 25 Life is lived out in these tiny moments. I may not always have the mental capacity to remember and realize that I am doing big, grand work, even when I’m scrubbing toilets, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Something that I love throughout her book is this concept of how our culture views work in the home versus how God does. Our culture views work as simply a means to an end. We work just enough to be able to afford leisure time. And we look down on those blue collar jobs or work that seem to have little worth, such as working McDonald’s. We value big important jobs. We admire people who are in charge of large ministries who are making changes in the world. That’s not a bad thing to admire those people, but we tend to put all our value into these jobs or those people. So we tend to think then, even if we don’t say it out loud, that our work doesn’t matter if we are not accomplishing something big. And then we apply that to life in the home. When I’m caring for these five souls that God has entrusted to my care, it’s easier for me to see the worth. I can glimpse the Gospel-work that I am doing, even if I don’t always verbalize it or even remember it. But when I can take a step back, I can more easily see that the work I do with my kids, is big and important. But scrubbing the toilets? Cleaning out the garbage can so it stops smelling? Pulling a red crayon out of the dryer which has now stained an entire load of laundry? How are these moments important when they don’t seem to accomplish anything big or important? And Courtney makes an important point: we have to choose the middle of the road when it comes to the work in our home. Because on one hand we can completely devalue the work at home and on the other, we can make it an idol! We don’t have the time to cover all of these in detail today, but I love that God so cares about the everyday details of our lives. Here are some ways we can think about the work in our home: 1) We are loving God and serving Him through serving others

Last week we talked about our ministry at home. We need to have a focus on Christ that is all encompassing of our life. And this leads us to our 2nd foundational episode: The Gospel as our central focus within the home. Listen to the Podcast: We also recorded this blog post as an audio podcast. If you want to listen in instead of reading, click play below or do a combination of both  And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. As Christians, the thing that we need to stand upon, the thing that unites us, and the thing that our homemaking should be based upon - is the gospel. Starting with the Basics Having a Gospel-Centered home means purposefully and intentionally creating the goals, activities, and atmosphere in the home to be firmly centered on the Gospel. So, What IS the Gospel? The Gospel is powerful: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes." Romans 1:16   “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16 1) First, Paul tells his readers that it is God to whom they are accountable. Romans 1:18 - For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men" 2) Second, Paul tells his readers that their problem is that they rebelled against God. Roman 3:10 - “None is righteous, no, not one."   Romans 3:23 - "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."   Romans 6:23 - "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." 3) Third, Paul says that God's solution to humanity's sin is the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Romans 5:8 - "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." 4) Finally, Paul tells his readers how they themselves can be included in this salvation. Romans 10:9-10 - "Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." So Gospel-Centered living first starts with a thorough understanding of the Gospel, daily reminding ourselves about the beauty and the truth of the Gospel, and finally, having a firm vision of eternity. Bringing it all together 1) For our own sanctification 2) Relying on and needing God's GRACE 3) Winning our husband's to Christ - or encouraging his faith 1 peter 3:1-2 "Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct." 4) The Gospel in our Parenting Deuteronomy 6:6-9 - "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." 5) Out into the world Train up our children so THEY can present the Gospel Spreading the Gospel through Hospitality Next week we I'll turn to how this plays out in ordinary life. It's one thing to say that we want a focus on the Gospel...it's another to live it out in the mundane. So next week we are going to discuss: Glory in the Mundane and finding joy in that. Join our New Community App! The other very exciting news I have for you today is that our brand new community app has launched. You can come join our FREE app where you can join in on the discussion of THIS podcast episode and so much more. If you are looking for a safe and encouraging place...